Even with the current Olympics being as bad as they are...

[Archae]

What was the worst you remember?

For me it was the 1972 Olympics.

The Palestinian attack.

The East German female swimmers being so doped up.

The Soviet/US basketball game farce at the end.

[Javaman]

1. The US boycott.

I love Jimmy Carter, but I will never ever forgive him for that.

[badtoworse]

2. +1 We looked like a bunch of jerks

[11 Bravo]

6. What did you think of the Soviet bloc boycott of the '84 LA Games?

(I agree with you about 1980, but the '84 boycott doubly pissed me off because I was there. Among other events, I had two tickets to the basketball finals; and if it had come down to the US vs USSR I could have sold those tickets for enough to pay for my whole trip!)

[Javaman]

8. I thought the soviets were morons too. nt

[sabrina 1]

3. I think this year's Olympics are fantastic.

The world is certainly enjoying them and the athletes seem to be thrilled to be there.

The Olympics should have zero to do with politics, and countries that try to inject politics into them only make themselves look like they don't understand what they are about. Naturally war mongering nations never like anything that promotes the PEOPLE of the world getting along with each other and respecting each other. That is definitely a threat to countries whose policies involve creating an atmosphere of hatred around the world.

It is also sad that this country is now viewed as a war mongering, dangerous nation in most parts of the world.

[FSogol]

4. The current Olympics have been pretty good.*

* This does not = support for Putin or his despicable policies.

[Romulox]

5. With Sochi, the Olympics have finally slipped into utter irrelevance.

It doesn't help that the Winter Olympics is mostly a showcase for various forms of ice dancing.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. They are all a huge orgy of marketing and product placement

This one has the added bigotry and oppressive legal environment added to the mix. I'm not sure why anyone who is not fully Corporate would enjoy an event that exists to sell cereal and soda while creating the next generation of 'star endorsers' of cereal and soda. Under the best circumstances, Olympics are just a long commercial.