The Enhanced Games are a clarifying mirror. What they reflect is a culture that has been quietly converting its transformational institutions into transactional ones for decades
The Enhanced Games clarify things by being honest about what they are AND what the Olympics and elite sport have quietly become. TUEs, NIL, NBC deals….
Imagine a whistleblower inside the Enhanced Games. What would they expose? There is nothing to blow a whistle on. The institution does what it says it does. It produces optimized human output for paying spectators. You can fail it commercially. You cannot fail it morally, because it has no moral frame to fail.
The Enhanced Games cannot fail…only succeed or close. It’s not the future of sport. It’s same as everything we let get optimized.
The Enhanced Games didn’t cause this. They are the late symptom of a disease elite sport already had. Their honesty is the only thing distinguishing them from the institutions they’re disrupting.
The honest defense of the Olympics isn’t that they are clean. They aren’t. The honest defense is that they still claim to be about something larger than the result.
Second, with AI I hear from parents of kids who use it to draft their essays: "My kid is good at math but not at writing. ChatGPT is just his calculator. What's the difference?"
Third, in the small southern town where I spent much of my youth, sports is the ticket out of a life of poverty with few options. Making the choice to not participate in the "enhancement" culture if every other kid is doing it becomes a much more fraught decision.
I raise these issues because I'm always searching for the right language to respond to these examples. Perhaps readers here have thoughts.
Regardless, worth reading this for many reasons, including this line: "...the one feeling inadequate because their peak athletic moment came decades ago, back when they scored four touchdowns for Polk High."
Loved the article, really made me think about the meaning of sports to me, which, at the beginning of my sports journey, was all about metrics—how many goals did I score, how many km did I run, at what pace, and how many BPMs. However, I met my current coach whose philosophy is, enjoy it, you're here for you. I'm 29, so I'm probably not going to be a professional athlete. The goal of doing a marathon is not the time or the pace, is the experience, and the people, the cheering and your fellow runners, your internal battle conquered. And the questions started to sound different to myself, now I ask how much did I enjoy my run, did I have fun, how did I feel physically. If those answers are positive, then it was a great run.
As I read the article I kept thinking, what can we do? Besides the basics we know—liking, sharing, talking about it, and hope that it gets to right ears. But there must be something else we can do as individuals, and I believe is to stop over-focusing on the metrics, and start focusing on enjoying. At the end of the day, what we remember of our races, competitions, is the experience, not the pace. You remember your competitors, the funny sign on the side of the road, the lady who handed you a banana mid-race, the cute dog, the feeling of sharing one goal with everyone around you.
Many of us reading this are not going to become professional athletes, and many of us don't even want to. So what's the point of measuring so intensely and comparing yourself? You can start by asking yourself and others, "how did I feel," instead of "how many km did I run" (if you're wearing a watch or following a training plan you already know, no need to go over it again), "did I enjoy it?" instead of, "at what pace did I run." Let's start focusing on enjoyment instead of metrics and results, this will help us and others stay true to the reason we are training, and hopefully, we can start combating this vicious circle in our family, friends, and communities.
Steve, Once again you shine the light on the cockroaches... Enhanced games will be the Mara Lago lips of the sporting world. One more floodgate opening in our world. Thanks for your piece.
I came for the insights but stayed for the Al Bundy reference. Love your work, Steve.
Ha thanks. I was proud of that one.
Steve, I feel like you are the cop on the beat. Thanks for your vigilance!
I think the normalcy left the building and is lost to the greater world. I tread similar terrain in my piece Fear and Longevity in Las Vegas
https://substack.com/@thelunagrove/p-176125478
The Enhanced Games are a clarifying mirror. What they reflect is a culture that has been quietly converting its transformational institutions into transactional ones for decades
The Enhanced Games clarify things by being honest about what they are AND what the Olympics and elite sport have quietly become. TUEs, NIL, NBC deals….
Imagine a whistleblower inside the Enhanced Games. What would they expose? There is nothing to blow a whistle on. The institution does what it says it does. It produces optimized human output for paying spectators. You can fail it commercially. You cannot fail it morally, because it has no moral frame to fail.
The Enhanced Games cannot fail…only succeed or close. It’s not the future of sport. It’s same as everything we let get optimized.
The Enhanced Games didn’t cause this. They are the late symptom of a disease elite sport already had. Their honesty is the only thing distinguishing them from the institutions they’re disrupting.
The honest defense of the Olympics isn’t that they are clean. They aren’t. The honest defense is that they still claim to be about something larger than the result.
I wish more people can read this. Sport is the only real thing left in this world.
First, +1.
Second, with AI I hear from parents of kids who use it to draft their essays: "My kid is good at math but not at writing. ChatGPT is just his calculator. What's the difference?"
Third, in the small southern town where I spent much of my youth, sports is the ticket out of a life of poverty with few options. Making the choice to not participate in the "enhancement" culture if every other kid is doing it becomes a much more fraught decision.
I raise these issues because I'm always searching for the right language to respond to these examples. Perhaps readers here have thoughts.
Regardless, worth reading this for many reasons, including this line: "...the one feeling inadequate because their peak athletic moment came decades ago, back when they scored four touchdowns for Polk High."
Reading this may be the only thing I have enjoyed about this neatly packaged lie...
Loved the article, really made me think about the meaning of sports to me, which, at the beginning of my sports journey, was all about metrics—how many goals did I score, how many km did I run, at what pace, and how many BPMs. However, I met my current coach whose philosophy is, enjoy it, you're here for you. I'm 29, so I'm probably not going to be a professional athlete. The goal of doing a marathon is not the time or the pace, is the experience, and the people, the cheering and your fellow runners, your internal battle conquered. And the questions started to sound different to myself, now I ask how much did I enjoy my run, did I have fun, how did I feel physically. If those answers are positive, then it was a great run.
As I read the article I kept thinking, what can we do? Besides the basics we know—liking, sharing, talking about it, and hope that it gets to right ears. But there must be something else we can do as individuals, and I believe is to stop over-focusing on the metrics, and start focusing on enjoying. At the end of the day, what we remember of our races, competitions, is the experience, not the pace. You remember your competitors, the funny sign on the side of the road, the lady who handed you a banana mid-race, the cute dog, the feeling of sharing one goal with everyone around you.
Many of us reading this are not going to become professional athletes, and many of us don't even want to. So what's the point of measuring so intensely and comparing yourself? You can start by asking yourself and others, "how did I feel," instead of "how many km did I run" (if you're wearing a watch or following a training plan you already know, no need to go over it again), "did I enjoy it?" instead of, "at what pace did I run." Let's start focusing on enjoyment instead of metrics and results, this will help us and others stay true to the reason we are training, and hopefully, we can start combating this vicious circle in our family, friends, and communities.
I hadn't even heard of this. Sad
Steve, Once again you shine the light on the cockroaches... Enhanced games will be the Mara Lago lips of the sporting world. One more floodgate opening in our world. Thanks for your piece.