I love to watch the opening Olympic ceremonies. Don't ask me why. I kind of like the background stories on the host country. My interest gets lost on the parade of whiners -- oops, I meant nations. This is where I can understand why people think the Olympics is a bunch of garbage and don't even bother to watch.
For instance, team hopping is not limited to little league parents who think their kid is "all that" and deserves a spot rather than earn it. It goes on at the Olympic level as well where athletes who don't make it in their own country claim "heritage" five generations back to participate on Team Tiny Nation Nobody Can Identify.
The other thing that made my stomach turn was the investment-banker-turned-athlete who bought his way (and his wife) into the Parade of Whiners to represent a country he has absolutely no affiliation with other than financial donations. Again, it was a small island nobody has ever heard of. Think about his clients. How would you feel if your investment banker had enough dough to bankroll himself and his wife into the Olympics? I would think I was getting ripped off. He is obviously making too much in commissions to pull off such an ego fest for himself.
Why don't we all just do away with the whole "nations" thing and just call it what it really is. It's the contest of who has the most money to participate and buy coaches, training facilities, etc. o
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