I was always a fan of the Olympic games. The variety of the sport events, the international talent and the (sometimes false) image of enthusiasm that accompanies each performance was always interest to me.
Watching the Opening Ceremonies I couldn't help but admire the women athletes from countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern Muslim countries as well as Afghanistan and others where women are not treated as equals. These women must overcome discrimination and other hardships to succeed at their chosen sports.
Even though they know that they do not live in a perfect system they still chose to represent their own country and march proudly under their flags. That is what sportsmanship is all about.
Many years ago, when I lived in Hungary I could not comprehend the meaning of professional athlete. I could not understand how can one get paid to do sports. Even though back then they had athletes who received help from the government. This help was in the form of job with all the time off to train or a military commission with all the time to train.
It was not an accident that the best athletes and teams came from the club that was affiliated with the military. This is how it was in the Soviet Union and also in all the countries under their control. But, they never admitted that these people were professionals.
Now things changed. People get into sports to make money. The more popular a sport is more money can be made. Look at tennis, golf, baseball, basketball and soccer (football). The amount of money these people are getting paid is obscene!
Why go to school when with a normal job one can never make these amounts?
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