The hate campaign on Rio, and the Olympics in general, is non-stop across all organs of the press. But what they ignore is all the improvements the Olympics have made in just these short four years since London.
NBC is announcing thousands of hours of additional Olympic coverage. This is a big deal to any fan who cares about a non-prime-time sport. This is the most complete coverage of the Olympics we've ever had, and in a way represents the first fully covered Olympics of all time. Historians, at least, will very much appreciate this facet. There are also new features like ultra-hd and virtual reality coverage.
This is the first time South America has been allowed to host the Olympics, a continent that has dutifully contributed members to the Olympic Games since the very beginning. They are now, finally, being given recognition as equals and partners in the world, and not just handmaidens meant to attend our glorious festivals in our worthy cities to adorn our grandeur. The Olympic Games are about bringing the world together through sport, and letting South America host these games is the truest rendition of that formula. Mexico City hosted the games in 1968, and there's no way Rio today is poorer or less competent than Mexico City was in 1968. The world has come a long ways since then, so it's silly to think that somehow Rio is incapable of hosting a large event. They hosted the World Cup just two years ago without issue, so why not this?
Speaking of bringing the world together, Rio will have an unprecedented 207 participating nations and 10,500 athletes. It is the biggest Olympics of all time, and the most inclusive of all time. Parity between the number of men and women athletes also grows better between every Olympics.
Golf and Rugby, huge sports with large followings around the world, have made their triumphant return to the Rio Olympics. The Olympics now cover even more of all the major sports the world has to offer, with cool events like BMX biking, trampoline gymnastics and beach volleyball already improving the Olympics over the past several years.
Boxing has dropped its requirement that the athletes be amateurs, which has effectively made this sport worthless since the beginning of time. Why watch low quality boxers when you could just watch the real deal outside the Olympics? Now the Olympics, perhaps not this year, but moving forward, will be the most coveted boxing title and have the most people watching, as it should be.
There was a time when such huge sports as Tennis and Table Tennis weren't even in the Olympics. Can you imagine? Sports like sailing get ever better with additional events like the 49erFX and Nacra17.
With Germany reunified and China lifting its boycott of the Olympics in 1984, the USA has more strong rivals to compete against. China's refusal to participate in the Games all this time over the petty issue of Taiwan's name is why they have such a low per capita medal count, but once they've actually started participating they've been a major power in the medal race.
Rio is a beautiful city and the majestic statue of Jesus overlooking it all is a great visual to sum up the entire experience.
USA's 2016 women's gymnastics team is going to put on a show like no other in history. Their quality is beyond what's ever been seen before in the sport. Likewise, our women's soccer team is star studded and expected to totally dominate the competition. USA women have always been our strong suit and it helps when they're all so beautiful.
Rio 2016 is slated to make an unprecedented amount of money via sponsorship and broadcast rights. The whole world is chomping at the bit to watch, with even the US Olympic Trials receiving 8.3 million viewers. Expect billions of people on Earth to have watched this Olympics by the end.
A crackdown on doping has made this the cleanest Olympic games in decades. We'll be watching real champions out there this time.
The whole Brazilian army is deployed to make the Games safe, something neither Atlanta nor Munich managed to do, so complaints about safety are thoroughly hypocritical.
The Olympics will only continue to grow in 2020 at Tokyo, with the welcome return of baseball and softball to the Olympic lineup. Perhaps a few people will get sick this Olympics. Big deal. They've suffered far worse injuries pursuing their sports all their lives. Athletes are the last people that need to be wrapped in swaddling cloths all day. Since it's Winter in Brazil, the weather will be fantastic, a heck of a lot better than summer in Atlanta. Brazil has plenty of unique culture that will be fun to explore during the Games that we've never spotlighted before.
I hope in the future the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe are given a chance to host the games. I don't think India makes much sense given how awful they are at all sports and the heat and humidity of that region. A great crossroads location would be Istanbul, which could cover the needs of North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe all at once. Then we'd just need a games in South Africa and the whole circuit will be completed.
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