Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for July 26, 2016

That money cannot buy you the honor or prestige of earning your medal(s). Of course, anyone who prizes money the most has neither.

Who won the medals in London 4 years ago?

In golf? No one. There hasn’t been a medalist in golf in 112 years.

In just about anything. Almost no one watches the Olympics. I watch a little of the non-mainstream sports for kicks. I read the overall results when event is over for anything I’m interested in.

Nice to see the repeat of “Cleats” this morning used Tank.

The honor and prestige of doping for a medal? Surely you jest!

I used to watch the Olympics (summer and winter) growing up and as a young adult, but now? Almost never. I can live without sitting through Bob Costas’ snide little comments about different nations during the opening ceremony parade of athletes.

Whatever happened ( he says rhetorically ) to the Olympics being strictly amateur competitions ?

Why on earth should any Pro golfer go to Rio? Winning the US Open is not only worth $$ but it is also a far harder thing to achieve, besides people remember who wins the Masters and the US Open. Who really remember who won say Gymnastics in 1960? Or the 100 meter in say 1984? or say 90% of the winners in swimming in oh I don’t know any olympic in the last 60 years.

But is any medal worth shoddy housing, Zika, or crime or terrorism?

Nothing is worth going to Brazil in general or Rio in particular. The country is a mess, the event is a disaster-in-waiting. Disease, pollution, crime, economic and infrastructure collapse, potential terrorism; and those are its good points.

Steve DutchI was advocating that back in the 1970s. Even team sports could be made international by having players from all over. I even suggested dividing the events into five in different places and times to reduce costs: track and field, combat, water, team sports, and non-team winter sports. I had a further requirement that no country could host any of these if they had troops stationed in any other country.

If you want to see what Rio does best, go to Youtube and search on: 03 PORTELA DESFILE 2016

Amateurism was an invention of the Victorian elites to avoid having to acknowledge the accomplishments of working class athletes. By denying the accomplishments of anyone who got paid for them, they could keep “world records” safely in the hands of those who had the money and leisure time to perform for free, ie. themselves.