Well the 2016 Summer games start in August and I’m underwhelmed to say the least. I want to be excited about them but I’m not. Growing up my brothers and I looked forward to the competition. It was exciting to see the American athletes compete against the arch nemeses, the Soviet Union. Every time our countryman took the stand to receive ovation it was an act of national and personal defiance of tyranny. Ok, so obviously that was the very romantic view of the period, but while we still have enemies a plenty, the thrill is gone. As an adult I can’t help but see the surrounding institutions like the Olympic committee as bloated and corrupt bureaucrats on the take or privileged spoiled young athletes looking for a spring break- like experience. (Ok so the latter is probably not completely fair).
To top it all off, I just don’t really like most of the sports, (and in some cases I use the term loosely). Of course I enjoy the swimming, track and field, basketball, maybe a few others but many of them I hold in complete distain! Why would anyone set aside time to watch semi- pro ping pong, especially when I can play it myself at my brother’s house… and drink some beer at the same time?! And here’s a point that will bother some… I really don’t like gymnastics. (I realize that some of my gentler readers are going into catatonic shock right now, because for some reason, that is a dangerous admission). Of course the adamant defenders of this form of competition are right now, desperate to shoot back at me the hollow refrain: “well you couldn’t do it!” Irrelevant. I lack any of the obligatory physical or intellectual skills to play Baseball on any competitive level but I watch that on a semi- daily basis. Which leads to my next point: How in eternity, can the blessed Olympic committee decide that Baseball is no longer a valid Olympic sport, but the guy or girl frolicking on a mat to classical music and flinging a ribbon is?! No. No I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m going to watch that. I’ll stick with late summer MLB.
I guess ultimately part of what bores me about the more recent Olympics is the international peer pressure to like it. As though it says something about my country and me as a “citizen of the world” if I admit that I prefer more domestic sports like baseball or American football. I don’t begrudge those who grew up with sports like Soccer, tennis or Olympic style competitions. I think everyone should enjoy what they enjoy. But I didn’t grow up watching those sports. They don’t hold the meaning for me that they do for others. I understand the passion and I respect it. But I can’t manufacture it for myself, and nor should I try. To do so makes a mockery of those who come by that passion honestly. So sorry ESPN. Sorry NBC, and Fox Sports 1 and all the other networks that are about to go WNBA on us about watching… (that means they’re plan to guilt us into it). The upshot is this: To each he or her own! Watch what you’re passionate about, not what others think you should watch.