|
Nathaniel
Shockey
Read Nathaniel's bio and previous columns
here
August 18, 2008
Olympics Bring Out the
Best in Us (But If You Believe Those Girls Are 16, Well . . .)
America and the rest of the world have been swept up in Olympic mania,
and understandably so. There has been no shortage of drama, scandal,
humor or practically anything else necessary for outstanding stories.
There are too many to discuss meaningfully in one short column, but here
are some thoughts on a few of my favorite stories from the first
incredible week of the 29th Olympiad.
Americans use the word “awesome” to describe just about anything.
Consequently, the word has lost much of its punch. So when something
comes along that is actually deserving of such a powerful description,
the word seems inadequate. But until about 30 years ago, it conjured
fear, terror, even pain and anguish. Formerly, it was used to describe
few things short of God.
Michael Phelps is not God, but it is hard to describe his achievements
in the 29th Olympiad without using the word awesome. His
performance has been awesome, Herculean, demanding reverence and
certainly terror from his opponents, truly epic, and will not be
eclipsed anytime soon. Who will forget where they were when he won the
100-meter fly by one desperate half stroke, or when his countryman Jason
Lezak roared back in the final 20 meters of an 400-meter relay to beat
the trash-talking Frenchmen? I was at a restaurant on Friday night.
Employees and customers were all crowded around the bar television,
convinced, much like Phelps’s mother, that our hero would finally have
to settle for silver. That’s when the words “United States” emerged
first across the pool next to the number 1, the place erupted and we all
roared with joy, united as a country by the 23-year-old who carries
himself and his rapidly accumulating stack of gold medals with dignity
and youthful exuberance.
If
anything or anyone short of deity could ever be described as awesome,
Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian ever, has earned the adjective.
Concerning the medal race, you may have noticed that China’s official
Olympics web site has placed China in the lead, as they have accumulated
significantly more victories than anyone else. On the other hand, every
American site continually places the U.S. in the lead, as they have won
the most medals. So who’s right?
Philosophically, we have to decide how seriously we take the competitive
aspect of the Olympics. Certainly, the Olympics are about unity, or
there’s no way the world would congregate in a controversial, communist
nation such as China. But the unity aspect of the Olympics is a given.
Nations are not getting together to play four-square without keeping
score. They’re joining in fierce, joyful competition. And as such, we
ought to take the overall winners seriously. Each medal should have a
point value, and as far as I’m concerned, China is ahead by a
considerable margin.
The Chinese are incredibly fun to root against, as they play the role of
villain better than anyone. They’re good at just about everything –
diving, gymnastics, shooting, weight-lifting, badminton, ping-pong . . .
they’re even gaining prominence in team sports. The Chinese may just run
away with the next few summer Olympics if we’re not careful.
But concerning the gymnastics debacle, are we seriously supposed to
believe that those girls were 16 years old? Are we supposed to believe
they finished elementary school? (Oh yeah, China plucks promising three
year-olds out of normal life and places them in intensive gymnastics
training programs, not elementary school). If those gymnasts are 16,
Terrell Owens is a good teammate. If they’re 16, Barry Bonds’ records
are legit. If they’re 16, then John McCain is barely pushing 40. If
they’re 16, then Barack Obama is a warmonger. If they’re 16, then Sean
Hannity is an objective political commentator. If they’re 16, I’m a
vegetarian, and Rambo is a hippie. I don’t have a degree in biology, I’m
not an expert in human anatomy and I’ve never considered age-guessing
one of my strengths. But I’m confident in my ability to distinguish
between 16-year-olds and toddlers. China should not have won the women’s
team gymnastics gold medal. That was a joke, and even though China and
NBC seem content to ignore it, the whole rest of the world is laughing.
You have to admit that, if nothing else, allowing China to host the
Olympics makes the whole thing much more interesting. I’ve been glued to
the television, neglecting my responsibilities, staying up all night and
sleep-walking through most of the day. Scandals and all, the Olympics
truly are wonderful, capturing the spirit of John Donne’s famous
declaration that “No man is an island entire
of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” I
find it nearly impossible to come away from this exceptional event
without feeling both intense national pride and a great sense of
international unity. I honestly believe that competition brings the best
out of people, and it is hard not to get choked up about hundreds of
nations from around the world, each emerging out of unique moments in
their history, coming together to celebrate the best of humanity.
It’s good
to be reminded that we’re all in this thing together. Perhaps we can
remember this from the moment one torch is extinguished to the moment
the next one is lit.
© 2008
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
Click here to talk to our writers and
editors about this column and others in our discussion forum.
To e-mail feedback
about this column,
click here. If you enjoy this writer's
work, please contact your local newspapers editors and ask them to carry
it.
This is Column #
NS128.
Request permission to publish here. |
|
