Editorial: It's simply too big to ignore

The words "Let the Games begin" could not come soon enough as the 30th Olympiad finally got into full swing on Saturday night, after at least a billion people around the globe had watched $53 million going down the drain.

Forewarned of this somewhat excess spend on the opening ceremony - which gave the impression the aftermatch was being held before the Games started - I chose not to watch TV all Saturday because of it, lest I should become a part of it all.

I immediately thought of all the poor kids in Africa, not to mention people's dentistry which had disintegrated from drinking too much Coke, and those turned into fatties by eating too many Big Macs. I think for a moment I even worried about the plight of the two-toed sloth of Central and South America.

Given my chance to protest in peace, I spent the morning struggling with Sudoku (although I breezed-through Code-cracker) and then headed out in the afternoon to watch my favourite rugby team give the mother of a hiding to some blokes from across town who got a 15 together to save face for their club and then endured the mother of a hiding for their trouble.

At home in the evening I switched on the news, at a time by which the opening ceremony should have been well and truly gone.

But there it was: at the end of the news. Switch channels, part of a Games coverage trailer. Another channel, a replay. Another channel, edited highlights. Yet another channel, Games news (including opening ceremony). For a moment I thought of switching to Shine channel.

Suddenly, from where I do no know, emerged some actual sport at the Olympic Games, and being the sports follower that I am, it didn't take long to get a little hooked again.

Nevertheless, in the back of the mind remained the obscenity of the size of the Olympic economy, all of it based on marketing, whether it be the Games themselves, or the interests of the sponsors and anyone else trying to sell something on the basis of some link to the big event.

Some of the figures are so out of this world they tend to become meaningless, but there was one which may have just about said it all.

American broadcasters NBC have apparently secured over US$1 billion in advertising for Games coverage, yet say they will run at a loss on the venture.

The money has to come from somewhere, you know?

I thought of those who'd lost their teeth supporting the Games of the past, or who'd yielded to a bit of obesity, empathised by pulling my hair out, and sat back and watched.

There are some of us who just can't win.