Col#273- 2/11/26
THE OLYMPIC$
By
Richard Davis
The Olympics are a great escape from the crazy world we live in, if you can afford to watch them. Television cable bills are outrageous, but they are still showing the most popular events on major networks. The Olympics include lots of other events that are only available to watch if you pony up even more money than your cable bill and opt for the premium level of Peacock.
The modern-day Olympics always had a large financial element to it, but in 2026 it seems to me that the situation has reached a new level where the big media outlets hold the public hostage unless they dole out more and more money for viewing. There may be free ways to watch events that I am not aware of, especially with so many live stream options.
And then there are the athletes. They have not been amateurs for many years. That may not be such a bad thing, because it costs so much money to dedicate your life to trying to best the best athlete in the world.
Professionals now play in many Olympic sports, but I was a bit surprised when I saw advertisements during the Olympics that used currently competing athletes to promote products. I guess that is just the world we live in today.
All of the money issues aside, the Olympics are still worth watching because of the drama and the back stories that make the events so compelling. It was interesting to find out that the two top Dutch female speed skaters are considered national heroes in the Netherlands. As the camera panned the crowd at the speed skating venue it was uplifting and comical to see so many people dressed in orange, many of whom sported orange wigs that looked more like bad mops than wigs.
The competition among countries also provides a degree of drama. It is easy to cast aside politics and simply watch elite athletes ski at 90 miles an hour or push the curling stone ever so gently. All of the athletes have a common bond, something that surges their adrenaline and pushes them to levels of performance they have never achieved before. That is really what the Olympics are all about.
When I watch skiers risk their lives racing down a mountain and pushing their bodies beyond sensible limits, I begin to understand what it means to compete in the Olympics. It means that you are willing to push your body hard enough to become the best in the world at hockey or luge or skiing. The Olympics are the premier event that allows athletes to find out where they stand in the world.
The sacrifice of athletes may be worth all of the money that has propelled the modern Olympics. Mere mortals are given a chance to sit back in the comfort of their living rooms every four years and forget about the troubles of our insane world for hours at a time and that may be worth the price of admission.
