Posted by
Katy Grimes on Thursday, August 14, 2008 6:49:49 PM
The Olympics are making me choke, more so this year than any previous.
The feel-good hype leading up to this years' Summer Olympics in Communist China started it. Why wasn't anyone on NBC, CBS or ABC asking what the heck we were doing participating in the Olympics in Communist China and acting as if it was normal?
And then the opening ceremony, which resembled the Red Army in costume, "flawlessly" took place. Oh how the network anchors were flustered and giddy with the flawless performances by 500,000 Chinese citizens, forced to beat drums as directions were given in tiny earpieces embedded in their cochlea.
And then the "games" began. Only the "games" really began 12 years ago when the Olympic Committee accepted the inevitable bribes from the ChiComs to agree to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. The games we are watching - the competition and sporting events - are secondary to the personal lives of the athletes.
Today's Olympic athletes are professional athletes. They used to be amateurs. Today's athletes all live in America while representing their "homeland," usually somewhere in Eastern Europe. Today's athletes have big sponsors who pay supply the very expensive gear and equipment. Even swimmers, who used to only need goggles, a speedo and swim cap, now wear $550 "swimsuits" engineered by NASA.
During my childhood and teens, I was a swimmer. I had green hair, tan skin and a big back. In high school, I swam three practices each day and competed on two teams. I was never olympic material (far from it), but I could have gotten a college scholarship had I chosen to stay with it. Swimming was not an expensive sport other than the gallons of hair conditioner I had to buy to keep the green to a minimum. Swimming on the teams was very social as well. Most of my friends were swimmers - even recreationally in summer leagues. But no one other than a few obviously exceptional athletes, thought about scholarships or dare I say, the Olympics. Sports were fun and a way to stay busy.
Today, kids' sports are not so fun.
Today most very young athletes are pushed to compete. Coaches and parents treat young athletes as if they are the next Tiger Woods. It's all about the scholarships, sponsorships and endorsements - irresistible to fame seeking parents.
Olympic athletes have always represented a different life to the average person. Their dedication, superior skill and talent and supportive families and/or parent coaches far exceed what most people have in them. Tiny little child gymnasts who don't live with their families have always made us wince, as have young skiers who live away at Boarding Schools in the Alps, and of course, the Russians and Chinese athletes who are raised for the sole purpose of representing their countries athletically.
The Olympics has become a big financial joke. Michael Phelps is a phenomenon, but what about his engineered swimsuit? How will his raw talent be measured against engineering? And who is paying for all of his expensive equipment?
As I watched diving the other day, the choking started. The female announcer, obviously a former diver, fell all over herself - and the Chinese divers - while critiquing the competition. She was positively gooey about the Chinese divers only. The Australian divers were fantastic, but only because they had a Chinese coach, according to the announcer.
The pandering taking place with the Chinese this year is taking any remaining fun out of the Olympics. While I know that the ChiComs can just whimsically cut off our broadcasting transmissions should we irritate them, shouldn't the athletics at least receive fair and commentary worthy of sportsmen? Yes, the Chinese athletes excel in some sports. But then again, knowing they have no choice as children once their destiny is decided, takes the athleticism out of the equation. Every golfer could be a Tiger Woods if forced to golf 10 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Olympics has become as relevant as the United Nations. America should protest any further participation as long as rogue communist countries pretend they give a whit about any of the people participating. The Chinese have not flawlessly executed this dive, and our liberal media cannot make it so, just by pandering and feeling good about the people. It's too bad that the media doesn't recognize that we care more for the Chinese people than their own country.
I give them a 5.5 on execution, a 4.0 on technique and a 4.5 on degree of difficulty.