One of the most baffling social conventions of modern human society is the tendency of people to dedicate a large section of their lives to a sports team. This is a well-known and almost universal fact for all peoples of the world, and it has been explained as a way of satisfying the need to be part of a large group while avoiding most of the complications that come with other larger groups, such as political, national, ethnic groups etc.
One other hard-to-explain aspect of sports, particularly athletics, is the commitment to achieve an ever more impressive statistic. Athletics should be a celebration of the strength of the human body and mind. It should be an inspiration to become healthy. Can we, in all honesty, look at the Olympics and claim that what we see has anything to do with health? Many of the sports are not healthy at all. The training regimen for a marathon can permanently damage the body of the athlete. There is literally no health benefit of running one hundred meters, a fraction of a second quicker than some other athlete. On the contrary, most athletics come with health complications.
In its current form, athletics is about the attention of the masses. Athletics events are not even particularly profitable for the organizers. People like to watch athletes and imagine themselves in their shoes and daydream about ridiculous fantasies. Most athletes are either degenerates or simpletons. Surely, they are not role models for the children.
The competitive nature of sports is not necessarily to blame. However, we must take a hard look at sports and question: is there anything related to health or discipline left in sports? I say, do not watch the so-called sports channels and whatever event they are promoting. Do not even watch the Olympics. Instead schedule a friendly game of basketball or football or whatever you like with your friends. Some may say there is a time and a place for both. I say it is a waste of time and money to train for or watch professional competitive events. Play it yourself instead.