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Warping the Olympic Spirit
by Alanah McGinley on 08/18/08 at 04:48 PM ET
Comments (6)
I love watching the Olympics but it occurs to me to wonder: Is there something a bit… off… about watching this stuff?
While it’s amazing to witness the triumphs (i.e. the Michael Phelps story was a big ‘wow’ (not to mention, a financial payoff likely to make even Mats Sundin jealous); or the redemption of the Canadian men’s eights as they abolished memories of Athens, etc) it seems that far more Olympic-watching-time is about witnessing disasters than successes.
In Jim Leff’s personal blog, he compared it to watching NASCAR, “where the ‘entertainment’ is in the wrecks” but that for him, “watching kids have their dreams crushed feels like the worst kind of torture.”
That’s so true. And yet for some reason I’d watch this stuff 10 hours a day if I could. Why is that?
Honestly, I don’t get any joy out of watching kids cry as their hopes and dreams go up in smoke as they’re measured to the 1/100th of a second for their ability to fail.
Nor to I mind much about ‘my’ national team winning/losing—I get more emotionally invested in the athletes than their nationalities.
So I guess that most of the time I just seek out and hope for the redeeming moments amidst all that failure. A search for inspiration. Like Usain Bolt’s win of the 100 meter gold medal, an event certainly worth the price of admission.
And yet I’ll admit, some of the NASCAR-type disaster elements can be fun.
Today’s China/USA baseball game for example. From Michael Rosenberg at the Detroit Free Press:
[By] the time the game ended, the U.S had won, 9-1; Chinese pitchers had beaned five American hitters, including star Matt LaPorta in the head; the U.S. had plunked two Chinese hitters and nearly knocked two Chinese catchers out of the game; and the umpires had been replaced by members of the U.N. Security Council.
Now to me, that sounds like epic fun to watch. So maybe it’s true that I also watch the Olympics for the possibility of witnessing a hint of violence in such an inappropriate, odd venue.
I mean, people can’t be down on hockey all the time if even at the world’s biggest sporting event—which is meant to celebrate all the greatness of the human spirit, (etc etc)—occasionally results in one dude nailing another dude in the head with a ball.
And that just means more fun for the fans.
[When] you don’t expect to win — ever — then it’s actually easier to cheer. For example, when your team is down 9-0, and backup catcher Yang Yang exacts revenge by hitting a home run off Tigers minor leaguer Blaine Neal, you go nuts.
Yang reacted as though he had just won a World Series between Earth and Mars. He circled the bases with one finger in the air, then did some sort of dance move that ended with him touching home plate.
After the final out of the night, Neal tossed the game ball toward the Chinese dugout. So it was a wonderful night all around for the grand old game of baseball, not to mention international diplomacy. For the last four innings, it really felt like a brawl would break out.
Chaos… and I don’t think that’s entirely a bad thing.
Besides, in some ways I think the potential for violence makes the whole spectacle more ‘human’ in some weird way. Why else would the Olympic committee tolerate soccer—an event where the fans are even more famous for bloodsport than the athletes? 
But if a hint of violent emotion isn’t your thing, there’s always other odd entertainment to draw you in. How about odd names?
From HockeyDrunk.com:
Alas. Immature, but it made me smile. 
Filed in: | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: baseball, summer+olympics, violence,
Comments
Between the gymnastics coverage on NBC and the diving coverage on the CBC (is that Mrs. Steve Armitage grumbling away?), you’d think that anything less than perfection deserves to wear a shirt with “FAILURE” stamped on it for the rest of their lives…
And the coverage on both networks emphasizes the negative in classic sports coverage fashion, because there always has to be one winner, the poor schlub who finishes second, the poorer schlub who at least gets a medal, even if it is bronze (everybody: “Eeew!"), and losers, losers, losers…
If you’ve been there, though, and you’re gonna get a helluva opportunity, despite the ridiculous costs, Alanah, you’ll find that there are tons of Chinese baseball teams who can’t wipe the smiles off their faces, and participants who aren’t highly-subsidized professional amateurs who are so damn proud that they’ve made the Olympic cut that finishing second-to-last in a preliminary round is still the greatest sporting achievement of their lives.
Sometimes you get to meet their parents and friends in the stands, and you get to meet the fans of teams who believe that the Olympics are an excuse to have a rollicking good time that you’re invited to take part in.
That’s what it was like for me in Atlanta, anyway. You get to cheer on your country, and you get to cheer on the nobodies who are participating sports fans, who might put on an individual play of their lives or team experience that they’ll remember forever, because Michael Phelps of all people has it right--once you’re an Olympian, nobody can take that away from you, and that’s what it’s all about.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/18/08 at 07:46 PM ET
I like seeing which nations tend to do well in particular sports - like the Jamaican sprinters - and rooting for anyone who gets a personal best, even if they don’t win (like the Canadian shot-putter who came in fourth), because what more can you ask for than to do the best you ever have in the biggest event you’ve ever been in, and not beat yourself? I think that’s cool.
I also like the really unexpected medals - like the bronze for the athlete from Togo, and the silvers for Dara Torres and the silver in the vault for the 33-year-old gymnast competing for Germany.
I’m always rooting for the underdogs in the Olympics. After all, it’s easy to have a sports machine that churns out medals like crazy - just start with a large population to choose from, spend a ton of money that could maybe be used for a better purpose, take children from their parents at the age of five to start training them, discard whoever doesn’t make the cut along the way, doctor passports if needed, and then watch the medals come in by the bucketful.
The New York Times reprinted an editorial from 1988 regarding medal obsession and how it detracts from the Olympics: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/17opclassic.html
(I mean, they are really just a bunch of silly games, not a referendum on whose national system is the best. I wish people would lighten up a little.) 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/19/08 at 05:02 AM ET
“not a referendum on whose national system is the best”
No doubt. It all comes back to one motto: It’s just sports.
Ukraine has won more medals than Canada but I don’t find myself wondering if I should move there because of their obvious superiority to this country.
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 08/19/08 at 12:02 PM ET
I used to feel a twinge of guilt whenever I silently wished for a hurdler to catch their toe on a hurdle thus sending them sprawling and - HOPEFULLY - just catching another runner as to make a beautiful domino effect of fallen athletes tied up together like a multilingual pretzel.
This post is making me feel secure in my love for disaster
Posted by LOUiE from Cowtown on 08/19/08 at 01:08 PM ET
Shane - Clever move with the tv speakers, but aside from that, I’m a bit concerned about your anti-Ukraine bias…
George - That is indeed Steve Armitage, a fixture for the swimming coverage on CBC for some reason. You’re lucky to have been to Atlanta. I expect 2010 here to be an amazing experience. I hope, anyway!
Baroque - Great editorial, thanks for the link. And I’m huge on the underdogs, too, which I also am as a hockey fan. (That is, aside from my team. Although this year the Canucks have conveniently decided to become total underdogs themselves, so I won’t have any divided loyalty issues...).
LOUiE - I always knew you were secretly a NASCAR fan…
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 08/19/08 at 02:41 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Almost choked on my food at the last pic! I’m enjoying the Olympics but I’m saddened at the commentators, particularly the NBC ones. Repetition of inane insights and back stories abound with their coverage.
But they’re covering a fair amount of volleyball and that’s fine by me. But I turn down the center channel on my speakers to make it more enjoyable
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 08/18/08 at 05:04 PM ET