It's The "O" Games - Oh My!

“The Olympic Games are the quadrennial celebration of the springtime of humanity.”
Pierre de Coubertin

“Every party needs a pooper, that’s why we invited you.”

From a little ditty.

Being the curmudgeonly party pooper is a tough job but someone has to take it on.  The “O” Games have begun and the world and NBC are all atwitter.  You’ll notice that I’m not using the proper word to describe these quadrennial events that are equal part sport, nationalism and soap opera (Currently two years separates the winter and summer games.  In years past the winter and summer games occurred in the same year).  I’m staying away from the actual word itself because it has an armor plated copyright, defended with badger-like tenacity and I don’t have a lawyer with the horsepower of the “O” Organizing Committee’s lawyers to fight off any suits over my use of the “O” word (In fact I don’t have a lawyer of any horsepower). 

I’m being extra cautious because according to a story on NPR the “O”, organizers in London are being O-verly zealous this year about protecting the copyright.  The “O” games lawyers (If the games were being held in nearby Dublin, could we call them O’Lawyers?) are working O-vertime making sure that nobody sells fake merchandise, hijacks the rings to promote their laundry business or dog sitting service or misuses the “O” word.  We have an “O” Boulevard here in nearby Walnut Creek; I’m wondering if the town fathers are consulting the city attorneys.

I have lots of “O” Game memories dating back to when I was a teen.  The first “O” Games that I saw televised were the Grenoble Winter Games.  I remember the excited tones of the announcers describing Frenchman Jean Claude Killy’s seemingly uncontrolled plunges down the mountains in the Alpine events.  No helmets for Killy and the other competitors in these events.  They slid down the slopes wearing knit ski caps.    

                There’s Jim Ryun who silvered to Kip Keino’s gold in the Mexico City 1500 and then tripped in a 1500 prelim at Munich and didn’t qualify. When did a silver medal become a big let down like kissing your sister?

There was Steve Prefontaine’s fourth in the 5000 at Munich.  I was devastated but not so much as when he died tragically.

Also at Munich, the USSR stole the gold from the U.S in basketball; a game which would lead to the dream teams.

I think with sadness of Sarajevo which hosted an utterly memorable, charming 1984 Winter Games only to be the scene, 8 short years later, of a siege that devastated the city and killed over 11,000.  Innocence lost; crushed under the boot heel of war.

                Yeah I was happy to see the Dream Team.  For years, the Eastern Block nations played fast and loose with the rules against professional athletes while the U.S. threw a college all-star team out on the court.

                There was Bob Beamon’s incredible 29 foot long jump at Mexico City.

                Frank Shorter winning the Munich marathon.

                The three sprinters from local San Jose State, dubbed at the time “Speed City.”  Lee Evans, one of my track heroes, turning and burning the 400 meters and John Carlos and Tommie Smith medaling in the 200 and sending a message to the world with their raised fist salute (which I supported then and now).  

                Watching Italy against (then) West Germany in a preliminary soccer match at Stanford Stadium during the L.A. Games.

I used to be an “O” Games junkie; anticipating the games months in advance, watching as many broadcasts as I could catch and even staying up late to watch the late night wrap ups.  I watched the closing ceremonies with a mixture of awe and sadness and would sit forlorn as the flame was extinguished.  I suppose that I bought all of the “O” Games propaganda; world coming together, the purity of sport, young athletes in competition prevailing over international discord and nationalism.  

I guess I’ve become cynical as I’ve gotten older.  I couldn’t fathom China, a nation that seems to take an arrogant pride in its repressive policies and abysmal human rights record being awarded The Games.  Was awarding China the games so far removed from Hitler hosting the Munich Games in 1936?

There was a naive thought process that the extinguishing of the flame was bringing the world back to its old state of strife.  Fact is that the strife doesn’t go away and let’s face it; worldwide nationalism is ramped up a few notches as people, many who wouldn’t normally give sports a second thought become rabid flag waving fanatics.

I’m not sure that there is any purity of sport; anywhere or anytime; but it certainly isn’t found at the “O” games.  All you would have to do is ask a random female athlete from the former East Germany which ran a horrific lab experiment of performance enhancing doping.  These once vibrant athletes would later suffer from cancer, liver disease, stillbirths, eating disorders, heart disease, depression and self-mutilation.  

Doping, whining, petulance, poor sportsmanship, protests, the threatening of athletes who don't perform or a judge who blew a call or issued a bad score.  The loss of a big post games payday and the wearing of goat's horns because the anticipated gold turned into a loss in the prelims.  A hard working, well meaning athlete being labeled a national disgrace for not getting a place on the podium.

China sent underage gymnasts to The Games but is that so much different from overbearing American parents sequestering their children in some gymnastics or skating camp, leading a bizarre life with tutors, and no socialization beyond their fellow athletes; all in the pursuit of a gold medal.  And who is really pursuing that medal?  And who is disappointed and who is the perceived cause of the disappointment when the youngster doesn’t measure up?  Soccer moms and basketball dads project gold medals around their unfortunate children's necks when they make a couple of good plays in a pee-wee league.  I recall coaching a freshman boy in cross country whose mom thought he might be Team USA material.  She even told my assistant coach that the young man would be going to Beijing.  I remarked to him that it sounded like a nice vacation and then dropped my jaw when I was told that she was expecting him to compete in Beijing.  Problem was the boy didn't particularly like running, was on the team at mom's behest and I finally had to cut him for continually missing practice.  I'm not sure how things turned out (I know he didn't go to Beijing) but it had all the makings of an unhappy ending.

Is it just me or did the athletes seem more likeable in years past?  Maybe they were just more humble when they were “amateurs.”  Now that they’re moneyed and famous they seem to act more and more like American football’s wide receivers; preening divas and entitled tin gods.  I have a hard time with a ½ miler thumping his thrust chest or a fencer fist pumping ridiculously.  I mean really, when did middle distance guys become showboats.  That’s not to say that there should be a return to the amateur days.  Those were a sham because of those that flaunted the rule and an injustice to those who tried to follow it. 

The Games have become a victim of their own success; an international sports version of keeping up with the Joneses.  Every “O” Games has to outdo the previous; Athens was judged in comparison to Sydney, Beijing in comparison to Athens and London in comparison to Beijing.  The price tag keeps increasing and one has to wonder if nations like Greece and Brazil couldn’t better spend their money elsewhere.   This year Great Britain spent 14 billion dollars on The Games.  How many people could 14 billion dollars feed and educate?  If the world can come together and get one nation to spend a fortune on games every 4 years couldn’t it do the same to benefit the poor, the hungry and the sick?  Well, no; the poor of the host city are trucked out of town or shoved under the rug.  Already, Brazil is on the clock and feeling the pressure of 2016.  Will they be worthy?

The opening ceremonies have become a cross between overblown spectacle and a romance novel.  The identity of the person to light the cauldron has become a schmaltzy, maudlin bit of bathos, veiled in secrecy that would make the CIA blush.  Its 2 days after the opening ceremonies and I’ve no idea who lit the “O” Games fuse this year.  Was it the queen, a prince (it certainly wasn’t a pauper), the cyclist, the miler or one of England’s ancient rockers? 

It’s not that I don’t like The Games.  I’ll watch but not with fervor and the tenacity of the past.  I’ll mostly keep them on in the background when I’m doing something else and I’m certainly not staying up till 11 or midnight to see the main event that NBC kept under wraps until the end while it held the audience hostage with prelims of Tiddlywinks. I refuse to be a captive audience to a TV network and I don’t give a damn that they have to keep the audience riveted so that they can pay off the gazillion dollar debt they incurred for the rights.

The Games aren’t a bad thing but like just about everything in every society these days they need to get grounded.  They are outgrowing everything that they are supposed to be and represent.  The expectations have become too great.  The Games are NOT going to bring about world peace; they aren’t going to unite the Koreas, or make Israel and Iran pals or feed the hungry in Africa.  And should we as spectators be let down and chastise the favorite who, because just once he wasn’t up to the task, finished out of the medals?   That’s pretty outrageous of those who sit on their fat butts to say someone who silvered by a few hundredths of a second is a choker.  The Games are a good time to watch some great athletes in some sports that we wouldn’t normally be interested in.  They can provide some inspirational stories and give us great examples of determination and the fruits of hard work.  John Wooden is quoted as saying, "Sports don't build character; they reveal it."  It's a quote that can easily be applied to The Games and not just the athletes, but to the spectators and fans and the nations that seek to distort what they're supposed to represent and make them out to be more than they should be.