I’m waiting for the Rio opening ceremony to begin. If I were not home, I would probably TiVo it. I think it’s exciting to see how countries put their best foot forward and see all the hopeful athletes so thrilled to be living their dream. My earliest memories of the Olympics go back to high school. It was 1972, the Munich Olympics – Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in swimming. We all felt patriotic. Then in 1976, Nadia Comaneci earned a perfect 10 in gymnastics in Montreal. No-one thought it could be done!
Those were the innocent days of the Olympics – before performance enhancing drugs – when we actually trusted that we were seeing the best athletes in the world – the young kids who had a dream, worked their butts off and became top at something. There is less innocence now, and lots more science behind the training of athletes. I always liked that in the early Olympics the athletes were amateurs – until 1992’s “Dream Team” – basketball’s professional superstars. It’s great that they won, but it seemed like ‘stacking the deck’.
The Olympics is still the pinnacle of sports to me. I will watch quite a bit of the coverage and certainly, when Michael Phelps swims. It’s hard to believe someone can be ‘the best’ for five Olympics – spanning 20 years. I can’t wait to see how he does. I like the Olympics too, because for the next two weeks, it will tamp down the relentless siege of political news. We could all use a break from that!
Those were the innocent days of the Olympics – before performance enhancing drugs – when we actually trusted that we were seeing the best athletes in the world – the young kids who had a dream, worked their butts off and became top at something. There is less innocence now, and lots more science behind the training of athletes. I always liked that in the early Olympics the athletes were amateurs – until 1992’s “Dream Team” – basketball’s professional superstars. It’s great that they won, but it seemed like ‘stacking the deck’.
The Olympics is still the pinnacle of sports to me. I will watch quite a bit of the coverage and certainly, when Michael Phelps swims. It’s hard to believe someone can be ‘the best’ for five Olympics – spanning 20 years. I can’t wait to see how he does. I like the Olympics too, because for the next two weeks, it will tamp down the relentless siege of political news. We could all use a break from that!