A spectacle that represents more than just a game; the Olympics are a multi billion dollar, sixteen day phenomenon (Olympic Orchestration 2). The games fuel a media firestorm that exists for days leading up to, and even after the games have passed. Although some may argue that the Olympics interfere with the traditions of each country involved, most would agree that they represent one of the very few global traditions we have today (Handbook 358).
American sports produce national heroes for our community. This is important, because all young children, and even adults benefit from these heroes, in that they strive to be like them. The Olympics is a collection of athletic heroes from throughout the world, and for countries less established than America, the Olympics can be a light in the dark (Olympic Orchestration 5). Although the athletes are always in fierce competition, there is a noticeable display of respect between the players. As long as the competition stays friendly, the Olympics will survive. If tensions were to ever grow to great, that would leave the door open to potential acts of violence.
For the city of Rio de Janiero, the 2016 summer games will create drastic changes for the country politically and economically. According to http://www.riooooolympics.com/2009/11/05/what-do-the-olympics-mean-for-rios-environment/#more-234, Rio has taken a beating from politicians, whose acts have not been improving the country, but rather fattening their pockets. Rio will benefit from a significant increase in tourism as well, which will help bring in the money needed to restore order in the city.
Overall, the Olympics benefit the media and hosting country. It also produces athletic heroes that can become role models for young children. How important do you think the Olympics are for both our American and global culture? Many of the athletic events are becoming mainly western dominated (Handbook 360), because the professional leagues are so popular worldwide. Is it a good idea to continue to add events to the Olympic games, or should the Olympic Committee decide to keep only the original events in order to preserve this great global tradition?
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The Olympics have always been a large spectacle when it comes to the media. Even since the beginning of the Olympics, these sporting events have been able to attract not only viewers but competitors from all over the world. They are being broadcast 24/7, playing as many sporting events as it possibly can to attract as many viewers. It is probably one of the highest watch events that television has, which this list tends to be made up of mostly sporting events (Ex. Superbowl, etc). As early as the 1900 games, footage was being recorded to be shown, because of the mass following the Olympics was making within the newspaper and magazine coverage it currently had been using (Roessner). People want to feel as though they are involved in the games, so media has grown throughout the years to include its fans as much as possible within the games.
ReplyDeleteThe Olympics bring people together from all of the world to take part in one event, and for a time, make it seem as though issues between countries can be put aside in order to partake in the events. I understand that the Olympics does not put a halt on global affairs, but it does help to make us feel more united as not only a country, but globally as well. "There are many cases in which it be more reasonable to infer that national sport had helped a nationalist cause than that it has hindered..." (Handbook 351). Sports can help bring countries together under a united cause. With putting all of our differences behind us, such as culture, religion, languages, etc., sports in one area that all countries can come together in and compete on the same level, which is a very rare opportunity that not many other things can offer. I think as the games grow, it is important to continue adding games because it offers different countries more opportunities to compete in sporting events that may be more popular in their own nation. As times change, so will the Olympic sporting games, they need to in order to continue to keep up with how our world is ever changing.
The Olympics is a collection of athletic heroes from throughout the world, and for countries less established than America, the Olympics can be a light in the dark (Olympic Orchestration 5). I always love rooting for the athlete that is only one of four athletes representing his/her country in the Olympics. You watch the opening ceremony and see the US and Chinese teams have an overwhelming amount of athletes then you see a country like Kazakhstan with less than five athletes. An example I think of comes from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A 17 year old girl, participating in the 200m sprint, she was one of one two athletes to represent her country, Somalia. She came to the race in no more than a loose t-shirt and a pair of shorts, ready to represent her country. “For never before in Olympic history have the hopes and dreams of an entire nation been placed in a woman, who first ran for herself and her heritage, ever more now she runs for all of Australia.” With so many athletes representing in the US it is hard for one athlete to be the “face” of the country. If a US athlete fails, there are so many other athletes for fans to fall back on. A country with only four athletes does not have that luxury.
ReplyDeleteThe “Miracle on Ice” is a great example of how an Olympic event can bring a country together. The country was in the middle of the Cold War against USSR, you could of probably cut the tension with a knife on the ice, not only because of the game but also for the “war” that was going on between the two countries. Citizens rallied around that US team. People believed that a win against the Soviets would absolutely deflate the USSR, they weren’t wrong.
I love the Olympics (with preference to the summer games).
ReplyDeleteOne day, I hope to take in the games in person. Why? Well, it'd be awesome, for one. But also to rid myself of all those television ads and inane stories.
As Rossner writes, "Therefore, the Olympics 'become pre-packaged events mega-designed for the streamlined and effective storytelling at the expense of the naturalistic ‘in the moment’ feel that sports on television can uniquely provide' (Billings, 2008, p. 17) (Rossner, 5)."
I want to enjoy the Olympics for the beauty of the sport, the thrill of world-class athletes competing at the very highest level.
And, frankly, not to be a xenophobe, but I love rooting for USA. There's something very appealing about rooting for your home country.
"It reminds us that the setting of international sport - flags, anthems, national colors and emblems, large crowds - are as easy and appropriate a setting for collective expressions of national identity as one could devise (Allison, 351)."
Coming from an area split between rooting for so many teams, it's rare that I am ever fully surrounded by people rooting for the same athlete or team.
The Olympics give me that opportunity. That's why they're awesome.
I'll admit it: I'm a jingoistic American. I love my country, I always want what's best for my country and I will support it in Olympic every athletic event, from synchronized swimming to ice hockey to the bobsled.
ReplyDeleteNationalism is one of the underlying themes of the Olympics. It's really the only time, as Andrew Vazzano said, that most everyone gets to root for the same team. It's a shame that it only happens every couple of years.
Lori Amber Roessner from the University of Georgia wrote about nationalism in "Olympic Orchestration: Bud Greenspan’s Re-presentation of Sport."
"Although de Coubertin and other proponents of the International Games espoused lofty ideals of mutual respect and sportsmanship, desires for nationalism, military prowess, and displays of masculinity undergirded the early Olympic movement (Schaffer & Smith, 2000; Guttmann, 1992)," she writes (3).
While she is talking about the early Olympic movement, much of the same holds true today. Military prowess could be replacement by the athletes' training, and obviously women participate now, but nationalism remains a major aspect of the Olympics.
Lincoln Allison also wrote about sports and nationalism.
However, he mentions rioting during a Honduras/El Salvador soccer game that killed 6,000 people in 1969 (351).
This brings up the problems with overzealous nationalists. It's good to love and support your country. It's another thing when you resort to violence to demonstrate your "love" for your country.
The Olympics are the greatest sporting spectacle of all time, taking over lives for 16 days of pure athletic competition. There’s drama, excitement, crazy highlights, Cinderella stories, and front-runner flounders. What’s not to love?
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps the biggest draw of the Olympics is the international stage. Taking on other countries in a variety of sports adds drama viewers can rarely get elsewhere. But it also adds another element – national pride.
One of the reasons the Olympics are so popular is the nationalism engrained in the Games. Millions of people tune in because we believe that doing so will not only show support for our country but maybe even help them win. It’s probably the only time the average American is emotionally invested in a fencing match or curling. Yet, if the Americans beat an undefeated Italian water polo team, a lot of people know about it, even if they don’t really know what water polo is or how it’s played.
And advertisers take advantage of this sense of community because during the Olympics, “national identity is the most marketable product in sport” (Handbook 346).
In that sense, the Olympics transform from a series of athletic competitions into a “public fascination that transcends daily experience” (Olympic Orchestration 4). It’s not just New York versus Boston. It’s literally us against the world. And that sense of nationalism is what creates the public draw to the Olympics.
Olympic athletes are regarded as heroic, national icons who did their country proud, especially if there was a Gold medal involved. “Olympic icons have enjoyed heroic portrayals within the media since the turn of the twentieth century” (Olympic Orchestration 5). We say they made their country proud, but what we really mean to say is, “Thanks for doing better than the guy from China.”
The Olympics are a stage for lesser-known sports like table tennis and water polo, but only if your country is good at that sport. It’s about getting as many medals as possible, showing every other nation up in front of the world.
Essentially, the Olympics are a giant public relations spectacle. And the host country is the first cast under the limelight.
Every host country wants to look good since the world is literally watching, and in many cases the country will try to exploit “the mass media as a domestic and international propaganda tool” (Olympic Orchestration 4). China, for example, tried to clean up the pollution in Beijing before the Games began because they didn’t want billows of pollution to be shown on television. Similarly, Rio de Janiero is going to have to somehow fix their incredibly violent gang situation that has plagued the city for years.
Looking good at the Olympics is one of the best public relations boosts out there. Trying to tip the odds in your favor and getting caught, like the Chinese gymnastics team, however, quickly becomes an international public relations nightmare. And one that does not go away with time. It will be remembered forever as one of the biggest news stories from that Olympics.
Annoying the rest of the international sporting community is also problematic, and a situation the U.S. is facing right now. Because most Olympic sponsors in Beijing were American, we essentially took control of the Beijing Games’ schedule, forcing certain sports to air during our prime time lineup. The result was swimming at 8 a.m. in China, 8 p.m. in America, and not so great TV timing for the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, Chicago came in last for votes for a 2016 bid and we don’t have any representative in the IOC.
Sports have always had the power to bring people together, and the Olympics are perhaps the best example of that. The Olympics often transcend sport, taking on political and cultural meanings in certain situations such as the 1980 Miracle on Ice. But the Olympics can also destroy your international reputation. But that is a gamble that comes with international sport.
And quite frankly, it’s part of what makes the Olympics so exciting to watch.
There’s no question that nationalism is good for the overall community morale of citizens in a country. However, it can have a negative effect on the global community, where typically friendly countries can be pitted against each other in events like the Olympics. Sometimes people can take their sense of nationalism a bit too seriously and simply reject or attack anyone not from their country. I think, like many things, nationalism is a great thing in moderation. It is much different in other countries than it is in the United States, where domestic sports almost always take precedent over international or Olympic sports. This causes a lower overall sense of nationalism, even during the Olympic games, where there is great national pride, but I think much lower than that of the other nations.
ReplyDeleteThe media has a great effect on international sports and the Olympics. The Olympic Orchestration article discussed the beginnings and impact of the media on the Olympics. “By mid-twentieth century, the television industry recognized that sports coverage, in particular events like the Olympics, represented a valuable commodity to fill space, attract advertisers, and provide viewers with the popular programming that they craved” (Roessner, 4). The media clearly has an impact on the pressure on individual athletes and their exposure as well as being used for rallying devices, calling for national support.
However, national support is oftentimes based in political agendas. In his chapter Sport and Nationalism in the Handbook, Lincoln Allison discusses the term “nationalism.” “In general, nationalists as opposed to patriots, must have a political project for the nation, whether for independence, cultural preservation or aggrandizement” (Allison, 351). Therefore, the more appropriate term to use when discussing a national pride from general citizens and fans would be patriotism and not nationalism, as the only agenda they typically have is for a victory from their athletes. I think it is a good idea to add new sports to the Olympics in order to bring in new fans and keep up with the ever-changing demographics of sport in general. If there are more sports that more people care about or can relate to, then there will be more interest and therefore possibly a greater feeling of “patriotism” or support for the athletes of the given nation.
The Olympics are all about excitement and national pride. It is a time when everyone can forget about their personal issues, and lose themselves in sports. The fact that the Olympics only come around every four years also adds to the intensity. It is the one time when a country gets to prove their overall athletic ability on a global stage. The Olympics are extremely important to American culture, as well as the culture of many other countries around the world. It gives us a sense of pride and identity. However, some countries have competing views on popular sports. For example, rugby is much bigger in Australia than in Japan. This is why the Olympics should not put a limit on the sports that they allow to take place.
ReplyDeletePerhaps one of the most exciting things about the Olympics is the fact that anyone can win on any given day. In Olympic Orchestration: Bud Greenspan’s Representation of Sport, Lori Amber Roessner states, “As a “story-ridden medium,” televised sports coverage often relies on common narratives such as the Cinderella story to mediate an event” (5). An example of this sort of “Cinderella story” was displayed during the 1980 Olympics when the United States hockey team beat the Soviets, and later won an Olympic gold medal. What made this story so exciting was the fact that the Soviets were considered to be the best hockey team in the world, while the U.S. team consisted mainly of college kids who had been playing with one another for the first time.
During the Olympics, millions of fans are able to display their national pride. In The Handbook of Sports Studies, Joseph Maguire writes, “Sport, being inherently competitive and based on a hierarchical valuing of worth, binds people to the dominant invented traditions associated with the nation” (367). This shows how sport can actually make us feel more connected with our nation.
As for the addition of different sports to the Olympic Games, I feel that there should be no limit to what should be allowed, as long as it is recognized as a sport. The addition of golf and rugby to the Olympics, for example, is a major breakthrough in sport that was long overdue.
I have watched every summer and winter Olympics since the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games. The appeal of the Olympics growing up was the sense of nationalism, of all Americans rooting for the same team. It also is an opportunity for Americans to celebrate their heritage (for example, I always pull for the Swedish hockey team if they're not playing Team USA.)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rossner's argument that "the Olympics 'become pre-packaged events mega-designed for the streamlined and effective storytelling at the expense of the naturalistic ‘in the moment’ feel that sports on television can uniquely provide.'"
In NBC's coverage of the Olympics, they always go for the storylines. The war-torn nations, the contingent of four from a third world country, and the man or woman who escaped tyranny to compete on the world's biggest stage are three that you can predict before turning on the opening ceremony. These are great storylines, but they're predictable, and the coverage can't rely on them. I think NBC could benefit greatly by using modern technology during the Vancouver games to add more close-up cameras, on-field microphones, and other tools to make the viewer feel like they're there. We don't need the commentator waxing poetic about a beautiful European nation. Let the viewers witness the history being made.
The Olympic Games are unlike any other sporting event. There is a different attitude from the athletes competing, as the majority of these countries don't have a Super Bowl or World Series. This is their time to shine, and they are doing it wearing their nation's colors. Maybe by carefully using some of the technologies that are used in presenting major American sporting events, the natural element of the Olympics can be more accurately depicted.
I have always seen nationalism as a good thing, and in the Olympic Games I have watched growing up, I have seen it lacking from the United States. While it may never reach the level of some other competing nations, doing a better job of presenting the emotions and pride of the athletes may help change that mentality in the U.S.