Help-conspiracy in SPORT, knowledge and references wanted!

As a South African I've only heard that Blatter and co are corrupt.
Now I'm hearing all kinds of things on the Olympics, PAST OR PRESENT.
I always thought the biggest scandal was the Chinese swimming team looking like blokes, but now it seems it's a major money-spinner, and the symbols of the flame and "patriotic" right-handed-chest-grab are quite masonic and illuminati. What's going on - is "sport" just sport?

all sport is a conspiracy. the idea of a local team or national team is designed to stir your patriotism in ways that stop you from rebelling against the people in charge.

olympics are a global distraction from real world issues.

sports dominate newspapers radio, and television.

while real events go unnoticed.

Originally posted by okamitengu
all sport is a conspiracy. the idea of a local team or national team is designed to stir your patriotism in ways that stop you from rebelling against the people in charge.

olympics are a global distraction from real world issues.

sports dominate newspapers radio, and television.

while real events go unnoticed.

I concur totally. "Sport" is a mini-war, fought symbolically on a pitch.
For some reason it is terribly important to people - the "hoi-polloi". It's quite working class.
Sport was also sacred when the Mayans played it for heads.
I personally think a lot of gender-identity and such comes from sports as well.

On the contrary, I believe sports can provide a respectful platform from which our instinctual natures can be expressed. Predatory, talent, dominance, etc. are all examples of group psychology that can be expressed in modern society 'on the pitch', instead of bloody territorial wars. Sport can even become transcendental for those who use the event as a style of meditation on the perfection of an art form.

"Genius comes in many figurations. It comes in great size and great strength, and great speed, and maybe once in every decade in great artistry. A man will walk softly into the valley of giants and he'll make you wonder, where is the body, where is the strength, where is the speed, how is he going to play a giant's game, how is he going to compensate."

Originally posted by Tgautier13
On the contrary, I believe sports can provide a respectful platform from which our instinctual natures can be expressed. Predatory, talent, dominance, etc. are all examples of group psychology that can be expressed in modern society 'on the pitch', instead of bloody territorial wars. Sport can even become transcendental for those who use the event as a style of meditation on the perfection of an art form.

"Genius comes in many figurations. It comes in great size and great strength, and great speed, and maybe once in every decade in great artistry. A man will walk softly into the valley of giants and he'll make you wonder, where is the body, where is the strength, where is the speed, how is he going to play a giant's game, how is he going to compensate."

I concur - my gripe is more with corrupt sports administrations, rather than the athletes.
I think the issue of who was allowed to be on the sporting pitch has been historically twisted. In Greece and Sparta it excluded women and helots (slaves).
The irony even now is that it is the physically fit performing for an unfit administration - as is the case with war, and so much else.

reply to post by halfoldman

How do you feel about the fact that sport stars face gruelling tests for "recreational drugs", while those in politics and administration never face them!?