Terrible Analogies

A friend and I were talking about the Olympics when he made the statement, “I see a lot of negative aspects and nothing positive about it.”  His take was that the winter Olympics was nothing more than a bunch of rich kids getting together to do what they do every weekend anyway.  He also made the statement that the summer Olympics are nothing more than, “economically-challenged kids, all they need is shoes and the ability to haul ass and jump high.”

Needless to say I was taken aback by these insights.

I asked him if he considered spirited competition, patriotism, sportsmanship, and the sharing of cultures to be a bad thing.  I continued to prod, asking him if he thought that years of practice, dedication and sacrifice, all for the chance to represent your country on a worldwide stage for a few fleeting moments was pointless.  I told him that the Olympics presented a rare opportunity in this world for everyone to put aside their differences and to come together to witness athletes at the peak of their training, to watch greatness on a level that’s otherwise alien to everyone save for an infinitesimally small percentage of mankind.

To me, the Olympics bridges languages and borders, knocks down walls of political adversity, and brings people together for a common cause, if for nothing more than a uniquely brief period of time.

I asked my friend what he thought of this.  His answer was to roll his eyes and reach for another beer.  

My reply to this non-verbal communication was to have him pay for the round.