I’m glad that it’s finally over — no, not the pandemic, that’s far from over — but the XXXII Olympiad.
OK, I’m already in big trouble with most, if not all, of you after the first sentence, but if you’re willing to give me a few more paragraphs I will either alienate you further or you might actually join me in at least a few of my opinions.
To begin with, I want to flatly state that I, like most others, was completely mesmerized, impressed and filled with admiration by the ability of the athletes to test and extend the limits of human strength, endurance, speed and dexterity.
That said, I wish to raise some issues which continually disturbed my image of the what the Olympics are. It wasn’t the athletes and their extraordinary prowess that troubled me but rather the presentation, commentary and story lines, which often deflected attention from the ability of the competitors to what seemed like the self-perceived importance of the announcers, analysts and bureaucrats running the “show.”
I will start with the history and tradition of the games themselves. I won’t go into detail here, but I’ll just raise a couple of points which I feel are worthy of highlighting to introduce my reactions. Though controversial, most agree that the “Ancient Olympics” began in Greece in 776 BC, though that date is not carved in stone. (Well, actually it is!)
The games rose and fell in popularity over the years, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took over control in 1896. (The IOC took control of the Winter Games in 1924 and the Paralympics in 2001.) You will have to read the rest for yourself to fill in the 2,500 or so years that are missing here.
The Olympic Games used to hold a fascination for me and many others because it strived to only permit “amateurs” to compete. By 1968, the “purity” of the games was under attack, and in 1992, the USA’s basketball “Dream Team” hammered the final nail in the coffin. So much for “purity.”
Naturally, political pressure played a huge role in this change. You would have to be as naive as Forrest Gump or Dorothy from Kansas to believe that politics didn’t affect the games from the outset. After all, representatives from the warring Greek City States competed against each other from day one.
The Cold War era was fraught with partisan judging. The events that required subjective evaluations, (such as gymnastics, diving and figure skating) suffered the most and actually provided humor to those watching, though not to the athletes. The Soviet judge would always give a ridiculously low score to the Western countries and the American judge would always return the favor. If you are of the opinion that this problem no longer exists, if any of you out there believe that the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was not really Russia and that these athletes didn’t feel that they represented their “Father Land,” then I can give you a good price on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Part of the allure and glamour of the Olympics is that it is steeped in tradition. The original events were comprised of contests such as foot races, chariot races, combat (wrestling and boxing), field contests (javelin, shot), various jumping competitions, and equestrian events. I can’t help myself from conjuring up the image in my mind’s eye of the Greek spectators of yore entering the amphitheater in their best togas, picking up the day’s program at the gate, and seeing, 9 a.m. — Running Events, 11 a.m. — Chariot Races, 1 p.m. — Boxing and 3 p.m. — Beach Volleyball.
This segues into yet another harangue: There was more melodrama being reported about the competitors’ personal lives than there was a meaningful and instructive analysis of the action on the TV screen. Isn’t the latter point the purpose of having these knowledgeable people at the microphone in the first place? At times I wasn’t sure if I had been watching an episode of “General Hospital” or “The Young and the Restless.”
Before you label me “insensitive,” I would have preferred that the athletes themselves shared their personal information first and not the announcers. That way, I could be sure that these young men and women wanted the public to know. The way it was done smacked of the British tabloids. Thankfully, after three days I was able to circumvent this problem and realized that all I had to do was mute the TV. I’m a slow learner.
Finally, I’d like to comment on the list of the Olympic “sports” themselves. As I understand it, the IOC determines what an Olympic sport is. I would love to sit in on one of their meetings. Let’s begin with 3×3 basketball. Doesn’t this beg the question of where is 7×7 baseball, 8×8 soccer, or 10×10 water polo?
I was born and raised on The Bronx streets of New York City, and it seems to me that there is a movement to add street games to the Olympic program where the “field” is composed of asphalt and concrete. Skateboarding is a good example, though this activity supposedly began out in California where surfers enjoyed themselves when the ocean was calm.
I could propose a number of other similar games (both team and individual) for consideration that came from my neighborhood, for example: stickball, stoop ball, skelzies, ringoleevio, potsie, double dutch, and many others. Remember where you first heard what follows: in the 2024 Paris games, Breakdancing will be an Olympic event Vive la France.
If only these games had been considered as Olympic events back in the ’50s, when I patrolled The Bronx streets. “I coulda been a contendah. Instead I got a one way ticket to Palookaville.” (Marlon Brando, “On the Waterfront”)
At least we can all watch Jeopardy at its normal time again.
Jonathan Kahane lives in Westhampton.