BLIMEY

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

BLIMEY !

The Brits are all caught up in the Summer Olympics.

As they should be. They have spent a fortune for the honor.

As I follow various events on television I am constantly surprised to see so many vacant seats. A number of fellow writers have noticed it too as it seems to be the topic of a number of columns lately.

Normally, getting tickets to any Olympic event is very difficult.

What has changed?

I think the cost of putting on the Olympics has caused many of us to wonder if the event is worth the huge amounts of capital required to stage it. And we also wonder whether the hassle of getting a ticket, the price of the ticket, and the hassle of getting to and from the venue is worth it.

In order to meet the costs, the ticket prices are astronomical and cities around the world promise everything just to bid on hosting the Olympics.

As with so many things in life, perhaps we need to review the cost- benefit of the Olympic Games.  I am not suggesting they should not be held, but perhaps some review of how they were held in the early days would be enlightening.

In early times one had the youth of the day heading out to the fields to contest against each other in various events. People interested in watching showed up.

No tickets.

No Ralph Lauren designer duds.

No worry about doping.

No worry about terrorism.

Why do we have to take something so noble, so simple, and so rewarding and make it into a money making venture not closely related to athletic prowess?

I know the answer.

NBC will spend billions because they will reap billions in making sure we can all watch it in our homes. Their advertisers will pony up the dough so they can sell us stuff. Cities will cut all sorts of corners, make new subways, build swimming pools and athlete housing and guarantee special treatment, just for the honor of hosting the Olympics.

Forget NBC…how about all the other networks in all the other countries! This is a big, big business folks.

It bears little resemblance to the original Olympic Games.

Sure it is fun to watch. It is entertainment my friends!

The Greeks had a great idea.

Those of us that followed have managed to really screw it up.