NPF: CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS

Posted on | by Ed

(Note: I'm going on vacation as of Friday morning. Posts will continue, although there may be interruptions.
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Not only do I have to return to teaching imminently, but if I don't take a break from this election I won't survive to November.)

With everything that has happened in the world in the last few years, not to mention the uninterrupted shitshow that has been 2016, it's hard to believe they're even going forward with the Olympics in Rio. The internet can give you thousands of stories about how totally unprepared the city is and how little of what was promised has been delivered (side note: I visited Brazil three weeks prior to the 2014 World Cup, and nothing was ready. The new terminal supposedly being build at the airport in Brasilia had a plastic sheet stapled to 2×4 boards for two of its walls). Beyond that, the likelihood of the Games going off without – I don't want to jinx it – a serious "security issue" at some point seems nearly nil. If international terrorists have found ways to exploit the weaknesses of France, Germany, and Belgium in recent months then Rio, where the cops aren't even competent to handle basic street crime…
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well, it's not a pleasant thought.

It's becoming clear to the international community what a boondoggle these events are, which is why we see authoritarian or semi-authoritarian states like Russia, Qatar, China, Brazil, and Turkey making the biggest (and most often successful) bids to host Olympics and World Cups. Despite all the promises of economic development, inevitably the huge government expenditures end up in the pockets of a small, predictable group of people with financial and political power. Then the moment the competition ends, the costly infrastructure becomes useless.
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Remember all that fancy stuff they built in Beijing? Yeah. So, nations with democratically elected leaders are shying away from taking it in the neck financially in exchange for the dubious benefit of turning a major city into a disaster area for the better part of a month.

It might be time to revisit the idea of holding the Olympics in the same city every time. Athens seems to be a popular proposal, but essentially any city big enough to house people for a couple weeks in hotels or dormitories can handle it. Pay once to build facilities and then reuse them with only the costs of maintenance, not new construction, to worry about four years down the line. As for the World Cup, limit it to nations where no new stadium construction would be required. Places like France, Germany, the US, Japan, Brazil, and others could work the games into existing facilities that are more than able to handle it.

Lastly, and only half-fatuously, the Olympics have lost all of their veneer of friendly, amateur international competition. It feels no different than watching pro sports now. Maybe it would revive interest if instead of relying on star athletes, citizens of each nation were picked out of a lottery. If we really want to see if the US is better than Argentina at basketball, the purest form of competition would be to grab a random sample of people and throw them out on the court. We already know Lebron James can dunk on everyone. Let's see how your dentist handles the rock.

24 thoughts on “NPF: CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS”

  • Bosh says:

    Seoul's facilities have held up pretty well but then a lot less stuff was built back in 1988 than they demand today. Athlete housing is now regular apartments and the sports areas are two parks with a lot of sports facilities that aren't needed being turned into park, performance spaces or even kid playrooms.

  • Aimee says:

    100% on board with two designated Olympic cities. I know that gives the IOC fewer chances to line their pockets, but maybe FIFA's hiring.
    The American TV coverage of the games leaves a lot to be desired. The Olympics would feel like more of a global event if we saw coverage of more than four or five countries' athletes. Also, doesn't NBC delay showing the most "popular" events till prime time? Facebook shows me in real time what happened, complete with video highlights; why would I bother watching it on TV three hours later?

  • Talisker says:

    the Olympics have lost all of their veneer of friendly, amateur international competition. It feels no different than watching pro sports now.

    Yeah, including the sports with well-paid professional tournaments is pointless. Olympic tennis might as well be Wimbledon. (Last time they even held it in Wimbledon…) But the athletics is kind of enjoyable, and I don't begrudge the less-visible sports like cycling and volleyball their moment in the sun.

    So, nations with democratically elected leaders are shying away from taking it in the neck financially in exchange for the dubious benefit of turning a major city into a disaster area for the better part of a month.

    The 2012 London Olympics were in my neck of the woods. A derelict bit of East London got some nice new housing and sports facilities. Other than that, impact was decidedly meh in both a positive and negative sense. It didn't bring us magic sparkly unicorns, but it didn't turn London into a "disaster area". It came in on time and under budget, but I'm not sure it was worth the £9 billion price tag (about $14 billion at the time). http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/20041426

    There are other recent success stories in democratic countries, such as South Africa's FIFA World Cup and Vancouver's Winter Olympics (both 2010). Sometimes these games can succeed in their stated aim of encouraging sport and building up infrastructure in the host country; but it's an expensive, uphill struggle against the forces of incompetence and graft. All in all, I'd be happy with choosing a small number of permanent host cities (maybe one each in Europe, Asia and the Americas) and rotating between them.

    The trouble is, prospective venues for the permanent spots would fight like cats and dogs for that infusion of tourist revenue every four years. Finding agreement might be impossible. And the IOC bureaucrats would miss travelling the world and having their asses kissed by wannabe Olympic hosts. From a political standpoint, it's easier to keep up the wasteful practice of choosing a new city each time.

  • Hazy Davy says:

    So, if you were a rigid authoritarian (on a global scale), wouldn't a security event at the Olympics push you towards a Trump presidency?

  • Icarus says:

    "Maybe it would revive interest if instead of relying on star athletes, citizens of each nation were picked out of a lottery."

    and in a few iterations, let's up the ante and make it to the death. #hungerOlympics

  • c u n d gulag says:

    Greece should be the permanent home of the Summer Olympics.
    And I suspect this year's games will make that point clear!

    The Winter ones, should be in the Nordic Countries, and the Europe Alps. Besides, with global warming, there may be a limited amount of them in the future. At least not without finding "green" ways to keep the mountains covered with snow, and ice-rinks and tobogganing venues.

    As for Football's World Cup, yes, rotate the games in the countries that already have the facilities.

  • alighierispal says:

    Thank you, Ed. Speaking of shitshows, the Olympics are little more than a money machine for corporate interests, a fig leaf for atavistic nationalism, and a distraction for the masses. Who, in Brazil, to the undying credit of Brazilians, are refusing to be distracted. It was indeed obscene for the Brazilian government to devote the resources to this circus that could have been used to improve the lives of desperately needy Brazilians. In short, the Olympics are a cruel farce and the best thing we could do with them is end them. Oh, I'm sorry, they're a "movement" that "builds character" and "shows humanity at its best." Yeah, right.

  • S M McBean says:

    I have to recommend Harry Shearer's radio program "Le Show" where he's been railing against Olympic corruption for years.

    HarryShearer.com

    "The Olympics- it's a movement! And we all need one, every day!"

  • coloradoblue says:

    I imagine I'm not the only one who basically quit on watching the Olympics several cycles ago. The infusion of professional athletes took a huge amount of the enjoyment out of it as did the crass commercialism and the 'heart-warming' stories about this that and everything. I was also turned off by the huge number of new "sports" added that aren't really sports, five more have been added for the next time around. Really, enough is enough.

    It's all just become overkill, especially the number of hours available for viewing, this year according to an article in the paper this morning, is over 6,700 hours. What is the average viewer expected to do? I'm sure as s**t not going to spend even more hours looking for the bits and pieces of Olympics that I have an interest in and actually want to watch. It's easier to just tune it all out.

    And while I'm probably not ever watching I would vote for a few rotating cities over the current cluster-****.

  • Vadi says:

    I'm sure we'll all be shocked when the Russian and Chinese Olympic lottery slot winners end up being the star athletes from their best native sports leagues.

  • mothra says:

    I'm with coloradoblue. I used to get jazzed about the Olympics, but now I am totally meh. Part of that is the crappy coverage–only a few hours of coverage per day and only a few competitors shown in the "popular" sports. So you can watch the gymnastics, but you will only see the top two athletes from the top two teams. Yawn-a-roo.

  • negative 1 says:

    I know that the lottery system would be a shitshow of corruption but please for the love of everything that's good please let this happen.

    Somehow the image in my head of your typical pasty jiggly 'Murrican, complete with jorts and a fanny pack, trying to do the parallel bars is just too good to pass up. We may actually see the first floor routine that consists of a single pushup.

  • schmitt trigger says:

    Don't worry, there won't be any terrorist acts in Rio.

    The would-be terrorist would have their flights canceled or diverted, their vehicles stolen, themselves delayed by marches, or robbed at gun point.

  • Nick says:

    One pretense that should be thrown out the window is that these are amateur games. Another pretense that needs to be dispensed with is the stipulation that the host cities aren't allowed to make direct profit from the Games.

    If the host cities were allowed to directly and commercially benefit from the Games, i.e., pocket the profits, we might actually end up with better Games, instead of the current situation involving privileged vendors, contractors who are mates with the organizers, and offshore tax havens.

  • Katydid says:

    @Skipper; I read that as "golf course overrun by chupacabras".

    I skipped the Olympics coverage today, went and saw Star Trek Beyond (mehhhh) and Ghostbusters (hilarious).

  • Victor says:

    Hello Ed,

    I wanted to tell you that me and my brother produced a cartoon based on one of your blog entries.

    It was the one where you compared the average american salary to the net worth of the Koch brothers but used time instead of dollars.

    Please check it out and let me know what you think.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnIoNKK00bg

    If you think it's good maybe you could consider linking it on your site? We worked really hard on it. Thank you.

  • Tim says:

    @Ten Bears

    I laughed uproariously in my cubicle at this. Fortunately, most everyone else had left for the day.

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