TMI Questions: The Winter Olympic Games

I’m already on record as abhorring organized sports, so my responses here should be no surprise to anyone who has bothered to read my blog.

The special circumstances underlying the current Winter Olympics only reinforce my beliefs that organized sports are gladiatorial in thought and action, all about the money, and without a conscience.  

One only need look to the potential fall-out regarding Michael Sam’s decision to come out at this point in his football career to realize that organized sports still doesn’t know what to make of gay folk.  Experts predict that Sam will lose significant points in the draft, hurting his chances of playing up to his abundant potential. 

It’s not a matter of if… it’s a matter of how much.  That outcome would come as no surprise to Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards who came out last April and has not seen any league time since.

Ask those in power and they will tell you that the whole ‘gay thing’ is a distraction (ummm… and, what are sports, exactly?) and has nothing to do with sports.  These organizations want to exist on a plane that does not exist – one void of human rights issues and politics.

They’re fooling themselves, of course.

But they’re not fooling me.    

TMI QUESTIONS:

Questions designed to reveal Too Much Information

Link: http://tmiquestions.blogspot.com/

TMI Questions: The Winter Olympic Games

In general (we'll get to the politics in a few) do you watch the Winter Olympics?

No.

If someone else has them on their television, I may get caught up in the skiing / biathlon stuff, but that is it.  It’s a knee jerk thing… like slowing down and staring when passing by a car accident.

The other night we were playing board games and our lesbian hosts insisted on having their gigantic television tuned in.  It was ice skating, which used to be pretty, but, due to the preponderance of mandatory (stupid) jumps, has been rendered ugly.

Also - my Mother has it on all the time, so when I visit her, I end up getting an update on what is going on.  She is isolated, taking care of my Dad 24/7. It keeps her company and makes her feel connected.

But for the most part?  I think it’s a rather stupid, ugly, pointless, corporate event.

Organized religion.  Organized sports. 

It’s all about the money. 

Winter or Summer?

Summer, if we must.  

But again, I find the whole physical competition thing to be off-putting.  What are we?  Bulls in the breeding barn?

At least with summer we get to see more skin. 

And gymnasts.  And swimmers.  And divers.  And runners.  And wrestlers.

Yeah, summer has it all over winter.

Except for the biathlon, when the dudes have to grind their dicks into the snow and flatten out to target shoot. 

Their Thinsulate-covered asses look amazing in that position.

What are your favorite winter events? Do you follow any of them outside the game?

I like skiing.

 

And no, I don’t ‘follow’ much of anything.

Olympic events are rather extreme, which seems rather pointless, to me. The danger factor makes me want to watch practices – that’s where all the cool stuff happens.  I mean, what does a mistake look like when catapulting yourself off the end of one of those giant ski ramps?  How many mistakes do you get to make before ‘that’s all they wrote, folks’? 

Not that I would wish anyone to be injured.

I mean, that’s what NASCAR is for.

Which sport needs to stay and which one needs to go?

Figure skating should stay.  Needs to change, though. 

I think it should be more about artistic expression and less about how many times you can jump in the air and spin about.  So much of the beauty in the sport has been lost… and yes, I realize they created ice dancing to bridge that gap, but even that has too restrictive a structure. 

But then, ice skating kind of bores me anyway.

Skiing is fine.  Speed skating, too.

Curling is silly.

Hockey has devolved into a gladiator/blood sport.

And snowboarding?  Really?

Oh, and the luge.  Utter stupidity.  Stupidity on a stick.

Which is the weirdest sport?

Hockey.

I mean, not always.  But it has become about checking and doing bodily damage.  I don’t like the crowd mentality that goes with it.  It’s dangerous; a dangerous way to conduct ourselves and a dangerous way to think.

Hockey is to danger as curling is to…?  Lame.  Lamest sport out there.

I’m sure it’s fun for those participating, but from the sidelines?  Deadly boring.

And the luge.  Dumb name.  Dumb idea.  You get hurt in that sport?  Well, that’s simply a matter of the natural sciences taking stupid out of the gene pool.

What is your POV on boycotting The Olympics by countries and or athletes?

Boycott it?  It should have never happened in the first place.

I think having Russia host ANYTHING at this point in history is a bad idea.  That place is one Molotov cocktail away from being ‘Grand Theft Auto; The Amusement Park’.  The place is so corrupt and lawless and without any common sense or moral compass it stands on the prepuce of the apocalypse. 

Their treatment of gay people is as horrific as their claim that they don’t exist in their country is laughable.  Putin is more repugnant than other former leader of that country, and THAT is saying a hell of a lot, all history considered.  What is it about that area of the world?  Must be all that vodka.

I certainly wish more countries would have protested the selection of Russia as host for the games.  Putin is putrid.  He should be shamed, ridiculed, challenged, and called-out at every opportunity.

I wish more people (athletes and politicians) had taken a stand for gay people and human rights in general.  That said, I understand that this is an event that some have been working towards all their life. 

I happened to see a couple of interviews with some of the athletes who were denied the opportunity to compete under the Carter administration.  Their pain is still very real to this day.  I get that.  In light of that?  it would have made a lot more sense to have the games held elsewhere. 

I would have expected a lot more athletes to have protested the possibility before it became a reality.  I understand their position.  It is the position of self-interest and about future earnings. 

And, yes, ultimately, I believe it to be the position of cowards and of people who live myopic lives; shielded from the brutal realities of the horror show that is modern day Russia.

Are you boycotting NBC or any Olympic sponsors?

Yes.

All the above.

McDonalds and Coke play no role in my life anyway. 

Entitled, privileged corporate monsters, every one of them.

Do you think boycotts are effective?

Only those that bar participation or occupancy – and only if it is mandated.

Social groups boycotting media, commercial businesses, and the like?  No.  Not in the long run.  I think they are a great leaping off point for calling attention to a cause, but are ultimately futile gestures when battling corporations of great means. 

Embargos on the other hand…

If you were an athlete what would you do?

I would have protested the decision while it was being made.  And then I would have backed up my words by refusing to participate – even though everything I’d worked for my whole life, my whole livelihood and future potential earnings were wiped out.

My parents and coaches would hate me.  People would be very upset.

I would also call on others to refuse to participate.  Not that it would do any good.

But… ultimately, human rights are more important than some physical challenge / contest in the name of national honor.  Because if one of us suffers… then we all suffer.

Jimmy Carter understood that.  Obama does not.

Gay rights are human rights.  Woman’s rights are human rights.  You deny one segment of the population equal rights and protections in this world, you deny not only their humanness, but your own, as well.  To deny yours or anybody else’s humanness is to be horribly inhumane.  And such monsters should be dealt with – harshly.

You can live in and compete while in denial, but that does not alter the fact that right now there is a huge celebration of and for an elite group taking place in a heart of darkness.

There is an ethical way to conduct one’s business and life.  There is an ethical way to treat people.   And currently Russia is just a whole lotta wrong.

That said, I have long been critical of the Olympics since the day they went out of their way to prevent The Gay Games from calling themselves The Gay Olympics. 

Who the fuck do they think they are?

Fuck them with a rusty luge sled.