I am so tired. I have stayed up and watched too much Olympics, particularly volleyball and gymnastics. I would say the same about the swimming competition, but there seemed to be sufficient drama in those races that they definitely kept my attention.
Some events don't get enough attention from the media. I was shocked when they decided to show some fencing. It was a pleasure to see someone from Dunwoody participate and win medals in the Olympics for fencing.
My one gripe with Olympics these days is that they seem to continually add events to the games, seemingly so little countries can win medals. Some events are down-right odd: trampoline, rythmic gymnastics, team handball, bmx biking. Kate had a friend who said that team handball seemed to be something in which everyone could participate. Kate foresaw the two of us on our own American team.
In our discussion, Kate and I decided that team handball was the adult equivalent of kickball.
I hope I haven't hurt anyone's feelings.
In the meanwhile, they are planning on eliminating baseball and softball, which are serious sports played by many nations. It just happens that the USA is good at those sports.
It riles the conspiracy theory part of my brain. Baseball and softball were killed by the shooter from the grassy knoll. There were two gunmen. The Warren Commission was a cover-up. Area Fifty one. The X-files.
Of course, NBC has to try to please everyone to a certain degree. My sister-on-law wants 24 hour/fourteen day nothing but volleyball, with equal dispersion between beach and court. Cindy wants more sailing. No, any sailing. I think Kate wants Project Runway as an Olympic Event. I'm sure my dad wants Olympics only during the hours of nine in the morning to eight at night. There are times when I just want a break. More track would be nice. I even get tired of basketball, which is one of my favorite sports. Less gymnastics and volleyball. More skulls and odd sports like field hockey.
Sometimes I really like the Winter Olympics better. I would rather watch skiing, skate racing and even a little hurling. Some of the snowboarding is fun to watch as well. I really like downhill, slalom and the other ski events.
And one more thing: when you are watching a 10,000 meter race, don't reverse the dvr so you can go back to watch one more lap around the track. In that kind of a race, each lap looks pretty much the same.
My father-in-law says that the only part of basketball you need to see is the last five minutes. Truthfully, that rule probably originated with watching distance running.
That may account for the fact that most of these sports disappear between the Olympic years. Its sad because the athletes deserve more coverage in their sports. But still. After fourteen days straight, it can wear on you.
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2 comments:
I have seen one discus throw on TV, no shot put, no long jump, no triple jump, no hammer throw, no steeplechase, no javelin and way too much of those Chinese divers. If I weighed 24 lbs. I wouldn't make much of a splash either.
They should have weight classes in diving now too... then the heavywieght divers could go all out in the cannonball and can opener to see who could make the biggest splash. Could you imagine a 500 lb Japanese Sumo wrestler going off the 10m?
the 10,000 meter race has as much validity as nascar. great, you can run around a track for an extended amount of time. i'm glad i just witnessed you receive accolade for a daily workout. those athletes have the same skills as domesticated rodents. "a hamster from bolivia takes gold today, he thanks his owner for putting in that wheel in his cage."
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