Spectator Games
That magical two weeks that comes but twice a decade has returned. Thirty-six thousand hours of Olympic sports will be televised on seemingly endless NBC channels, and I simply cannot get enough. Beyond the basketball team, Phelps, and maybe a tennis or volleyball player here or there, these no-name human specimens have been training for 4+ years to have a minute of fame, be quickly forgotten, and have a piece of metal on their mantle as the rest of their life pales in comparison to that jubilant 60 seconds. Best case. Worst case they're depressed for life.Is this honestly not the greatest landslide spectator victory in history? I'm starting to feel like it's the Colosseum with Russell Crow's predecessors fighting for a chance to not be eaten by a lion. Last night the US female gymnasts painfully filled the space between Phelps world records. They had an insurmountable lead over third place Romania, but the media somehow believed they could compete with China's fourth-grade students. As Alicia fell off the beam then sat on the floor, it was clear the US was playing for silver. Oh well. That was honestly my reaction. I think I went and got a glass of water, and that was it. This girl has spent countless hours in the gym repeating the same routine a thousand times for one chance to be remembered for a week. She would have to break her ankle, stick a landing, and win the gold to become Keri Strug (anybody care where she is now?), but the downside is every person outside the small world of family and friends says "oh well," and moves on with their same life that developed normally while she was in the gym. Wow. That is why I can't get enough. The irrationality, impossibility, motivation, determination, lack of celebrity, and pain. All for country, sport, peace, accomplishment, pride, fame, or, from my perspective,...entertainment.
Thank you to all the athletes. I genuinely hope you either win gold or find a good shrink.
posted by Clarke Michalak @ 7:08 AM
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