Hey, not sure if you heard, but the Summer Olympics are taking place. I don’t know about you, but I’m fully engrossed. I’ve watched so much so far that I feel I could be a commentator at this point. I wonder what it is that makes it so compelling, at least to me. On the surface is the obvious, the world class athletes that appeal to my nature as a sports lover. Also, unconsciously, there is the jingoist factor of wanting see the United States reign supreme over all other countries. But these aren’t the key factors for everyone. In fact, the more you talk with people or better yet, watch with people, you begin to see the multitude of angles that the Olympics reflect and how that appeals to people.
The Olympics as a Lifetime Movie is a method that is extremely successful in luring in viewers. Giving the back story on each athlete, or groups of athletes, in order to foster that connection between them and the viewer has practically become an art form. Some stories are clearly worth this treatment, such as the one about the lives of Romanian female gymnasts whose whole lives revolve around competing, including living together, going to school together, risking the defining moment of their lives to occur in the earliest part of it. The pressure they must endure knowing that at the age of 16, what they do in the space of a few minutes on a gymnastic apparatus will define them forever. It even gets me, and I’m about as un-emotional as they come. For others though, it needn’t be a story akin to those little Romanian pixies, it can be anything. The Hamm brothers, twin gymnasts on the U. S team, Paul won the all around gold under scrutiny, they too get the sentimental treatment. How many times did we hear about them as young boys ,”bouncing around that barn on their Wisconsin farm.” So what? Sounds to me like they were typical, and obviously bored, kids living in the rural part of a Midwestern state. Is that supposed to impress me? What they do out on the floor, that impresses me, not their playing habits as children.
The chain reaction of events is what leads us to another facet of the Olympics that people gravitate to, the Instant Role Model. Where as the people who see the games as a Lifetime movie do it for themselves, you also have the people who watch these stories, then instantly decide these people should be role models for their children. What’s scary is that they elevate someone to such a lofty position based on a two minute feature they see that’s accompanied by reverential voices and heart tugging strings, the trademark enablers of sentimentality. These same people who take someone like Michael Phelps and anoint him a “true American role model, someone everyone should look up to”, while bashing NBA players for setting horrible examples. Meanwhile all they know about NBA players is the same minimal information they got about Phelps. It’s like they have no time to hear the whole story, so just give them a taste and they will run with it.
Speaking of Michael Phelps, he is someone who could rightfully be declared “The Face” of these Olympics. His quest for a record 8 Gold Medals fell short, I think, but he did pretty outstanding otherwise, winning 7 medals in all, including at least 3 or 4 Gold’s. I’m sorry if my math is a bit fuzzy, but you get the point, the kid cleaned up. So with his amazing success, everyone jumped on the gravy train. There he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, understandably so, it is a sports magazine and he is an athlete. But there he was on the cover of Time too, showing his cross-over potential. It was based off that Time cover story that in the most current issue in the “Letters” section someone wrote “Michael Phelps is a true role model and a great person for all kids to look up to.” How do you know? Is it because he won so many races? What type of message is that to send? If you win, then you are in idol? Now, I didn’t read the Time article per say, but I didn’t have to. I could tell you what it said. Phelps no doubt was introduced to the sport by some relative, took the water with ease, usually told through a story of a parent, then sacrificed his long hours of hitting the pool, dedicating his free time to be an Olympic Champ. Throw in a possible reference to Matt Biondi and Mark Spitz, famous US swimmers, maybe an anecdote about how much he eats while he trains, and top it off with a story to show that despite his fame and talent, he is just like any other 19 year old kid, maybe have him playing video games with his buddies. That’s the story. I know it.
So based off that, BOOM, instant role model. But what if? What if the “real” Michael Phelps isn’t as great as the “media” Michael Phelps?
What if Michael Phelps is a cocky prick. What if he is rude to waitresses, talks smack to his friends, cock blocks his buddies at parties. What if he is the guy who is always trying to get out of paying his share of the dinner bill, or insists on using the best team when playing video games? Ever thought about that? I bet you wouldn’t think he was so great then. And based on my experience with competitive swimmers, I bet Phelps is a jerk.
Isn’t it annoying when people, such a born again politicians or military cadets, develop that “holier than thou” attitude. For the politician, it is usually a man, say around 40 years of age, decides to give up his bad habit, such as drinking or running unsuccessful businesses, and dedicate his life to Jesus. Maybe it will help put him on the right track, clean up his image, and make himself more presentable. You shouldn’t underestimate how far a good reformed image can take you, maybe even as far as the White House? Eh, probably not right? And those cadets, well while I don’t want to bash anyone brave enough to serve in the Armed Forces and risk their lives to defend this country, a truly admirable thing to do, some of the people I’ve encountered haven’t inspired much admiration. Seems to me a good portion of these young men and women join the Military cause it’s their last option. They are in a dead end situation, with limited education, limited manners and sense of decorum and are probably facing a life on a level less than they imagined. So they join up, get some structure in their life, learn how to follow orders, and all of a sudden, they instantly become better than you. Right? Wrong. Just because you finished basic and can snap off a salute won’t change the fact that you may be a meathead or an arrogant jerk, a racist, sexist, or just plain dumb ass. All of which brings me to competitive swimmers.
If you spend any amount of time around swimmers, you will hear about the hard work they must endure to excel at their chosen sport. Their routine normally involves waking up at some horrible time like 430am, getting dressed and heading over to the pool to swim for 2 hours. Then it’s time to stuff yourself with food to get protein and carbohydrates to fuel your body. Then it’s more swimming in the afternoon, mixed in with meets and competitions, other training, more eating, and finally they pass out. Wow, does that sound like it sucks huh? All of that work, for a few fleeting moments of glory every 4 years when people pay attention to swimming. But it’s not about the glory, it’s about the personal satisfaction they say. If that were the case then maybe they wouldn’t come off so condescending to us mere mortals who couldn’t dream to try and endure what they go through. But they do come off as snobs. So I’m not drinking that Kool-Aid. On the idea of that a normal person couldn’t’ endure what swimmers go through, and that is what makes them such elite athletes and overall admirable human beings, I don’t think couldn’t is the right term. To me it’s more of a case of I “wouldn’t” want to do that. Why would I want to wake up so early, and then get in a POOL and swim for two hours. I have a hard enough time stumbling to the sink to brush my teeth, much less hardcore physical activity. I don’t think this makes me less of a person, I think it makes more of a real person, one who doesn’t need to validate myself by performing irrational acts. It makes complete sense to me, it’s the swimmers who are confused. And from that confusion springs this strange sense of superiority that I just don’t get. So my point again, Michael Phelps maybe a jerk, despite all the accolades currently being bestowed on him.
What people want most out of the Olympics is to enjoy the spectacle. The multitude of countries, all competing in a giant symphony of power and grace, where it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but that you represent yourself to the fullest of your abilities. They want it to be all puppy dogs and ice cream, which leaves little room for any announcers to be critical. Never mind that these people are the only people who truly understand what is going on and can tell you why certain scores are given and why they are not. To many, they are pointless. Even worse, they are mean. The two announcers that come to mind are the female expert analysts for both gymnastics and diving, two sports that require expert analysis the most. They are needed because to the untrained eye, meaning 99.999% of us who are watching at home, we have no idea what makes a routine great or a dive good. If the gymnast takes a huge step forward on the dismount or falls off the beam then we know her score will be hurt. If a diver creates a gigantic splash when he enters the water, odds are it wasn’t a good dive. However, our knowledge ends there. We don’t enough to be able to notice that if a girl’s legs are slightly bent as she swings on the uneven parallel bars, which will result in deductions. The distance a diver travels away from the platform seems of little importance to us at home, but to the judges it is a key scoring element. That’s where these analysts come in. They may sound like annoying “know it alls”, and the reason is because they are. They also sound like “complainers and whiners”, also, cause they are. They have to be the ones to explain that the unbelievable floor routine you just saw some tiny female U.S gymnast perform, was actually not that unbelievable and that it won’t rate very high. Then when the score comes up, and it is low, and you the viewer are angry, and the crowd is booing, and the analyst is saying things like, “That’s right where her score should be”, well the natural reaction is to kill the messenger.
Therein lies the biggest problem with the Olympics, but also the grizzly reality that I love so much. People want to see happy times, bright outfits, ready made role models, smiles and balloons as fire as the eye can see. They also want to hear about hardship, sacrifice, heartbreak, agony and joy. It’s a tall order. Usually the Olympics deliver. That’s why it’s only held every 2 years, because any less space of time, people may not be emotionally able to handle it. Not me, I want more of it. Not that I have as stronger constitution, because I don’t, it’s because I manage to withhold my awe of the athletes and provide some to the reactions of other people watching. It’s a tender balance between the Theater of the Absurd, and the Athletes. It’s not for everyone I guess, but it works for me, and taking a page from the minds of swimmers, if it’s good for me, well then obviously it’s good for everyone.
