Coming into the Olympics I really was unsure in how much desire I was going to have to watch. I mean if there was ever a swimming competition on television or a weight lifting competition on television, it would take me approximately 3 seconds to change the station and move on. But since the opening ceremony I've watched a ludicrous amount of Olympics. Every night this week I watched NBC's coverage until the depth of the night and am completely running on caffeine right now.
But why have I been a major boost to NBC's ratings? Its because prior to the Olympics I didn't count on one thing, I apparently have a ton of American pride inside me. I vastly enjoy America having the status of the most athletic country in the world, and with that threatened by the dominance that has been China this opening week, I get very very into the Olympics. And thus I put on the Olympics and root heavily for every single American, even people like the Williams sisters who in any other scenario I'd be pulling against and I root heavily against the Chinese. They are currently the rival, they are the enemy.
So for the next week I will be completely locked in. I'm pumped, lets get it done America and everyone competing against China.
(Hell even while writing this post I headed into the break room to watch the US defeat China in the 5th set in Volleyball and gave my typical semi awkward fist pump)
Comments
As a fellow American I agree that I get satisfaction out of my countrymen and women taking home medals, but I feel a little guilty about the dubious tag the "greatest athletic country in the world". First, with all the drugs and cheating that goes on (and has gone on in the past--even in the ancient Olympics) does the title even mean anything. Second, subtract some of the naturalized Americans that compete and the totals start going down. Lastly, while the great USA usually leads in medals, it is as much a function of size as athletic prowess. If you take several western EU countries and add them together to get an equivalent population, the medal counts and acheivements start to look less impressive. And forget what happens if you do that for the Winter Olympics. So let's not make too big a deal of our prowess.