I was first disappointed, and then offended, when Cameron Reilly blasted the Olympics as a waste of coverage. If one is talking about the sports, sure, the amount of coverage is total overkill. How often do you usually watch ping-pong or weight lifting? No offense to paddle swingers and dudes who could crumple me like a sheet of paper, but hundreds of video streams on this would be a waste of my time.
But the point is not sports (for those of you offended by sports). There is a huge value to the Olympics, especially in regards to the real troubles the world faces. The athletes are ambassadors for the common man. These people, without realizing it, are going to a common location and meeting with other fellow competitors while the world watches. In households around the world, people watch as their country competes.
Politicians should learn from the spirit of the Olympics. We can all get along.
And so this has a chance at getting Dugg, here’s an off-the-top-of-my-head list of 10 reasons why the Olympics are still great for the world.
- Every country comes together and meets, mostly at an equal level.
- In most cases people are rooting for their country, not individual athletes.
- Coverage on other countries educates citizens about foreign cultures.
- China is growing as a superpower. The world needs to see a lot more of this.
- Pollution in Beijing is horrible, but the country has taken action to clean it up and it’s somewhat effective. The world needs to see this.
- Chinese human rights policies are under close scrutiny. The press coverage helps.
- The USA may dominate, but it doesn’t win everything. Americans need to remember we can lose and can do so gracefully.
- Small countries may be out of the medals race, but they win where they’re strong. Those citizens learn to win.
- Athletes from each nation will go home and talk about the other competitors. Their people will listen.
- The world is focusing on something positive for two weeks. Much of the negativity in the news is silenced by loud cheering.
Yesterday while snagging a bagel at the VMware seminar there was something interesting on the restaurant’s TV. ESPN posed the question, “Which 23-year-old has a better life: LeBron James or Mark Zuckerberg?”