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Why a U.S. Olympic boycott would be really bad idea

By boycotters' logic, we should have boycotted the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, because China has a deplorable human rights record. People pushing for a boycott
Michael Rosenberg|
Why a U.S. Olympic boycott would be really bad idea
Why a U.S. Olympic boycott would be really bad idea

By boycotters' logic, we should have boycotted the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, because China has a deplorable human rights record. People pushing for a boycott misunderstand the Olympics. Of all the possible threats against another country -- war, weapons buildups, cutting humanitarian aid, etc. -- an Olympic boycott threat is comically toothless. But if you send your finest athletes to that country, they can help open minds and reduce tensions, at least a little bit. The Olympics only work, on a political and moral level, if people participate.

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Michael Rosenberg
MICHAEL ROSENBERG

Michael Rosenberg is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering any and all sports. He writes columns, profiles and feature stories and has covered almost every major sporting event. He joined SI in 2012 after working at the Detroit Free Press for 13 years, eight of them as a columnist. Rosenberg is the author of “War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and America in a Time of Unrest.” Several of his stories also have been published in collections of the year’s best sportswriting. He is married with three children.

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