So why tune in for the ceremonies? Remember that millions of competitors, coaches and fans have been anticipating the beginning of these Olympics for years. Moreover, in light of the troubled and tense state of the world at the moment, a chance to see the nations of the world gather together peacefully in a stadium is rather significant. Cliched? Yes. But does that mitigate the importance of the event? No.
Many students' attitudes towards the Olympics seem to be this: it's worth following them a bit, but the ceremonies and the side stories are irrelevant and boring. Now, contrast this to similar students' attitudes about other recent major sporting events. Everyone made sure they were sitting comfortably in front of a TV in time to see two teams of overpaid football players duke it out for some cash and sponsorships in primetime last Sunday. No one was surprised that the beer-guzzling, nacho-eating, super-commercialized Super Bowl drew a large percentage of students to their televisions on a Sunday night. Amherst students weren't ignorant about the Super Bowl competitors, either. My Bowl-watching buddies seemed to know a bit about every player on each team, their history this season and their prospects for the future. Amherst is clearly enthusiastic about football.
So why aren't we as excited about the Olympics? There's just as much commercialization, competition and spectacle at the Olympics as there was at the Super Bowl. One person said to me something along the lines of, "Andrew, you just don't understand. The Super Bowl is the culmination of an entire season of football. It's the most important event in sports."
Granted, the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of substance for football fans. But we should be careful not to make the mistake of ranking it lower than the Olympics in importance.
By virtue of scale alone, the Olympics make the Super Bowl look like a little league game. There are two Super Bowls to every set of Olympic games, four to every Winter games. Olympics are played on entire mountains and multiple venues; the Super Bowl is played in a dome. Athletes train to be Olympians their entire lives and anticipate a three-minute race or five-minute performance for a similar number of years. Olympians play for gold, football players for money.
As an illustration of that last point, consider the Pro Bowl. A friend put it nicely when he said, "Every NFL player wants to be elected to go to the Pro Bowl, but no one wants to actually go." Why? Because they don't want to get injured. If they played football in the Olympics, I bet most NFL players would turn down the opportunity.
The purpose of the Olympics is incredibly significant. Aside from the competition, it's a symbolic gesture unlike any other event in the world. I haven't even mentioned the environmental and educational goals that are part of the Olympic purpose. Now, I'll grant that having Yo-Yo Ma and Sting play on a platform sliding across an icy stage is a funny image to associate with Olympics. Yet I don't see how President Bush opening the games while standing among the athletes of his country is in any way trite.
Scores of athletes have given years of their time and effort to get where there are today. The Olympics are worth our attention and I, for one, will be watching.