August 24, 2004 Just a thought here... I'm no sports fan so I'm not really following the Olympics. I know, I know....you're supposed to love them for the idea of the whole thing, not necessarily the sports. I can't help it. If it looks like a sporting event, sounds like a sporting event, and has sports commentators - I just can't stomach it for very long. And the endless bios on each athlete - I know the media is trying to squeeze some emotion out of the viewer, and that irritates me. When I chance upon a medal ceremony and I see an athlete looking proud and choked up, I have to say I get a little teary-eyed myself. But here's my beef...if you're going to play for the United States, LEARN THE WORDS TO THE NATIONAL ANTHEM! I am amazed at the number of USA athletes standing there looking blank faced and stupid while the the Star Spangled Banner is played. I won't name names - mainly because I don't know any of their names. But the whole team will be standing there kind of moving their lips here and there. Or they look bored and are scanning the crowd for someone to wave at. If you don't know the words, at least stand at attention and show some kind of respect for the event! I just think that it would be nice if more Olympic athletes were doing it for the honor of representing their country before the world. It seems to me that the major motivation behind so many of them is the hope that they'll win the gold so they can land a lucrative endorsement deal. I know that's not true of all of them - but still, it costs a lot of money over the years to train for those events and there's got to be the hope of getting it back somehow. I know that's very cynical of me. I realize that it's a good thing to make a big deal out of this so as to give kids something positive to aspire to. At the same time, the reality is that once you've competed in the Olympics, you still have the rest of your life to lead. There has to be a bigger plan than just being an athlete, because that's a short career. I hope the US teams in the various events win lots of medals, as it seems like they always do. But I also hope that the athletes who didn't win any medals are treated as well as those who did - and that I won't have to see the mugs of the medal winners over and over for the next four years on t.v. commercials, cereal boxes, shoe displays and television shows. Is there anything worse than the awkward monotone of an athlete reading a cue card and trying hard to pretend the words are their own? Thank goodness "The Loveboat" isn't on t.v. anymore, so at least I don't have to see Captain Stubing and his gang greeting an athlete decked out in his/her shiny USA warm-ups, or doing flips and dives into the ship's pool. I'd give that a 2.375, for a lack of originality.
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