Saturday, April 23, 2011
"Think Again" by John Hoberman
After reading John Hoberman's (2008) article, I began to wish I hadn't. Hoberman identified several faults of the Olympics and IOC. These faults include political games that influence the decision of the host city, lack of protection and promotion of human rights, the financial depletion of the host city, and the overall corruption of the IOC (Hoberman, 2008). While I agree that it is important to raise awareness of the faults of such a huge stage for the sport world and world in general, I can't help but wish I was able to be naive. I feel like a kid finding out Santa isn't real but just a fun tale. However, the idea of Santa lives on because people choose to keep the tradition alive. So brining this back to the Olympics, instead of focusing on the negative and how messed up the games and IOC are, what are possible solutions? I will gladly do whatever it takes to be able to keep my childlike belief in the grandeur of the Olympics. The Olympics were designed with lofty goals in mind but giving up in the face of adversity goes against all Olympic values. I truly believe the games can be what they were intended for, an event of peace and athletic celebration; it just might take a while.
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I understand wanting to remain naive about the dark side of sports. But if we do not become informed, how can we ever make a difference? This seems to be the real dilemma of studying sport critically.
ReplyDeleteHi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteThe dark side of world bores me too. I always think and I would like to think that all people are kind-hearted; no one is the bad guy. Even though the world is not perfect, we can do our best. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Iraqi athletes were lack of basic equipment for the games, such as the shoes, sport suits. Most of the Iraqi athletes used their old stuffs to take part in the games. The Chinese media reported the news, and many athletes and sports fans donated to buy new equipment to them. To help each other is kind of Olympic spirit. The Chinese government spent too much money on the Olympics, but the Chinese people did not always to complain. Many Chinese learned to speak English, learned to the etiquette, learned to be a good host. Also, many people started to do regular exercise to support the Olympics in Beijing. Where has the shadow, where must has the light!
I'm not going to lie, I had a really hard time with this article as well. I enjoyed being naive and thinking that everything was hunkie-dorie with the politics in the Olymics. Dr. Spencer is right though, if we remain naive, we will never know what is going on and then not be able to change what is happening.
ReplyDeleteI was horrified when I found out Santa Clause was not real. (No this was not just last year.) It took me a good while to get over the initial shock of finding out. In a way the Olympics is like that. There comes a point in time when we need to grow up and find out the truth about our beloved traditions and organizations.
Ignorance is bliss. Sometimes I wished we could all just live our lives like that.
I agree with you comments about bringing the Olympics back to a time of peace and athletic celebration however I also agree with Dr. Spencer. I think it is very important to expose the flaws in order to find solutions. I know this is not what your saying, but I feel that too often people tend to ignore or cover up issues that they do not see a clear solution too. I feel that if we can evaluate the problems in a responsible way we will have a better chance of returning the Olympic games back to the respectable tradition they once were.
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