The Olympics

My husband hates the olympics, so I don't watch it a lot when he's around. Since he's working tonight, I decided to watch. Growing up, my family used to watch the whole thing and loved it. Somehow, though, it's not as fun as it used to be. I think the first disappointment is when they switched to staggering the Winter and Summer games. It used to be so special because you had to wait four years to see it. But now, there's an Olympics every two years. Sure, the weather is different, but America dominates in both anyhow, and they're really all the same. Summer: Gymnastics is the non-sport competition, Winter: Figure Skating (which I find comical how they're trying to make the judging all technical). Admittedly, these are my two favorite events in the olympics, but I will have to concede that my husband's opinion that any competition where judges have to determine if you won or not (as opposed to simply counting who made more goals, baskets, etc. or seeing who crossed the finish line first) is too objective to be a "true" sport. I agree that holy crap do you have to be in good shape to do what they do, but do question how it can be a sport if the end result can be doubted or questioned. But then, same seems to hold for the last Super Bowl (but let's not get into that right now).

So anyhow, Lindsay Jacobellis screwed up. She was cocky and showboated when she should have just finished the race and not fallen on her butt during her run in the Snowboard Cross. So I'm watching Bob Costas interview her, and she's talking about how she was having a blast and she stopped paying attention. But as I watched her in her interview, I gotta say, Bob Costas seemed to be pushing, trying to make her look cocky, and she came across as pretty level-headed. I didn't see any of the footage earlier today, but my gut reaction had been that she better not be whiny or cocky since she did screw up, fall down, and still get a silver medal. I know it's a disappointment to America not to get all golds, but they were talking this up as a major sports guffaw that will go down in history (assuming NBC can hype it up enough, I suppose) because there's no situation just like it. They sited a past Super Bowl when Leon Lett tried to showboat his way into the endzone and a Buffalo guy caught up to him and knocked the ball out of his hand, preventing the touchdown. They said it wasn't the same because the team (I'm guessing Dallas and I could look it up but feel too lazy and it doesn't really matter) ended up winning by 35 points. Well, frankly, I think this is the same. This 20 year old girl - with a Visa commercial before the Olympics even started (that now has much more comic potential) - wins the silver medal in the Olympics, even after showboating and falling on her butt during a race. The rest of her team played it straight, worked hard, and got nothing (I don't know for sure if an American got bronze - or even gold - since I didn't really pay attention; I just know she got silver), and will go home with a fond memory of a trip to Italy and the Olympics, and a time when their teammate with the commercial contract got it all.

Maybe the lesson here is modesty. Obviously these athletes have a strong work ethic. They have to to compete at this level. But the Olympics don't just reward hard work. I'm sure athletes from around the world work hard but don't have the resources and opportunities that Americans do. I suddenly remembered Michael Phelps from the last summer olympics. After winning seven medals, he gave up his spot on a relay so his teammate could have a shot at a medal. I suppose if you've already got seven medals, you can afford to be generous, but still, it stood out as a rare show of grace.

I read a commentary in the paper about how the Olympics are being produced in such a melodramatic fashion, where there's a deep story about each athlete, each event. I kind of remember that always being the case. But since I haven't been watching much of the Olympics, I can't say whether it's worse now than before. And I guess it may not be the athletes that aren't level-headed and decent, but rather the overwhelming melodrama that NBC is pushing that's messing with my image of these athletes. Other than the professional athletes who are allowed to compete in the Olympics (NBA players - c'mon. If you're being paid millions to hone your skill year after year, is it really fair for you to go up against teams from third world countries? What's it really prove?). I don't know if it's still the case, but in figure skating, people had to decide if they would quit after the olympics to join the stars on ice circuit and go pro or maintain their eligibility to compete. Maybe a similar rule should be imposed for other sports. Really, what does it prove if Lance Armstrong can win Olympic gold if he's already won countless (at least by me, right now) Tour de Frances? The Olympics are supposed to be competitions between non-professional athletes. It's already a farce with how much Americans win (is it really fair? It's like the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Cleveland Browns. Please note: I'm a Browns fan). Can't we at least try to make it interesting? We're already the annoying, pushy, Super Power country; must we take the joy of the Olympics away from the world, too?

Well, it's late and I've ranted enough. Perhaps when women's figure skating comes on I'll settle down and watch (of course, I don't care as much since Michele Kwan dropped out).