Don't care about Olympics? Fine. Keep it to yourself
OK, guys (and I do mean mostly guys), let's get one thing straight now that the (tape delayed) opening ceremony is underway and we have a long two weeks ahead of us:
It is totally cool if you don't care about the Olympics and choose to stick with obsessing over the Mets bullpen or Joba's shoulder or Brett Favre's conditioning level. Mostly, I'm with ya.
But there is no need to say so out loud. In recent years proclaiming a lack of interest in the Olympics has become some sort of macho badge of honor, from sports talk radio to the local bar to Internet message boards.
Stop it. Don't watch if you don't want to. But don't make the millions who do care feel like suckers for falling into Dick Ebersol's sappy web of Olympic spirit. Many of them think you're a moron for caring about Scott Schoeneweis.
There is room for everyone on the big blue marble, from Mike Pelfrey to Mike Phelps.
End of lecture. Enjoy!
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Comments (12)
As a FOTFS, I must say, you at least could've looked up the proper spelling of Schoeneweis.
GO RIEBER !!
Sorry, Neil. I hate the Olympics so much that, if I didn't publicly proclaim it, I'd risk internal bleeding.
The best thing about the Olympics so far is the ability to see events in real time on my computer. It's great for a night owl like myself, and I can see 4 events at once if I want to ... moving the images around if I want to hear audio. It's the world feed .... sans announcers ... truly interesting. And it's only as packaged as a live event can be ... no sappy tape pieces ... you're seeing it raw.
And ... besides ... earlier Friday ... if there was a will there was a way via computer to see other, ahem, networks, feeds of the opening ceremonies. Can't tell you how I saw it, but the CBC did a great job!
Ok...So maybe I like some Olympic Events...but can we all agree that the Opening Ceremonies is the biggest waste of 4 hours ever..I mean it is hideous...My wife is forcing this garbage down my throat as I write..at least I have MLB.tv
Neil Baby,
I went all triple axle at you censoring people like me that do not care for these profesional games - I mean NHL and NBA guys play in it as do people from the MLS - I heard they use professional announcers as well
Anyway - I do not complain when you decide to send a love letter to Duke Castiglione (ooops maybe I do) instead of writing about the media ignoring PSL(s)
We love it when The Hartford Courant runs your stuff - I give it a 10+ but the French judge only gives it a 6
You complete me
Rupert Best
(of the Connecticut Bests)
I wave my hand in the general direction of China.
As I watched the opening ceremonies from the comfort of a local watering hole (sans sound) this evening, while awaiting my dinner party to show up, I will say that... YES, I enjoyed 'em.
But not from a gushy "I'd like to teach the world to sing" perspective.
I watched the ceremonies and felt proud to be an American.
I watched them and saw everything that was great and horrible about America.
And I found it ironic that within the tapestry presented by the last remaining vestige of 60's "We will bury you" communism was a tribute to the 19th Century American Way.
The Halftime Show, the Super Bowl Extravaganza, The Uber-Production.
And as I watched our friends from the Far East put on their version of OUR spectacle, I chuckled to myself from time to time.
When the minions of socialism scurried around on the field creating marching pictures of beauty I said to myself ....
"There's the Ohio State Band dotting the I"
"There's the USC Marching Band at it's finest"
"There's the Grambling State Band working the crowd into a frenzy."
When the gifted dancers and acrobats of Red China combined a dazzling display of athletic ability with artistic interpretation I said to myself.....
"There's Cirque du Soleil"
"There's Las Vegas".
(Yes Canada and Montreal are part of the America I love).
When the teams of the world entered the arena to a crowd of choreographed beauties and studs lining the infield with pom poms and high fives, I said to myself....
"There's the Dallas Cheerleaders".
"There's the local High School Dance Team".
THERE'S AMERICA!!!!
And I felt proud to be watching all of that....
From the other side of the world.
Actually for the first time since 1972 I have interest in the Olympics.
If only we could get videotape of the Olympics in 67AD when they awarded the Emperor Nero the medal for four horse chariot race despite falling off the chariot. The understanding Greeks even delayed the games two years so he could participate. The course has recently been rediscovered.
Sorry, Neil, I was too busy watching the women's 10m air rifle to comment on this post last night.
"My wife is forcing this garbage down my throat as I write"
Macho.
Odd choice of picture to accompany the piece. Are you expect an athlete to recreate that moment in the name of the Lama, F. Gong, political dissidents, freedom, Darfur? I doubt we see anything of the sort.
I have issues with the ESPN lionization of that moment. That is the Black Power salute, not that of the civil rights movement. They were not followers of MLK, rather choosing and endorsing ends at any means, violence most definitely included. Understandable? Yes. Laudable? I think not.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of said salute, Craig. At the Summer Olympics. It's a natural tie-in.