Marilyn's Photos - Feb 7 2026 - Olympics Over-the-Hill

 

My theory goes like this:  the Olympics are over-the-hill.  That means over-weight in terms of costs to build, repetitively showing similar sport events, hyping themselves to the extreme, and focused on money from corruption within the Olympic organization and from excessive commercialization of the event. That’s what makes it old.  What makes it further over-the-hill are constant issues - logistical nightmares getting to the spread-out events, athlete safety, drug problems, the evolution to a non-amateur sport full of professionals competing, and the perennial scandals. It could well be that being older has led me to the stage of complaining -  that the Olympics are not what “they used to be”.  How will I find out?  I am going to take the easy route - ask AI to summarize all those opinion pieces that have weighed in on the subject.  The AI answer says that the 1960s Olympics - e.g. Grenoble Winter Games - is a matter of preference regarding nostalgia versus innovation. In 1968 it was the first time the Games were broadcast in colour. The stars of the event were Jean-Claude Killy and Peggy Fleming. It was considered an intimate setting and the competitions were held close-by.  (And may I add that there are no scandals listed that year.) In 2026 there are now 116 events with 12 mixed-gender competitions. The amateur vs professional aspect is obvious - 2026 is advertised as having faster and higher levels of performance.  My kind of example of then vs now is as follows.  Snoop Dogg is being paid $9 million dollars for 18 days of the Olympics.  What is he doing at the Olympics?  Are you ready?  He is there to “cheer alongside the athletes, their friends, and families” NBC said.  He is not the only celebrity: Stanley Tucci  (must be his travel series “searching for Italy”) - is serving as a roaming cultural reporter for NBC.  Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover are involved in NBC coverage.  There are numerous brand ambassadors and “creators” paid for behind-the-scenes content via YouTube, Meta, and TikTok.  This isn’t that new: At the Paris Olympics, NBC spent over $50 million to bring various celebrities to Paris to boost ratings. Returning to my complaint and AI’s response that this is nostalgia vs. innovation.  I am confident that this year’s “innovation” would not have occurred in 1966.  Cathal Kelly reported this in the Globe and Mail today. Men’s ski jumping participants are reported to have injected their penises with acid to make them larger for the uniform fittings.  In other sports reporting babel-speak that’s “injecting their genitals to manipulate suits to make them more aerodynamic.”  When there is a little extra fabric, the travel distance will increase.  Will that be the biggest scandal/controversy at the Olympics?  We can watch it to find out or check out Wikipedia.  I expect it will be updated daily - it is  a reliable, timely source of information.  What we can say for sure is that all “eyes” are on the Olympics this week.