Plenty to love about the Olympics
A few days ago, I was listening to some sports talk radio and the announcers were bemoaning how the upcoming Summer Olympics in London was going to screw up their schedules and how, as sports go, they weren’t particularly excited about the games.
Sure, I thought, better to slog through the dog days of baseball – hit the ball, throw the ball, chase the ball (which for many also describes their golf game). Much more invigorating to cover meaningless NFL training camps or rehash for the 6,189th time who botched the NBA draft.
C’mon – this is the Olympics. It’s the US (and us, lowercase) against the world. And, let me tell you, I’m pretty excited.
Even if you don’t follow sports (and I do), there’s plenty to love about the Olympics. Hey, sports guys, what about …?
- Your gosh-darn sense of patriotism? How can you watch an itty-bitty gymnast or a humongous discus thrower tear up when they hear the National Anthem and not feel a little goose bumpy? How can you watch that and not think, “Take that, France!” Seriously – all those countries that annoyingly criticize our politics and our culture (while accepting our aid and an occasional bail-out) being beaten into submission by our best. Doesn’t that sort of appeal to your sense of world domination?
- Those interesting sports you probably only see once every four years? There’s kayaking, shooting, rowing … all the stuff we used to watch while there still was an “ABC Wide World of Sports” broadcast every weekend. And when else do you get to cheer on track and field stars and swimmers and cyclists – all of whom training every bit as hard (if not harder) than your run-of-the-mill pro athletes you see all the time in the popular sports that get all the network time between the Games?
- There’s still basketball, for those of you who got to have the ESPN fix.
- There’s no huge commitment here – the “season” lasts only a fortnight – thus freeing you from the pressures of forming a fantasy league, following the standings or purchasing expensive season tickets.
- You’re bound to a “moment,” because there’s one in every Olympics. You share those moments with your kids: Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz and their wheelbarrows full of hardware; Keri Strug balancing on her non-injured foot, Flo-Jo with her crazy fast times and her crazier fingernails; the Dream Team and those known only by one name -- Olga, Mary Lou, Nadia. And even that flag-waving, pre-Kardashian Bruce Jenner on your Wheaties box.
It’s going to be a few weeks of celebrating sports, sportsmanship and a sense of national pride. In a world where there seems to be so much divisiveness, tragedy and sadness, why not watch the world come together – at least for a few days – and shake hands?
For more Reasonably Speaking, visit Tami at www.WoosterWeeklyNews.com.
Sure, I thought, better to slog through the dog days of baseball – hit the ball, throw the ball, chase the ball (which for many also describes their golf game). Much more invigorating to cover meaningless NFL training camps or rehash for the 6,189th time who botched the NBA draft.
C’mon – this is the Olympics. It’s the US (and us, lowercase) against the world. And, let me tell you, I’m pretty excited.
Even if you don’t follow sports (and I do), there’s plenty to love about the Olympics. Hey, sports guys, what about …?
- Your gosh-darn sense of patriotism? How can you watch an itty-bitty gymnast or a humongous discus thrower tear up when they hear the National Anthem and not feel a little goose bumpy? How can you watch that and not think, “Take that, France!” Seriously – all those countries that annoyingly criticize our politics and our culture (while accepting our aid and an occasional bail-out) being beaten into submission by our best. Doesn’t that sort of appeal to your sense of world domination?
- Those interesting sports you probably only see once every four years? There’s kayaking, shooting, rowing … all the stuff we used to watch while there still was an “ABC Wide World of Sports” broadcast every weekend. And when else do you get to cheer on track and field stars and swimmers and cyclists – all of whom training every bit as hard (if not harder) than your run-of-the-mill pro athletes you see all the time in the popular sports that get all the network time between the Games?
- There’s still basketball, for those of you who got to have the ESPN fix.
- There’s no huge commitment here – the “season” lasts only a fortnight – thus freeing you from the pressures of forming a fantasy league, following the standings or purchasing expensive season tickets.
- You’re bound to a “moment,” because there’s one in every Olympics. You share those moments with your kids: Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz and their wheelbarrows full of hardware; Keri Strug balancing on her non-injured foot, Flo-Jo with her crazy fast times and her crazier fingernails; the Dream Team and those known only by one name -- Olga, Mary Lou, Nadia. And even that flag-waving, pre-Kardashian Bruce Jenner on your Wheaties box.
It’s going to be a few weeks of celebrating sports, sportsmanship and a sense of national pride. In a world where there seems to be so much divisiveness, tragedy and sadness, why not watch the world come together – at least for a few days – and shake hands?
For more Reasonably Speaking, visit Tami at www.WoosterWeeklyNews.com.
Published: July 10, 2012
