What is the purpose?

All this hype about the Olympics along with all the ridiculous schemes to get money out of the Olympics-goers got me thinking about what the purpose to all of this is. What is the point? So...I looked it up. The original Olympics evolved out of a religious holiday, a day on which the Greeks honoured Zeus. Eventually it evolved into a festival where the citizens of Greece could showcase their athletic prowess and the Greek people could all come together in a friendly, dipolomatic setting. Thinking about the Olympics, it seems that althleticism and getting together have their part to be sure, but I feel that the real driving force behind the Olympics and the real purpose is to make money. I have no qualms with making money, because after all, a person's got to live. It just seems like that's always the main purpose though. I feel like all of the real meaning is being sucked out of events...mascots aren't good luck charms anymore, they're cash cows targeted a little kids whose parents can't say no. I apologize for the rant but it just seems like everything always comes down to money, one of the least valuable things in the end.