The Winter v. Summer Olympics Debate – Overpaying or Securing the Future?

February 22, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Bleacher Fan.



The Olympics continues to captivate America (Did you know the Olympics scored more viewers last Wednesday night than American Idol, marking the first time in nearly six years that Idol has been defeated in total viewers?). The Sports Debates has tried to give you different perspectives on the Olympics in what has been a very successful period for TSD. We have given you three debates on the Olympics and we wrap that up with today’s verdict. Today’s debate is centered on the water cooler question of “Which Olympics are better… Summer or Winter?”

Bleacher Fan, who is arguably TSD’s biggest fan of the Olympics, obviously is a strong proponent of the Winter Olympics. While not disrespecting the Summer Games, it is rather easy to see that this debater gets a thrill out of seeing extreme sports. Conceding the fact that the Summer Olympics offer a greater variety of games, Bleacher Fan argues that the events featured in the Winter games are “designed to test the human ability to master the ice and snow.”

Babe Ruthless, on the other hand, argues vehemently (and often sarcastically) in favor of the Summer Olympics. A brief history lesson is presented to us, and I am not sure that makes the argument any better. A good point is brought up in the fact that the Winter Olympics are only able to cater to specific countries from a geographical standpoint. Meanwhile, the Summer Olympics is an event that is open to everyone. Obviously, it is difficult for someone in Florida to practice snow skiing! Babe’s argument also shows the numbers. Yes, the Winter Olympics are having solid numbers across the board, but it does not compare to the popularity of the Summer Olympics. The Summer Olympics had four billion viewers for the Beijing opening ceremonies? Wow, that is a lot, and I did not realize it was anywhere close to that! Then Babe went all ruthless on us, and gave us images we would just assume not visualize, even though they are very funny!

The winner of this debate is Babe Ruthless. I feel like the facts presented by both sides tend to go in the favor of Mr. Ruthless. Also, Bleacher Fan even wrote that the summer games are more mainstream. They appeal to a larger mass audience. Not to mention the fact that generally you would think it is more expensive to train and practice as a young child for Winter events. That is assuming an athlete lives in a place where they are able to train and practice with regularity. The majority of this country would be unable to practice skiing on a regular basis. However, as Babe Ruthless noted, all the athletes need to practice for many of the Summer events is a field.

The ability to appeal to a much wider audience, as both a fan and a participant, make the Summer Olympics far superior to the Winter Olympics. In defeat, Bleacher Fan is being ordered to wear one of those figure skating outfits that Babe Ruthless mentioned in the winning argument.

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Posted by Loyal Homer

The Winter v. Summer Olympics Debate – Winter or Summer… Who Takes The Gold?

February 19, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Bleacher Fan.



For two weeks a year every four Winters, the whole world is captivated by seeing athletes from all over the world compete for the gold in events like speed skating, curling, and figure skating. That is what is going on right now with the Winter Olympics. Likewise, for two weeks a year every four Summers, millions and millions of folks are fascinated by watching events like swimming, gymnastics and men’s basketball. The next summer Olympics are scheduled for London in the summer of 2012.

I will admit that, at the encouragement of my colleagues, my cold feelings towards the Olympics may be slowly thawing out! Loyal Homer had a birthday yesterday and while at dinner with friends last night the majority of the 15 people in my crew had their eyes glued to the TVs at the bar watching Olympic skiing. And yes I did pay attention… in between stuffing my face with a steak!

In the meantime, The Sports Debates thought it would be really cool to debate: Which version of the Olympics are better?

I am leaving the definition of “better” open ended, which should leave a wide open debate.

Bleacher Fan, who is arguably the biggest Olympic fan out of the four of us, will argue that the Winter Olympics is the best. Meanwhile, Babe Ruthless will try to convince me, and perhaps you, that the Summer Olympics are better.

For the record, I am encouraging both Bleacher Fan and Babe Ruthless that I truly need to be convinced of which is better. I am admittedly not nearly as knowledgeable on this topic as many of our readers are. Both sides obviously have advantages. It is up to you to convince me which is better!

The torch has been lit by Loyal Homer. Let the games begin!

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Posted by Loyal Homer

The Winter v. Summer Olympics Debate – Summer Games

February 19, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Bleacher Fan.



Is it even a question that the Olympic Summer Games are far superior to their fledgling counterpart, the Winter Games? Seriously, the Summer Games have a history steeped in tradition that goes back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks around 776 BC. The Winter Games are less than 100 years old. The Summer Games feature hundreds of sports and thousands of competitors. The Winter Games feature fewer. The Summer Games have a global appeal. The Winter Games are regional and somewhat of a novelty act. The Summer Games boast some of the most intense and masculine competitions of athletic prowess ever imagined. The Winter Games… not so much. The Summer Olympic Games are the genuine article in comparison to the Winter Games’ cheap knockoff. The Summer Games are bigger and better in every way.

Not convinced? Imagine you are at one of the first Olympic Games in ancient Greece. You can keep it rated G by imagining it before all the nude competition stuff started with the Spartans (which for the record, is freaky-deaky). Now imagine you are listening to the play-by-play calls of an ancient sports commentator. What do you think you would hear? Would it sound something like this?

“And Cleisthenes makes a flawless transition from the double axel into a perfect triple toe loop.”

Probably not. But if I were to say, “Alexandros slams Demetrios to the ground and grapples him into submission” you might be more inclined to admit that sounds appropriate. Why? Because the Olympic Games have an ancient history… that is not tied to Winter sports.

The ancient Olympic competition included the following: horse and chariot racing, wrestling, and running, among others. Each event was found throughout the ancient world, which could be practiced throughout the empire. The modern Olympic Games, date back to the turn of the 20th Century and featured some of the same lineup as the ancient games. While the contests have increased exponentially in number, they have been true to the game’s roots, an athletic competition in which any athlete can engage. The same can not be said of the Winter Games.

The Winter Olympic Games cater to specific countries, those with snowy regions or the ability to practice in those places. Every now and then, a country or athlete gains global attention as an exception to this norm, like the now world famous Jamaican bobsled team or this year’s skier from Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah-Achempong – the Snow Leopard. Unfortunately the performance of these novelty acts is usually substandard. The Summer Olympic Games, however, focus on sports that are as widely practiced as they are ancient in nature. There is nothing elitist or segregated about the Summer Games. For the most part they can be practiced anywhere there is an athlete and a field. The Summer Games are truly a competition for the world, and the numbers reflect it.

More than 11,000 athletes competed in more than 300 events across 28 sports during the last Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. This year’s Winter Games feature just 5,000 athletes, less than half the number of participants in the Summer Games. The Beijing games had almost 4 billion viewers during the opening ceremonies. While the Vancouver Games – which are shaping up to be one of the most watched Winter Games in Olympic history – had just a 67.5 million viewer audience for the opening ceremonies. The numbers do not lie. The Winter Olympics just cannot compete.

Now I have proven that the Summer Games are better because of their history, appeal, and in sheer numbers of participants and spectators. All these arguments are strong, intellectual, and probably appeal to data driven fans like Sports Geek. But I want to make sure everyone is on board in acknowledging the Summer Games as supreme, so I am going to do what I do best – get Ruthless.

The Summer Games are the biggest compilation of the most awesome sports on the planet. The Winter Games, however, carry about as much machismo as a tickle fight. The Summer Olympics feature sports that comprise many of the individual aspects of modern MMA (i.e. wrestling, boxing, judo, and taekwondo), while the Winter Games feature competitions like curling (seriously… how is that an Olympic Sport and baseball isn’t!?). In 1996 Kurt Angle, Olympic wrestler turned professional wrestler, won the gold with a broken neck. Curling is so gentle one of the Canadian team’s backups is able to do it despite being five months pregnant.

The Summer Olympics boasted unadulterated competitions of manliness, like weightlifting, shooting, and archery. The Winter Olympics feature competitive ice dancing. And yes, the Winter Games have a couple of manly sports, like hockey and the biathlon, (a combination of cross country skiing and marksmanship), but do those make up for the male figure skating costumes? I don’t think so! Even the Americans have lost their minds when it comes to figure skating costumes. American figure skater Johnny Weir wore pink tassels in something that looks like it came out of a Fredricks of Hollywood catalog. I do not know about you, but I do not think that is what the ancient Greeks had in mind. Sure these guys are proudly representing our country, but that sort of stuff just does not have the same mass appeal as watching the American NBA all-stars rip up the boards against defenseless third world countries during the Summer Games. To me, even the gymnastics competitions of the Summer Olympics have more appeal.

There is no doubt the Summer Games are the better than the Winter Games in every measurable way.

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Posted by Babe Ruthless

The Winter v. Summer Olympics Debate – A Winter Wonderland

February 19, 2010

Read the opposing argument from Babe Ruthless.



I am an Olympics junkie!

Summer or Winter Games, I love them all! There is just something special about watching athletes who have dedicated four years of their lives all as build up to a window of only three to five minutes. Watching as the chosen few who vault into the legendary status of “greatest in the world” get to celebrate the triumphant completion of a life’s work is truly one of the finest payoffs that a sports fan can hope for. When that glorious moment just so happens to be for a compatriot, then all the better!

In the debate of which is better between the two, though, there is no question – the Winter Olympics are unparalleled.

The Summer Olympics may offer a greater variety of games, but it is during the Winter Games that fans are treated to the greatest speeds and highest risks (for all you extreme sports fans), making for the most exciting and entertaining of competitive events.

From Bobsled and Luge to Downhill Skiing to Speed Skating, every one of the events during the Winter Games is designed to test the human ability to master the ice and snow. Often, that mastery manifests itself in jaw-dropping demonstrations of extreme speeds and stunts. Many of the Winter events feature high-flying acrobatics, break-neck speeds, and gravity-defying aerial demonstrations. The Summer Olympics offer none of that (except maybe in Olympic Trampolining – Ooooohhhhh!).

During the Summer Games, the events are usually about who can throw the farthest, or run and jump the best. While those events make for great competition, they simply cannot compete with the thrill that comes from watching your fellow natives sail down a snow-capped mountain at greater than 70 miles per hour. The sharp turns, steep slopes, and lightning speeds create an adrenaline rush that the Summer Games simply cannot compete against. That is what the thrill-seeker in all of us hopes to see – the daring few who are brave enough to push themselves to the limits of safety (and sanity).

As tragic as the death of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvila is, his accident punctuates the very real danger that exists for those competing during the Winter Olympics. And although fans would never hope for a tragedy such as the one that occurred last Friday, it cannot be denied that the thrill of watching these athletes test themselves (and the laws of physics) in such a death-defying manner creates an added level of attraction. When we see athletes who masterfully execute seemingly superhuman feats, all at the risk of their own well-being, we as fans develop a much greater appreciation for the truly remarkable skills that those athletes possess.

Finally, the Olympics are considered “special.” Why? Because the Olympics are a rare-occurring opportunity for all of the world’s top athletes to congregate in a single exhibition that honors the very best. They are meant to create a sense of “You don’t want to miss this!”… because you know it will not come back any time soon. Yet, it is the Winter Games that seem to embrace the sense of specialness much more than its Summer counterpart.

Perhaps it is because the marquis Summer events are more mainstream. Events like basketball, tennis, volleyball, soccer, baseball (although it will not be included in future Olympics), track and field, and now golf all seem to receive a great deal of attention in American culture. Fans of those events already have ready access on a yearly basis to watch the best in the world compete. Leagues and organizations such as the NBA, FIFA, MLB, PGA, and the ATP World Tour are permeated with international talent, and it is those same athletes who then participate in the Olympic Games, they just wear different shirts.

If I miss the Olympic Basketball tournament, I can still see those same athletes compete against each other in a couple months. Likewise, if I miss the soccer events I have organizations like the MLS, Premiere League, UEFA, or the FIFA World Cup in order to “get my fix” long before the Olympics roll around again. With the exception of hockey (which may be returning to “amateur only” status after Vancouver), the Winter Olympics presents the only real opportunity for fans to see many of these athletes compete together. If I miss out on watching Speed Skating, Downhill Skiing, or Freestyle Moguls as they unfold, I will not get another chance to see that level of elite competition take place for another four years. I will have missed something special.

These athletes may go on to participate in world championships, but the Winter Olympics is the only time when they get to take center stage. After they are done competing, Shani Davis, Lindsey Vonn, and Apollo Ohno will slip into obscurity for another four years, and it will not be until 2014 that these rarely seen (but nonetheless revered) superstars will resurface for another shot at Olympic gold.

The Summer Olympics may offer quantity, but it is the quality of competition that earns the gold medal for the Winter Games. The Winter Olympics present the perfect combination of athleticism, adrenaline, and rarity to let you know that you are watching something great!

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

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