"It's all over, it's all over"

This has been the longest three years of my life, oooops, sorry, I mean the longest three weeks of my life, it just feels like years!  As a monument to human ambition, folly, greed, nonsense (in the literal meaning of that word), hyperbole and in some cases downright chicanery there is nothing to beat the Olympics.  As in so many other facets of life, what began as a high ideal soon degenerated into a disgusting showcase for the very worst of human nature.  Perhaps it started with the 1936 Berlin Olympics which were saved from total infamy by that black upstart, Jesse Owens, who ruined Adolf's pageant in praise of national socialism by beating all those white herrenvolk.  The 'games' sort of returned to their ideal in 1948 when battered London in post-war austerity did its best to restart them but it has been steadily downhill ever since.

The Soviets and their puppets began the rot when they brazenly cheated on the old Olympic ideal that the competitors should be strictly amateur.  Then, of course, the druggies moved in with the connivance of various governments and, as the world took off again to reach new heights of prosperity, 'Big Money' followed and slowly but inexorably, the games have deteriorated.  The men (mostly men!) who should have been the guardians of the Olympic ideal were the very first to succumb to the corruption of 'Big Money' and it is a fitting 'tribute' to the current Brazilian Olympic games which were mostly rubbish that the very first capo di tutti capi, Joao Havelange, has just died in the middle of them - regrettably, he reached the age of 100.

As the inherent corruption at the top of the Olympic games spreads down to every part of the rotten, decaying body it is a source of huge merriment to bitter, old cynics like me to watch the growth in the number of (so-called) 'sports'.  The other day, by accident, I watched some 'sport' in which two women, covered entirely in padded suits to ensure there was no chance of them being hurt, kicked each other!  No, seriously, that's all they did - just kick each other.  Now at least topless ladies wrestling in mud, a 'sport' beloved of elderly gentlemen (well, this one at any rate), requires some sort of skill, or at least, it provides some entertainment, but the sight of two gift-wrapped women wearing helmets just kicking each other is truly and monumentally boring-snoring!

Well, at least I will not have to put up with this stinkingly corrupt snore-fest for another four years and with a bit of luck I'll be dead by then!

Comments

[backofanenvelope]

I was looking at the top section of my garden this morning and thinking that the only thing to do was to clear it and start again. Which is what they ought to do with the Olympics. Build a permanent site at Mt Olympus with a big statue of Zeus. Restrict the sports to those involving running, jumping and throwing things. I'd quite like to see how Mo gets on running 10,000 metres (BH - meters) wearing a full set of armour.

[AussieD]

Unless BoE's excellent idea is taken up it could all be done away with other than the women's beach volleyball. Played of course in the garb of the athletes in the original olympics.

[backofanenvelope]

aussieD. I had forgotten that! I expect there would be a big (!) audience for Mo in the nude.

[AussieD]

Happy to jog the memory BoE.

[Whitewall]

Those women who play beach volleyball all seem to be stick figures. Each could use a good meal it seems. They need to adopt Olympic fishing. I just returned from depleting the Western Atlantic Ocean. It will need to be restocked.

[Backofanenvelope]

Whitewall. See message at 1214. Running, jumping and throwing things. As amended by AussieD. How about throwing hand grenades?

[TheBigHenry]

I approve of BoE's suggestion, with minor modifications. It is fine as far as the men's events are concerned. As for the women's events, they should all be retained, except for weight lifting and such, where a tendency toward obesity may be an advantage. And also for the women's events, AussieD's suggestion is a non-negotiable requirement.