Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week or so you've been no stranger to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. America's finest athletes gather together to show their extreme athletic prowess in their respective sports while we, the common folk, stuff Doritos in our mouths and score gymnasts on their vaults and critiquing swimmers on their times. It's hard for the average American, who probably only played one sport in high school, to put in perspective just how extraordinary these athletes really are! I propose that for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan we implement a new regulation to add a regular Joe Schmoe to every Olympic category. Yes, even the canoe sprint.
Think about how many times Lebron James has been called a pansy for benching himself due to a calf cramp, or how many times you've heard, "Jesus Christ, Farve! Just stay retired!" These athletes, Olympians or not, have received a lot of unnecessary flack from people who could only qualify for the Olympics if couch potato-ing and Netflix binging were a sanctioned sport. To put things in perspective for the average American we need a scale of sorts to show the insane magnitude these athletes are competing on. Alongside the archers, golfers, divers, and boxers, we should throw in old uncle Jim for comparison! Sure, these sports look like a breeze but that's only because you're tucked in your lazy boy with an ice cold beer and not out there on the court or field.
Imagine watching Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, alongside Chad; the jerk you knew in high school that thinks just because his parents owned a pool when he was a kid, he "could probably win a medal or two." Our perspective would be forever altered after watching a regular person flounder alongside an almost superhuman competitor. Professional athletes, especially Olympians, aren't given their due credit for literally refining their craft! Instead, they're critiqued and mocked by people who don't know the difference between rowing and sailing. The Joe Schmoe initiative would open the eyes of these "couch judges," whilst hopefully instilling a little respect, too.
Don't get me wrong, I too am guilty of throwing out a gymnast's score with a Twizzler in my left hand and a coke in my right. I think everyone could benefit from this athletic scale. Not only would it increase the pure entertainment of the sports it's applied to but it would motivate both athletes and average Americans alike! Athletes would be pushed to continue to go above and beyond to define greatness in their respective sports, while regular people like you and I would be prompted into getting off the couch and training to be a Scale (did I not mention scale selections would be like the drawings in "The Hunger Games").
