I find myself surprised at the tone a local sports blog has taken towards the 2008 Summer Olympics.
While the MRT Sports Section covers sports (the stats and the facts), the MRT Sports Blog often covers sports phenomena (the observations and speculations) ... which can be every bit as interesting, and has made me a daily visitor.
But lately, we've had a divergence of opinion. Nothing wrong with that - it's one of the attractions of the blogosphere ... their blog and their opinion, my blog and my opinion. And differences-of-opinion notwithstanding, I plan to continue visiting their blog regularly.
"I have made it my personal goal not to watch a minute of the coverage," Oscar wrote in his latest post ... and I found that kind of sad. The alternatives he offers are things that can be done nearly every day, every year ... while the Summer Olympics come to us for just two weeks, once every four years, bringing together an incredible collection of the world's greatest young athletes. And thanks to the unprecedented depth and breadth of television (and online) coverage, and recording abilities, we can play with the kids, read a book, walk the dog, go to a ballgame ... and still have time to sit down and watch our favorite sport.
And even though the Olympics are no longer a Cold War battlefield (as Len noted in this post), there is still much to entertain and excite ...
... and to discover ... and to inspire. Younger Son has been tuning-in. An acquaintance of his from COM Aquatics is a coach on the U.S. gymnastics team, and he's hoping to catch a glimpse of him. And speaking of aquatics, Younger Son has been thrilled by what he has seen on television, and has asked about moving from rec swimming to team swimming ... Midland has a great program for that.
And not just swimming, either. Even though we've only seen previews of Olympic track-and-field, Younger Son already wants to give some of the throwing events a try now that he's entering junior high. Meanwhile, Elder Son - who's a soccer player, himself - has been enjoying that competition, a fresh round of 'international friendlies' that only occurs once every four years.
And not just sports, either. The opening ceremony - for all its lip-syncing and computer embellishments - was pretty spectacular ... and don't just take my word for it. China's pulling-out all the stops to market itself to the world ... and even taking all the propaganda into account, it's been effective. Both my boys have asked me about my own trip to southeast Asia, earlier this year, and what it was like. They have also expressed an interest in going there themselves someday, following the paths trod by their father and their grandfather ...
... someday, maybe they will.
For all this and more, I must respectfully disagree with the proprietors of the MRT Sports Blog ... whether you're a fan of sports in particular, or an observer of the human race in general ... casual or fanatical ... there is something to enjoy at the Summer Olympics. Tune-in or log-in ... even if just for a little while.
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2 comments:
The Olympics have certainly been "must see tv" at the Ward household. I have even lost too much sleep watching some of the more obscure, but interesting events on MSNBC. (Olympic badminton comes to mind. They make that little shuttlecock scream!)
Both sons have been fascinated by the swimming, and have been asking about getting into it themselves. As you said, propaganda issues aside, it has been a great show so far, and I'm looking forward to more.
Darrell, I have heard A LOT of variations of your comments over the past week ... and returning to one of the posts on the sports blog I mentioned, those comments come from people who still manage to devote plenty of time to the activities that were suggested as alternatives to watching the Olympics.
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