What in the World?

The Downside of Global Sports Competitions

DID YOU KNOW that the Winter Olympics will take place next month? Does it make me a bad American or, worse, a bad consumer of entertainment, that it all rather snuck up on me? The Games are being held in the Italian city of Turin, which the natives and, apparently, NBC like to call Torino, which was also the model of Ford that my parents drove when I was a kid. It was an enormous hulk of badass blue steel, with a black interior, and probably got about 4 miles to the gallon. But I digress. NBC no doubt has been working feverishly to develop personal storylines, since the thrill of world-class athletes who are the best on the planet at what they do competing against each other just can't compare to the backstory of a Norwegian luger who once lost his favorite teddy bear in a fjord.

Even worse will be the rampant jingoism of the coverage. Try this: Take a drink for every time Katie Couric or Ann Curry talks about an American athlete "bringing home Olympic gold," and see if you make it through the first day of competition without hurling (not to be confused with the funny-looking sport of curling) after a few hours. I love love love this country, but there are times when it's easy to see why we're not the most popular kid in the class.

Also next month is this silly World Baseball Classic, which feels like an MLB marketing VP's attempt to be seen as a "strategic thinker." Is anyone interested in this? Worse, I'm not sure who I'm supposed to root for. I know, wave the flag and all that -- did I mention that I love love love America? -- but what if (bear with me here) Bobby Abreu is my favorite player? Am I permitted to pull for the Venezuelans then? Will NSA then decide to crawl into my phone and listen in? Will it mean the terrorists have, in fact, won? You can understand my ambivalence.

Comments

[Tom Goodman]

I began writing a post on the upcoming WBC five or six times and each one began with some diatribe or other on nationalism so I never finished. So, here is the short form of that diatribe:

Regrettably, the Olympics will forever be sullied by the leitmotifs of chants (USA, USA, USA) and flag-waving by partisans from pariticpating nations to say nothing of dopoing, Munich and the boycotted games. That said, however, whenever a tense speed skating round unfolds or a downhill racer pushes the limits like a Franz Klammer it is thrilling to watch these great athletes and we can forget their place of origin and embrace them as belonging to us all.

The WBC is another matter, however. Ill-conceived and even worse in its timing, the entire competition is doomed from the outset. Many players will either not be in their best condition or will have opted out in favor of their prior (read: contractual)committments.

[George S]

Throw the following ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir:

Lots of $$ from corporate sponsors, TV networks, governments and sports bodies.

Lots of hype and PR, from host-city committees, from the media, from the IOC, and Official Olympic Sponsors.

Lots of nationalism, including national anthems, flags, judges and country medal standings.

Lots of IOC arrogance and self-generated controversy involving everything from who can display the 5 olympic rings, to drug-testing, to selection of judges.

Lots of sports that no one really plays (or understands). They might require great skill to perform, and they might be fun to actually do yourself, but they are not what any normal person would want to watch, especially on TV. In the winter games, the global audience for most of these sports consists of a few Swiss, some Scandinavians, and Ted Turner.

Champions that are often not even recognized as champions by their own sports. I recall one winter where the World Figureskating Championships were held about 2 weeks after the Olympics. All the same athletes competed in the same events to find out who was the best.

An idiotic mascot whose significance in buried in some local host-country folk tale and has a name that has no meaning at all.

Global disinterest 22 seconds after the closing ceremony, and no recollection whatsoever of 95% of the athletes that participated.

Where do I sign up??

[Tom Goodman]

George: Two tickets for every venue have been left for you at Will Call.

[Bill]

I disagree with George...I like the Olympics. There is something good about rooting for an American simply because they are an American...it's good for the national psyche. Do we go overboard? Sure, but I'll take that over disinterest.

I do not love the way NBC packages everything. People would watch just sports, I beleive. But the Winter Olympics is a chance to watch sports that don't get a lot of attention and I will be watching.

On the otehr note, I have no interest in watching the World Baseball thing. No one will be in top shape...it's March for Christ sakes? And I think it will screw up some of these guys for the regular season. After all, you are adding three more weeks of real play to their bodies...how will that affect them in September?

This smells of desperation. I can understand the NHL allowing it for the Olympics...perhaps I would understand MLB allowing it for the Olympics too. But for a made-up baseball tournament? No thanks!

[John Salmon]

Does anyone know why baseball got thrown out of the Olympics? I know it's not popular eveywhere but neither is Greco-Roman wrestling.