What Olympics?

Lacking a television signal or cable, my knowledge of the current Olympics season is pretty scarce. At this point, the only thing I know about them is that some guy got killed while sledding into metal pole and some dude who looks like a chick who looks like a dude has gotten death threats for wearing real fur.

Yep. My Olympic coverage is limited to Drudge headlines.

I remember Olympics being cooler when I was a kid. There was a sense of drama, even if I didn't understand what was going on. Perhaps it was because Olympics were held every four years, so it was a rare occasion. Perhaps there was also an element of heightened competition and patriotism owing to the cold war. Now, the Olympics, like presidential election campaigns, seem to follow a ceaseless continuity. Between X-games, Youtube videos of street performers, failblogs, and Avatar, the nigh-superhuman feats of Olympic seem less impressive and sometimes downright hokey.

I feel too jaded to root for the home team any more, and I'm suspicious of athletes. Even during the mutant Michael Phelps's swimathon, I often felt like I was following the story more to see when he would lose than to see if he would keep winning. And even that fairy tale story came crashing down.

And worldwide conflicts make the Olympic spirit seem like an absurd charade. Most of the suspense lies not in the conflict between athletes but in the morbid curiosity as to whether or not a bad guy with a beard is going to blow something up.

So who out there is watching the Olympics, and how do you get yourselves worked up for it?

Comments

[Mike]

The Summer Olympics are way better than the Winter Olympics. That said, I do still find people to cheer for in the winter. Whether it's the married couple that came out of retirement for one more try, or the girl trying to redeem herself because she fell over - and lost the gold - just before the finish line last time, there's always someone I tune in hoping to see do well.

[Cornelius]

Most of the competitions in the winter olympics seem kind of dubious. Why is there curling and not say billiards in the olympics? How can dance be a sport? I say get rid of nearly everything that requires a judge to determine who wins, and some of the sports that have objective winners.