Olympics turn watchable
So, I wasn’t going to watch the Olympics.
I just wasn’t interested.
But, not for the first time, I’ve had to eat my words.
The Michael Phelps saga made me watch, for sure.
And I have been watching beach volleyball, even though I think it is stupid and not much of a game. Repetitive beyond belief. And although I have nothing against athletic women in very skimpy bathing suits, I think it is pretty embarrassing to have people playing a sport looking like that.
I haven’t watched any basketball. Let me know when we might have a close game.
Last night, we were watching the trampoline competition. One guy in the office said the “sport” didn’t belong in the Olympics. I said it did. What’s the difference between the trampoline and the balance beam or floor exercise? If the trampoline doesn’t qualify, neither does gymnastics.
Anyway, as I told my colleague, I don’t think he couldt bounce about 400 feet in the air like that and come down and bounce up again. He’d be flying off into the stands someplace and be seriously injured or worse.
All kidding aside, I’m not sure what makes an Olympic sport – apparently softball and baseball don’t qualify, or won’t in 2012 – but I know you have to be a great athlete to use a trampoline that way.
posted by John Pitarresi at
3:15 PM
3 Comments:
You know, the lumberjack events at the Outdoor games are tough. Being on the "Deadliest Catch" is tough. Writing a good blog about the Olympics can even be tough. There are countless things that are tough and things that the average person can't do very well. That doesn't make them Olympic sports. The trampoline is a joke.
I to watched the Olympics more avidly then in years past spurred on by excellent Internet coverage that allowed me to pick and choose which events to watch and when. I was also motivated by an excellent documentary about the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo which I borowed from the library after happening upon it in the stacks.
The film emphasised the human drama so inherent in the games but which lies just beneath the surface - the ecstacy of victory and the agony of defeat to loosely quote an old tv sports program.
To watch the American gymnasts perfectly hit routines and win gold, the culmination of years of sacrifice, is no more meaningful than the american relay runners dropping the baton. They're all fully engaging in this thing called life, and in doing so, greatly enrich it.
Great ideas. But... why take away baseball and softball? Two great sports and very watchable.
I think Olympic officals shouldn't such old farts!
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