The Olympics start tomorrow night. And I couldn’t care less. I used to be a huge, huge fan of the Olympics. I could recite every venue in order from 1896 forward. Yes, I was a dorky kid. And my sister and my fiancee are likely to say that I’m still a dork.
I don’t really recall when or why I soured on them; it just sort of happened. Maybe it has something to do with the end of the Cold War and the fact that it’s no longer “Us versus Them”. That was when the Medal Count meant something. Now it just seems like ridiculous overkill.
I remember watching the “Miracle on Ice” from the couch at my grandparents’ place in Florida. I was allowed to stay up late that night to watch since the place was small, I slept on the couch, and my father was watching the game.
Now through the “magic” of the Internet and 24 hour cable TV, surprises such as that are non-existent. You can find out the results from other news outlets before you see the TV coverage here in the U.S. And that’s another thing that bothers me – the TV coverage always focuses on crap I don’t want to see. Like Figure Skating.