We take a break from my ongoing, endless coverage of meaningless football rankings (now, all the playoff games of the last ten years!!!) to bring you what easily could be my one and only post about the Summer Olympics.
First of all, I'm not a real Olympics fan. It is far less organized and entertaining than the two major international futbol competitions (The World Cup and The Euro). To me, it isn't even the Winter Olympics, as the Summer Games' main international team sport (Basketball) is one where one country (The US) has a huge, distinct advantage and provides for a bevy of boring, uncompetitive games. The Winter Games has hockey, where Canada is no where as good as the US in basketball relative to the world. What the Olympics is to me is just something to mindlessly have on in the background during the summer, a season defined by baseball and boredom. For whatever reason, though, this particular Olympics has seemed more interesting. It might be because this is the first games that I've actually been cognizant enough to watch that doesn't feature endless Michael Phelps talk, but I've found this games entertaining, enlightening and oddly fulfilling as a fan of American Sports (I wish I could say the same about NBC's coverage, which is utter dogshit). But no sport has connected with me more than Gymnastics, my personal MVP of the Summer Olympics. Yes, I've crossed over to the darkside.
I am one of those people that watches the Olympics for the gymnastics (and probably the track come next week). I doubt this will carry over to the Winter Games where the model is changed to figure skating, but I have been thoroughly fascinated by the Fab Five, and everything that ridiculous competition represents. Gymanstics is puzzling as a fan of sports in general. It is obvious that it takes ridiculous athleticism, and that it is staggering that these teenage girls (I'm not really into men's gymnastics, as I find it much too robotic) are that flexible, that strong and that supple to do what they do. But unlike every other sport that I watch ever, no athlete is in control of their own destiny. Sure, they know if they screw up, they will lose, but any gymnast is at the hands of the judges, and dark, mystifying cabal of individuals who take far too long to come up with scores. It is that odd dynamic, the tension that palpably builds in that minute between the routine is finished and the score appears. It is the human element. Gymnastics might be the sport that defines the joy of victory and the agony of defeat, because those gymnasts are truly relying on destiny. It just so happens that the destiny are those judges.
Seeing that 'Fab Five' just dominate the Team All-Around was really like watching a great pitching staff just dominate four straight games. The other countries didn't have a chance. That was a precision victory, something that is easy to translate to other sports. The Russian players, that to be honest seemed more innately talented, screwing up at the most inopportune moments didn't translate as well. Seeing those 15-16-17 year old girls mess up after years of training, seeing them have difficulty landing perfectly after striving and essentially achieving that perfection for much of their recent career. That was heartbreaking, but it was also the truest essence of sport. We all love to believe that some players, like Eli Manning, are clutch, while some, like Peyton, are "chokers." In pro sports, people that "choke" usually will have a hard time making it to the NFL. In amateur sports, especially one where the participants are still going through puberty, clutch and choking is almost tangible.
It was great to see Jordyn Weiber, a couple days after failing to qualify for the Individual All-Around because of a technicality, come back as focused as ever and deliver. It was also, in a perverse way, great to see that Russian team just break down under the pressure. That is normal. That is the agony of defeat, something that apart from Roger Federer at the 2009 Australian Open, we rarely see from pros who are trained to always look ahead and move on. It became worse at the Individual All-Around, as Victoria Komova broke down immediately after finishing what was mostly a flawless floor exercise, knowing that it was probably not flawless enough. She cried harder than I've seen any other silver medalist. Was it slightly pathetic? Maybe. But in reality, it was a beautiful moment from an athlete that hailed from a country that is known for its steely demeanor. If it was Gabrielle Douglas sobbing after losing the Gold to Komova, it would be hailed by NBC as a pure, human moment. And even though it happened to a Russian Glass Doll of a girl, it still was.
I wish the NBC coverage would be as good as the events themselves. NBC has bastardized the Olympics by shoving the premier events to an edited, agenda-driven, customized "faux-live" show each night, and instead of showing the competitions in their full form, they focus on the Americans (understandably) and their closest competitor. In the team competition, we saw just one routine from a Chinese gymnast, and two from Romanians. We didn't see the best floor performer in the World, who had an amazing routine up until her stunning fall on a flip. Why? Who knows but NBC. We never saw what was a close race for the bronze medal. Instead, we were subjected to long gazing camera views at the US team huddling, and the annoying Mrs. Weiber. In the All-Around, the viewer would've thought it was a 4-person competition, with Douglas, Raisman, Komova and the Mustafina (it is scary I remembered all four of those names easily). The commentary by that fool Tim Daggert is even worse, as he overly criticizes the judges when America gets underscored, and harps on every little fault in a foreigners routine. It is ghastly, and ruins the purest competition in the Olympics.
In the end, while Gabrielle Douglas, Jordyn Weiber and the three other members of the fab-five (btw, how did McKayla Maroney not score higher on that vault? How was it supposed to be better?) stole the show, it was the whole event that captured my heart. To see a sport where athletes truly do rise to the occasion with clutch performances (how about the three US girls banging out those first three vaults, or Raisman nailing the final floor exercise to wrap it all up) while others truly choke (the Russians at various times - it should be said they were still good enough to win silvers). To see a sport where the winner isn't determined truly on the field, but by a second party. To see a sport where ridiculously young athletes are doing even more ridiculous things. To see all of these things happen opened my eyes. So much so, that last night I went back and rewatched Carly Patterson and Nastia Luikin's Gold-Medal all-around performances on Youtube (fast reaction: both seemed slightly better than Douglas, but also more rehearsed, like it was an act and not a performance). Yeah, I actually watched gymnastics highlights on Youtube. So either I've become a true gymnastics fan, or it means something else: That I really need football back.
First of all, I'm not a real Olympics fan. It is far less organized and entertaining than the two major international futbol competitions (The World Cup and The Euro). To me, it isn't even the Winter Olympics, as the Summer Games' main international team sport (Basketball) is one where one country (The US) has a huge, distinct advantage and provides for a bevy of boring, uncompetitive games. The Winter Games has hockey, where Canada is no where as good as the US in basketball relative to the world. What the Olympics is to me is just something to mindlessly have on in the background during the summer, a season defined by baseball and boredom. For whatever reason, though, this particular Olympics has seemed more interesting. It might be because this is the first games that I've actually been cognizant enough to watch that doesn't feature endless Michael Phelps talk, but I've found this games entertaining, enlightening and oddly fulfilling as a fan of American Sports (I wish I could say the same about NBC's coverage, which is utter dogshit). But no sport has connected with me more than Gymnastics, my personal MVP of the Summer Olympics. Yes, I've crossed over to the darkside.
I am one of those people that watches the Olympics for the gymnastics (and probably the track come next week). I doubt this will carry over to the Winter Games where the model is changed to figure skating, but I have been thoroughly fascinated by the Fab Five, and everything that ridiculous competition represents. Gymanstics is puzzling as a fan of sports in general. It is obvious that it takes ridiculous athleticism, and that it is staggering that these teenage girls (I'm not really into men's gymnastics, as I find it much too robotic) are that flexible, that strong and that supple to do what they do. But unlike every other sport that I watch ever, no athlete is in control of their own destiny. Sure, they know if they screw up, they will lose, but any gymnast is at the hands of the judges, and dark, mystifying cabal of individuals who take far too long to come up with scores. It is that odd dynamic, the tension that palpably builds in that minute between the routine is finished and the score appears. It is the human element. Gymnastics might be the sport that defines the joy of victory and the agony of defeat, because those gymnasts are truly relying on destiny. It just so happens that the destiny are those judges.
Seeing that 'Fab Five' just dominate the Team All-Around was really like watching a great pitching staff just dominate four straight games. The other countries didn't have a chance. That was a precision victory, something that is easy to translate to other sports. The Russian players, that to be honest seemed more innately talented, screwing up at the most inopportune moments didn't translate as well. Seeing those 15-16-17 year old girls mess up after years of training, seeing them have difficulty landing perfectly after striving and essentially achieving that perfection for much of their recent career. That was heartbreaking, but it was also the truest essence of sport. We all love to believe that some players, like Eli Manning, are clutch, while some, like Peyton, are "chokers." In pro sports, people that "choke" usually will have a hard time making it to the NFL. In amateur sports, especially one where the participants are still going through puberty, clutch and choking is almost tangible.
It was great to see Jordyn Weiber, a couple days after failing to qualify for the Individual All-Around because of a technicality, come back as focused as ever and deliver. It was also, in a perverse way, great to see that Russian team just break down under the pressure. That is normal. That is the agony of defeat, something that apart from Roger Federer at the 2009 Australian Open, we rarely see from pros who are trained to always look ahead and move on. It became worse at the Individual All-Around, as Victoria Komova broke down immediately after finishing what was mostly a flawless floor exercise, knowing that it was probably not flawless enough. She cried harder than I've seen any other silver medalist. Was it slightly pathetic? Maybe. But in reality, it was a beautiful moment from an athlete that hailed from a country that is known for its steely demeanor. If it was Gabrielle Douglas sobbing after losing the Gold to Komova, it would be hailed by NBC as a pure, human moment. And even though it happened to a Russian Glass Doll of a girl, it still was.
I wish the NBC coverage would be as good as the events themselves. NBC has bastardized the Olympics by shoving the premier events to an edited, agenda-driven, customized "faux-live" show each night, and instead of showing the competitions in their full form, they focus on the Americans (understandably) and their closest competitor. In the team competition, we saw just one routine from a Chinese gymnast, and two from Romanians. We didn't see the best floor performer in the World, who had an amazing routine up until her stunning fall on a flip. Why? Who knows but NBC. We never saw what was a close race for the bronze medal. Instead, we were subjected to long gazing camera views at the US team huddling, and the annoying Mrs. Weiber. In the All-Around, the viewer would've thought it was a 4-person competition, with Douglas, Raisman, Komova and the Mustafina (it is scary I remembered all four of those names easily). The commentary by that fool Tim Daggert is even worse, as he overly criticizes the judges when America gets underscored, and harps on every little fault in a foreigners routine. It is ghastly, and ruins the purest competition in the Olympics.
In the end, while Gabrielle Douglas, Jordyn Weiber and the three other members of the fab-five (btw, how did McKayla Maroney not score higher on that vault? How was it supposed to be better?) stole the show, it was the whole event that captured my heart. To see a sport where athletes truly do rise to the occasion with clutch performances (how about the three US girls banging out those first three vaults, or Raisman nailing the final floor exercise to wrap it all up) while others truly choke (the Russians at various times - it should be said they were still good enough to win silvers). To see a sport where the winner isn't determined truly on the field, but by a second party. To see a sport where ridiculously young athletes are doing even more ridiculous things. To see all of these things happen opened my eyes. So much so, that last night I went back and rewatched Carly Patterson and Nastia Luikin's Gold-Medal all-around performances on Youtube (fast reaction: both seemed slightly better than Douglas, but also more rehearsed, like it was an act and not a performance). Yeah, I actually watched gymnastics highlights on Youtube. So either I've become a true gymnastics fan, or it means something else: That I really need football back.
