The Olympics - my take

Like many other people from all over the world, our family watched many hours of the recent Winter Olympics. There are many things that I enjoyed from the coverage that I saw, such as the Japanese figure skater's expression when she realized that she won the gold metal and the Chinese ski jumper's expression when he won the gold. I truly enjoyed seeing people who worked so hard receive a reward for their efforts. There were also the things that bothered me, such as the ice skating commentators, it is one thing to point out technical errors that we might not see or understand, it is another thing to make rude comments. The costumes or lack of with some of the skaters was another negative. Although, it is just a sign of our times and how loose the standards have become. Certain athletes attitudes in interviews also showed a certain egotism that was very unappealing. One common thread that I heard over and over that disturbed me greatly was the sacrifice that families made for their children to become star athletes. The eleven year old boy who moves away from home so that he can train for the Olympics, the father that gives up his livelyhood so that his daughter can move to another country to train as a figure skater. I know we all make sacrifices for our children and they in turn should work hard at their life's work. It just seems interesting to me that athletics and entertainment should be put on such a pedestal and the sacrifice of family and childhood should be the cost. I guess I just don't get it. I wonder what God thinks of these priorities.