The Olympic Games are supposed to be a peaceful event where participants put aside their differences and compete against each other in sports. There will always be reasons to boycott a specific country, but let’s rise above those reasons and let our young athletes compete.
The case to boycott the 2022 Winter Games is because of human rights abuses in the game’s host country of China. The idea is for a symbolic protest with the hopes of creating a financial loss for the investors already involved. It is a foolish concept that won’t produce anything other than punishment for our own athletes.
The Chinese government is clearly guilty of atrocious which warrant sever punishment. Those punishments should be placed on those who committed the human rights crimes, those who helped, and those who protect the latter two groups. Needless to say, American athletes are not involved in the human rights abuses of China. Punishing them misapplies the sanction to an innocent party.
The action of the Olympics are the sports themselves, not the special interest pieces on the background of the host country. So let’s ignore Marxist NBC and their propaganda and focus on the competition. If you watch their “news” broadcasts, then you already know that NBC is diseased with leftist propaganda anyways so there won’t be much difference. Moreover, there are so many mediums offering more detailed background on China than any network’s Olympic coverage could possibly produce. A book recommendation on this is Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt, an excellent history on China’s relationship with the world. Read that during Mike Trico’s boring Chinese government approved segments.
Team USA always has a talented squad at the Olympics. This year is no different in that regard. Let our athletes show the world what they can do.
An Olympic athlete has a short window of time to maximize on their earning potential as an athlete. Michael Phelps is a big name, every four years that is, and then after he stopped swimming his brand became instantly reduced. And he had a prolonged career, most Olympians don’t have that kind of longevity. Professional sports such as baseball and basketball offer a longer career and spotlight every season, not just one every four years. Tony Gwynn and Kobe Bryant played for 20 years, keeping their brand in the market for that entire time. Both of them have passed on, RIP, but their names and their on-the-field accomplishments remain part of pop culture. This is not the same case for Olympians. Missing one Olympics is devasting to a young athlete’s earning potential and does not compare to missing one or two seasons in baseball or basketball. Let the young men and women enjoy this time in their life because once that athletic window closes it does not reopen in the same form at all.
My favorite events are the downhill skiing races. It is my understanding that Team USA has some serious talent here, especially Mikaela Shiffrin. After the downhill races, my next favorite is the biathlon. No other event offers such a tremendous contrast in skillset in how a competitor must calm an incredibly accelerated heartrate to accurately fire a rifle at a target, then spring up and bolt to the next target as fast as they can.
Telling Team USA that they can’t participate punishes our own young athletes who worked their tail off to be at the height of their sport and pulling them out would give more opportunities to China to win Gold. I doubt I need to remind an Olympic audience that every Gold comes with a podium ceremony where the National Anthem of the winner is played. So for our athletes, and for the number of times communist China will be forced to listen to our National Anthem, do not boycott the Olympics. Now, let’s go kick some commi butt.
