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So, I find the Olympics pretty boring. Olympic athletes, especially
the ones from countries who stake a lot of national pride on
winning
medals, are so damn good at their chosen sport that they're no fun
to
watch. They're just doing what they've been forced to do all their
lives. They're
practically machines, and the winner always seems
to
be the one who was pushed the hardest and had the most
expensive
training program. Everything about competing in the Olympics has
been boiled down to scientific precision. Where's the fun in that?
To remedy this situation, stop training athletes for the Olympics.
Set
them free and let them have real jobs. From now on, simply select
individuals who are, physically, statistically average for their
chosen
nation. Have the International Olympic Committee send surveyors
to
every competing county, determine what the average height,
weight, BMI, etc. is for that nation, and then select random
individuals who are as close as possible to being average in all
categories. Ethnicities, experience, and hand-eye coordination are
factors which should be ignored entirely. No one will be allowed
to
volunteer for their nation's team. Instead, letters will be sent to
all
eligible persons, and those who agree to compete for the glory of
their country will be taken.
This is preferable because it would be a real contest between
nations, not a contest between million-dollar training regimes.
May
the fittest country win.
The big disadvantage here is that competing third world countries
might not do terribly well, which is unfair. To compensate, make
each country's GDP per capita a factor. For example, if your
nation's
GDP per capita is very low, then it's likely that your statistically
average person will less physically fit because of a lack of access
to
healthy food. So these countries will be allowed to select
individuals
a certain percentile above statistically average. The lower your
GDP
per capita, the higher percentile individuals you will be allowed to
send to the Olympics.
Watching average Joes compete in the Olympics would be, to me
at
least, much more hilarious and fun. Sure, most of these people
would be terrible, but I'd root for my team with all my heart if I
knew they honestly represented my country. Besides, this would be
an incentive for governments to start paying more attention to the
health of their people.
Jeux Sans Frontieres
http://en.wikipedia...eux_Sans_Frontieres
[DrBob, Feb 25 2010]
Penguins!
http://www.youtube....watch?v=L2bTwSfWtsE
[DrBob, Feb 25 2010]
Frankenstein!
http://www.youtube....?v=Eza3J4EgEE8&NR=1
[DrBob, Feb 25 2010]
[link]
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Hmmm, I think the athletes would resent being "set free"
and not because of the loss of glory or income. Have you
never taken pleasure in doing someting really, really, well?
Something that you can do better than almost anyone else?
These folks require competition with others at their level in
order to milk the maximum performance out of themselves.
The rest of us watch it on TV. |
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like MXC? I miss that show... |
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// They're practically machines // |
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Eh ? You say that like it's a bad thing ... |
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The logical conclusion of this Idea is that the winner of each event should be the one who most exactly approaches the average performance. The fun thing is that noboby will know what the average is until everyone in the event has performed! |
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Baked. It's a Knockout/Jeux Sans Frontieres. |
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Until very recently, the Olympics didn't allow professional athletes. And I think that would have pleased you. No doubt, people still trained quite a lot for the Olympics. But people there were fewer people who spent their whole lives working up to the day of the race, and more excited young amateurs out to prove themselves. |
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I know it's not the same thing, but this is kind of why people didn't like it when they allowed professionals into the Olympics. |
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//competing third world countries might not do terribly well//
oh of course, because when your populace is starving what's important is winning medals.
[edit]hmm... considering that the current thing to do when there's a bit of unrest is to start a war, that might not be a totally bad idea. |
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[jollysin] could you edit your anno to, you know, make some sort of sense ? |
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If you have selected individuals who are statistically average
for their nation, then you must already know the statistical
average for that nation. In which case, why bother the
competition? All it could do is to prove that your initial
assumptions were wrong, and you'd be back to square half. |
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George Orr would win a gold medal in every event. |
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Most Olympians around these parts have regular jobs. |
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