The real thing

I watched some real Olympics last night for the first time since the Rio games began.  Of course, the lead story on most of the rest of the news was the pathetic behavior of a few US swimmers who claimed, falsely they were mugged by police.  This cast a pall over what has so far been an exemplary games.  The older I get, the less patience I have for the commercialism of the entire Olympics industry.  From it's inception in ancient Greece it was seen as an opportunity to put aside the disputes of the city states for a specified period of time and engage in a peaceful competition which would allow citizens of potentially warring states to get to know one another.  The modern version started the same way, but has since devolved into an imperial competition which has at various times showcased capitalism, facism and communism.  As budgets have ballooned grotesquely over the years, cities and even nations have staggered under the debt associated with hosting the games.  I wish we could go back to a simpler, economically frugal games without the associated commercialism, but I doubt that will happen.