The Olympics

[Joe Varo]

On Mon, 5 Aug 1996 janus!andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk (Andrew Dinn) wrote:

> 
> Frankly, who gives a fuck about what a bunch of obsessive nerds do to
> mutate their bodies into the contortions required to achieve some
> patheticly stupid and pointless goal concocted by equally obsessive
> and nerdy mutants. By all means let them do what gives them their
> kicks but to consider it worthwhile as anything other than a personal
> experience?  And even though at a personal level it may have some
> value, at what cost?  It's hard to respect an endeavour which not only
> twists your body but also your mind - in evidence of which consider
> the pathetic immaturity of most pro tennis player, the fairies at the
> bottom of the Olympic garden path.

Are you applying this to athletics in general or just professional 
athletics?  While I would agree with the above with respect to 
professional athletics, I believe that sports in general to have some merit.

> ...
> One of the first things I gave up
> watching on television before I finally kicked the entire habit was
> sport. And the reason was that it was responsible for the most blatant
> manipulation of the viewers' sensibility.
> ...

Besides my growing distaste for pro-sports, one reason I quit watching it 
on the tube was that all of a sudden it seemed like every stinking 
sportscaster was using the word "athleticism" in every other sentence.  
It seemed as if one day you'd never before heard the word and then the 
next everyone was using it.  Anyone else notice this?  Do they think that 
using such a word lends a tinge of intellectuality to their endeavor?

Joe