>>perhaps the olympics should be confined to sports that can be won without the judging of artistic merit or other "grey areas". These are subjective anyway.
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>I totally agree.
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>To me, there are a few "real" sports. Track and field is one of them, even though I think its boring an not all that interesting, I consider it a real sport. Why? Well, at one point in time, surivival was determined by who ran the fastest, or who could jump the farthest. And these skills is what the olympics should be measuring: who can lift the most wirght, who can run the fastest, who's can make a boat with a sail go faster. Not who can lift there leg up while standing on a beam the most gracefully or who can land a jump in ice skates with the most style.

Mike;

I remember a comedian who had a great line about the Olympics. He said, “I was a javelin catcher”! I think his name was George Kirby.

There was an Olympic event where women twirled a long thin piece of paper about 12 feet long to create designs in the air. Not all Olympic events endure for long. I agree – get rid of the subjective fluff events!

We have to add things like, “who can take steroids and not get caught”. Some of the events, participants, judges and past history makes me ill. Personally, I got past the flag waving long ago. I appreciate anything done well and do not worry about whose flag is raised. Let’s face it – the Olympics is political and based upon monetary gain. Taken in that context we should learn to spend more time enjoying the commercials. After all they help pay the bills for the events. :)



Tom