The 2008 Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics begin this Friday, with the opening ceremonies being aired on NBC. To be honest, I don’t know if I’m going to watch the Olympics this year. They have been less than inspiring to watch in recent years.

When I was younger, I would look forward to watching them for hours on end, and loved how they would switch from one event to the next, always showing you something exciting. But as said, they haven’t been the same. I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and have more to occupy my time or just that are boring now, because they have so many events, and some of them aren’t exactly what I consider “Olympic”, such as baseball or beach volleyball. I love baseball, don’t misunderstand me, but I prefer to watch my favorite team as opposed to teams from other countries. There’s something about baseball that doesn’t strike me as very “Olympic” as I said. I feel it lacks a certain, je ne sais quoi if you will.

I know that all eyes will be on China to see how they present the Olympics, and from what I’ve been reading, they’re putting their best foot forward. They completed massive construction projects in record time, have gone to great lengths to welcome people from all over the world with open arms in order to shower them with hospitality. Of course they will try and downplay any criticism of their human rights policies, or the fact that they’re a communist nation.

I will tune to watch the Olympics, at least some of it, though not as much as I used to, for they don’t carry the same excitement for me that they used to have, and I’m sure that has more to do with me as opposed to the Olympics themselves.

Despite everything, I think that most people who are attending the Olympics or will be tuning in to watch will not be thinking about China and its governmental policies. No, they will be looking for their favorite athletes, following their favorite events and cheering on their native country to gold and glory.

Go USA.