Latest on PJ: Time to Stop The Olympics

[wal]

By which I suppose you mean Tae Kwon Do? The Korean art of kicking, and almost nothing else. I watched a few matches last night and wondered why they bothered having the competitors wear gloves.

It is a sign of the times Mark, gloves are to stop the spread of golden staph.

The Paralympics are in jeopardy, only about 15% of tickets have been sold and the budget has failed to produce enough money to allow numerous countries to compete. Brazil's economy cannot handle games of these magnitudes.

[Kregna]

By which I suppose you mean Tae Kwon Do? The Korean art of kicking, and almost nothing else. I watched a few matches last night and wondered why they bothered having the competitors wear gloves.

There's more to it than kicking. They have hand striking and some degree of grappling as well. My sisters done the traditional stuff for like 15 years. Whats done in the Olympics is some weird competition version (WTF instead of ITF - or something like that)

[dbm77]

You expressed how I didn't know I was feeling

[Brian Patton]

Brian, I find it incredibly unfair to compare Caster Semenya, who has been bullied and humiliated publically, to someone like Caitlyn Jenner who well knows the possible consequences of transitioning. Caster did, unlike 90% of the other athletes, not inject testosterone. So, in other words. Shoot it up and it's fine, we can look away. But come as you are and we will make an example out of you?

I wasn't comparing her, so much as recognizing her as an unwitting trailblazer for The Movement whether she wants to be/should be or not. You make the (quite logical) assumption that she is fundamentally different on every level from a Caitlin/Bruce Jenner, and I agree. But the Movement does not agree with that assumption. They believe there is no difference, that they were both born precisely the way they claim to feel themselves to be, biology be damned. (I don't want to get dragged into that debate because it's endless, so please don't go there. Just stating the positions). But there is a reason why the LGBTQIXYZ!#?... acronym keeps getting longer. And Semenya will be their #1 draft pick after just decimating the 800m women's field in the final.

The history of all nearly all sports demonstrates that the bodytype/physical characteristics that best produces the winning time/distance/height/weight/length ultimately will dominate the upper ranks of competition, especially when potential fame and fortune are involved. Just as basketball eventually attracted the tallest athletes around, women's track & field (and potentially all women's sports) will eventually be dominated by the Semenya phenotype (assuming this condition is common enough to make a difference; I'll admit I have no idea). But regardless, her example will be held up as reason enough to allow otherwise genetically homogenous males to compete against (and thus dominate) the female ranks with nothing more than a self-declaration. I doubt they'll even bother to wear wigs.

It may seem farfetched, but an examination of our own country's complete surrendering to this "Equality" Movement from schools, to bathrooms, to the military in just a short few years shows where this is all going. The "unenlightened" Third World nations will hold out the longest, but eventually the Progressive West gets what the Progressive West wants. Culture trumps everything. And right now they're winning the culture war.

You could also make the argument that the majority of the non skill-based Olympic events are already heredity contests among physical aristocrats (note how many Olympians are being cheered on by their former Olympian parents in the stands), that benefit greatly from off-the-charts VO2Max and neuromuscular efficiency/explosiveness that cannot be improved via training to much extent. Thus, if it's already going to be a freak contest among genetic elites (and desire and drive and hard work have very little to do with it, other than to separate the very top echelons), then the whole thing is just a giant circus act. And that's without even considering all the pharmaceutical use that likely is ubiquitous.

That's it. I think I just talked myself into finally agreeing with the premise of Rip's article. I just needed a little time to get there. This brief global experiment with "civilized competition" is all going to end up with the Hunger Games anyway.

[Cheesepuff]

Rip's article offers a "more than plausible" explanation for this:
Fast affiliate ratings for NBC’s 8 – 10:30 PM coverage drew a slumping 4.7/20 rating among adults 18-49 and just 18.14 million total viewers. That’s down a hard 25% in the key demo and 24% in viewership from the early results of August 12 to hit an all-time low in both categories for the 2016 Games for the Comcast-owned net. In fact, last night’s low was down a whole point from the previous demo low of August 16.

TV Ratings: Olympics Hit New Rio Low, ?Superstore? Gets Big Bounce | Deadline

AKA: viewership for the Olympics is down. Hard core. (in the US)

Due to a number or factors which boil down to "more variety" a lot of main stream things are down. But not like this.

I'm not sure the "games" are as bad as NBC makes them. But having read this entire thread and Rip's article, it appears that a lot more thought went into Rip's article. Rip makes several valid points, and the only one that is effectively countered, only applies to coverage outside the US. (aka non NBC).

NBC has been bad for the Olympics. The Olympics have been bad for the tax payers in the "Olympic host cities". There are no losers and every child gets a medal leads to an audience that says "so what?". Cancel the games. I know I have not been watching.

[Brian Patton]

Theban93,

Good points, you really have made me think about it differently. Hate to admit I hadn't really been thinking of Semenya as a human being who just happens to be fast as hell and would like to be recognized for it. I'm so jaded by dirtbag athletes with their cheating and doping and lying and doping and course cutting and doping--did I mention doping?--that I tend to just assume everyone is always jockeying at all times for an unfair advantage. (Never thought she was doping, just seemed similarly "unfair" somehow)

All sports are rigged against the genetically deficient I suppose. I will never be able to best anyone with a 38" vertical, probably at anything, save an extremely skill-based event that only I trained for. I suppose Semenya's physical "gifts" are just on full display all the time, which makes it harder to accept. But you can't see an 88 VO2max, though it's a genetic lottery ticket all the same.

I have no answers to any of this.

[LimieJosh]

I knw this isn't the population, but did anyone watch the women's 5000M? The little Ethiopian who had just absolutely smashed a 20 + year old record that was universally viewed as dubious went out and build up an outrageous lead in the 5000M final. NBC cut to show us the Kiwi runner who was involved in that now famous clash that led to the American runner tearing her ACL. She was marooned way back - a total non entity in the race. They then went to commercial. By the time they came the two Kenyans had somehow reeled in the Ethiopian and passed her. Commentary ignored that the race we were now seeing was 180 degrees from the one they left a couple of minutes before and viewers were left confused as shit. This wasn't just the Ethiopian falling apart because she still finished in a time that beat the existing OR, and so has to be considered one of the best come backs in Olympic track history...and we saw none of it because a BS human interest story that had nothing to do with winning medals (as an old coach of mine...it's easy to be sporting when you're expected to lose).