Re: "...and the Olympiad cycle.”
Its the poor who are really stupid, throwing away what little money they have on sporting events ... and the wealthy encourage it, to help maintain the status quo.
iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses.