This year's Olympics have mustered months of pre-game coverage, anything from Michael Phelps dominating his sport to Paul Hamm dropping out of the men's gymnastics competition to China building walls to conceal its less "attractive" members of society. But despite human rights violations, air the color of dirt and one of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen constructed for an Olympic stadium, I can't help myself: I love the Olympics.
I love watching the Opening Ceremonies and seeing a country with three or four athletes waving their flag just as high as a country with hundreds of athletes. I love watching the face of a competitor who has worked his or her entire life to perfect one skill and that hard work has now come to fruition. Regardless of the event, each athlete or competitor there has more determination and focus that I can hope to have in a lifetime. And even if I don't think there needs to be a distinction between swimming in an indoor pool or an open body of water, I'll watch both events with equal amazement.
I also love the predicable formula of Olympic coverage. There's the classic underdog, who rules the Olympic media coverage. Inevitably there is always someone from a country I can't pronounce who comes out of nowhere and blows everyone's minds, and then is hounded for the next week on every national talk show and news program imaginable. There's the athlete whose head looks like it's about to fall off from the weight of all the medals around his or her neck. But as karma would predict, there is also the inevitable mistake, the slip off the uneven bars, the missed turn in the triathlon, the trip of the foot right off the blocks. It takes two seconds for someone to go from almost guaranteed gold to sitting on the sidelines, empty handed.
So despite my doubt about China actually implementing democratic changes for the better, or the doubt that some athletes anymore aren't using steroids even if they don't get caught, or just the fact that I only care about cycling once every four years, I will still be a fan. In any case, I have to fill up on watching real talent, before the next season of "So You Think You Can Dance" redefines how terrible you can be at something and still win a prize.
A few Olympics links:
Create your own schedule of events
New gymnastics scoring
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