I grew up in the 1970s and 80s. Back then we only had four channels, and if the president was on, you were screwed. Good luck finding out if Charo was the secret guest on Fantasy Island, or what happened to Arnold in the back room of the bicycle shop. Nope; you were a prisoner to the State of the Union address.

Because there was not a lot on television, the Olympics got big coverage and would spill out across all the channels. It would be all people talked about for weeks and American Gold medalists were made into instant celebrities. Over the years the mainstream channels have lost viewers in droves. We have entire generations of people now who have never gotten their news from watching it on live TV.

These younger folks don’t have a clue who the lead anchors are, or how long they have been in the news business. The concept of waiting until six o’clock to find out what happened that day seems so archaic that the idea does not even enter their minds.

I bring this up because as the mainstream channels enter their death throws, so follows the Olympics. They used to be able to take an athlete nobody has ever heard of and promote them to star-like levels in mere days, but the days of manufacturing Olympic celebrities are quickly coming to an end.

Back in the day, people knew the games were coming and got very excited. They would start watching the tryouts months ahead and pick out their favorites.

Now you see posts on social media sites that say, “I guess I missed the games, meh, who cares? Did anyone see Game of Thrones? When the hell are the dragons finally going to do something?”

To generations of young people it is no different than watching anything you can see on ten different sports channels any day of the week.

Radio star Brian Hagen posted this on Facebook: "This ancient form of gladiatorial showmanship is mere pissing in the wind. It seems if one country is not at war with another, they at least have to show who has the most cojones by turning to a waxed ice floor and brooms. Also, have you ever seen a good Olympic mascot? They look like homoerotic aliens now."

Kathy Wiest posted on Facebook: "Once I saw the Olympics from the inside, I have never watched the games again. It is a complete racket by the IOC that only cares about its own power, not the athletes. I actually feel sorry for the athletes that sacrifice so much for this. I would support privatizing the games but the Socialist run IOC would never allow it."

Frank LeClair said, “I don't have a problem with the international competition. Much or our society is centered around competition, at least for entertainment purposes, and I do believe it is important for athletes to compete internationally to see who is the best, fastest, strongest, etc., etc. What I don't agree with is the pomp & circumstance surrounding it.

Millions of dollars spent preparing a city for the event, millions more spent as each country/city tries to outdo the others with their spectacles of entertainment. I read an article that said most host cities have lost money hosting the Olympics. That's money that could have been spent much better to improve opportunities for poverty-stricken citizens in their area.”

World-renowned philosopher, Stefan Molyneux, reminds us who is actually paying for this: “The Olympics is always sold to the captive citizenry as a way to make money; as if, somehow, your money being siphoned out of your wallet and your children’s futures, and going to developers, athletes, and IOC executives, is somehow going to make you richer. Well of course that is not true at all.”

Molyneux goes on to say, “No modern games have ever made a red cent; what they do is inflate the returns and deflate the costs. This Enron-style accounting is how they sell the Games to the captive citizenry. Past games have been complete fiscal disasters.

The citizens of these towns or cites have been paying off these debts for sometimes four decades or more. Of course the few people that made a profit are long gone, the athletes are retired, and still the hapless people who weren't even born when the Olympics took place are continuing to pay the debts of 'playtime' for the rich kids.

As you watch these rich kids reaching for a medal, they have another hand reaching deep inside the pockets of you and your children. As they slide deeper and deeper down the hill, they slide into debt and enslavement.”