I love watching the Olympics. Like many of you, I have been watching as much as I can this past week and intend to do so for the next week, both on CBC and the NBC outlets. With the games about a third of the way through at this writing, I sat down to think of my biggest thrills and biggest disappointments so far.
Trouble is, I can't think of any big thrills that have occurred yet. Unless you count the occasional peak at Women's Beach Volleyball.
I am not a prude. I am well toward the other end of that spectrum. However, I am not convinced that the amount of television coverage this sport gets, Olympic or otherwise, is not based on the medium's assumption that people, men in particular, will watch in large numbers as four scantily clad, hard-bodied women dance and stretch in the sand.
Who cares who won? It's kind of like a step up from mud wrestling.
I understand that Women's Wrestling at this Olympics doesn't use mud.
There have been some interesting moments, but nothing thrilling yet. Had a chance to watch fencing the other day. That's something we don't get to see everyday.
Frankly, it was kind of weird. It was not at all like the sword fights we grew up watching in swashbuckler movies. Way less action.
The competition I watched was "epee." Those skinny, flexible pointy things. The commentators also mentioned "saber" competition, but I didn't get to see that.
Epee, by the way is a very valuable word to know if you like crossword puzzles. Clues like "Fencing tool" or "Sword cousin" are answered with that four letter word.
What was weird was that the competitors face each other, in an "en garde" stance, then one lunges at the other, who, unless he or she also is lunging, jumps back to try to get away.
They don't really seem to thrust their epees at each other, they swat. It's more like a whipping contest than what you or I think of as a sword fight. There doesn't seem to be anything like defense or parrying, like you see in boxing, only attempts at escape.
I guess that qualifies as a disappointment.
Disappointment 2. Lack of coverage of Olympic sailing. The NBC schedule indicates that the only coverage of sailing will be an early morning hour each day. Nothing in prime time or even day time. It's a personal issue.
Disappointment 3 is the performance, or lack thereof, of the U.S. Men's Basketball team. Yeah, they have only lost one game as of this writing. But they are not playing well as a team.
They are a group of very talented basketball players, but they are not a team.
Most commentators I've read this week put the blame on one player or another. They seem to be missing the fact that the person responsible for whether or not a group of players becomes a team is the coach.
Larry Brown has failed to corral his group of players and create a team that is more than the sum of its parts. That is his responsibility as coach.
I'll keep watching this week. Hope you do too. Disappointment means we care. It means we have hope that there will be some thrills.
And in the final accounting, maybe just being able to watch is thrill enough.