Boycott Olympics?
Does the performance of Jessie Owens make any other country shy away from starting a war with us because he beat all those other countries by simply running faster than the rest? Does it make a case for our politics or choice of government and who's is better?
I'm only addressing this little part because it pretty much answers the rest. Host countries have used the Olympics to show the world how great they are. In fact, this goes much further than just the olympics. Every sporting event the world over, from a pro game to a sandlot game is to used to demostrate not just the athlete's superiority over those they best, but the school's or neighborhood's or side of the street's, etc's superiority over the other. Used not just by the athlete's, but by all members of that group. So the thought that countries would use the superiority of their runners and shot putters as proof of the greatness of Americans over the Russians. And if we lose of few of those, well they can have that individual medal, but we'll win more over all so take that. The question isn't really why it becomes political. Its human nature.
As far as Jesse Owens making a case for our politics and choice of government. You bet your bottom dollar it did. Nothing really ****** Hitler off quite like Jesse coming in and spanking the Germans, which was a major blow to the myth of Aryan Superiority. Of course this was underscored with the irony of the racism such characters felt back home. The victories of Jewish competitors accomplished the same. Not only did these prove that Jews and blacks could compete equally with the 'superior' race but beat them as well.
So in that case, there are very important points made in sports all the time, not just the olympics. Think of Jackie Robinson, Chuck Cooper, Kenny Washington, and the thousands of other athletes who shattered notions that women, blacks, jews, etc couldn't do the things that white men could do. Why is that? Because not much is more respected (rightly or wrongly) than the accomplishments on the field. Not one of those pioneers would claim they were just beating the other guy. They were proving they and those of their heritage/gender/religion could do it too.
Sports will always mean more than just you v. me if anyone else knows about it. Hell just look at this entire board and the non-stop smack that goes down between Saints and XXXXX fans. Your city sucks, your fans suck, your women are ugly. Just the way it is and always will be.
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