Couch Surfing

I don’t know about you but I have like millions of others been spending time watching the Olympic coverage on T.V. and reading some of the coverage in the paper. There are a few things run through my mind as I watch them; the first is that a great opportunity is being missed by all those organizations, including government to promote getting fit, to show case the incredible number of activities that one can participate in outdoors even in winter. Instead the most heavily promoted items seem to be 1600 calorie fast food meals or another ad that ran as I write this for chicken, beer and sport with sport being supplied by someone thousands of miles away just as in the fast food commercial. Sixteen hundred coincidentally is just short of the number of calories required by many people for the entire day especially when it is spent couch surfing watching others actually getting out there doing.  

The closest that I've seen an ad come to doing so to this point is one that promoted a web site that shows young people how to connect with Olympic training facilities. This only relates to that small percentage of the population that is already involved in sport has set the Olympics as a goal and just does not know where to go for direction. It does nothing to build a passion in anyone or encourage any new participants.

 If we do not find a way to get people involved in activities that involves more than couch surfing we will end up with a society operating their computers from their hospital beds.

As you watch the Olympics there are many things being promoted as there is during any show, cars, investment plans and the like does anyone else find it amusing to watch athletes many of whom are struggling to make ends meet and draining the family coffers to pursue their dreams being used to promote things they cannot afford.  It helps to prove that the purpose of television is simply to deliver an audience to the advertisers, and on nights when the other networks seem to have given up and are filling the air with reruns they know they have the attention of a large portion of the TV viewing public.

As an aside to the above I know there are those in the higher profile sports who are making a living at what they do and some a very good living, it is why we now see athletes in their thirties still competing, in years past they would have had to go find a job after that one shot they had at their dream. Being able to pursue your passion as a career choice for more than a few years, is not a bad thing, many of them only getting better at their chosen sport. 

Other than the usual whine from those who did not win these are the things that have caught my attention during the games.

Get outside, move, participate, enjoy, it is a big beautiful world explore it from someplace other than your couch.