| Well, it sounds as if you have a reasonable take on dealing with them. I can take this occasion to say something that many will find controversial. I dislike the Olympics, not only because a lot of it is boring, and the achievements are petty (it is not like discovering a cure for cancer to shave one hundredth of a second off the record), but because many of the events involve what I consider to be practically child abuse, for example, gymnastics. Gymnasts, to be good, have to start very young and compete pretty young, too. They have to focus on their specialty almost to the exclusion of anything else, with the possible exception of academics, to stay competitive. There is incredible pressure to do anything to get an edge. And then, one goes to compete, and unless one gets the gold, hardly anyone cares, at least in this country. In a situation where the top competitors are barely differentiated in ability, and having a bad day can mean the difference between getting a gold or nothing, it is all too much........ |
