Wonderful World

      August 8, 2008

I love the Olympics. One world together pursuing nationalistic glory through athletic endeavor. I find it very inspiring.

 

I know there is plenty to criticize. The Olympics glorify sports over intellectual pursuits. The games are very commercialized. The high profile sports are full of professionals. And since the games are in China there are at least a dozen reasons to wag a finger at the host.

 

I don't care. I love the Olympics, winter or summer. I think it is a good thing. And I'll be up at 5 am to watch the US women's soccer team, even if the broadcast is in Spanish.

 

A visual image might help explain how I feel right now. There's this guy Matt. He's traveled a bit. You may have heard of him (it takes me a while to catch up on these things). And everywhere he goes, he does a little dance.

 

Take a look at Matt's video. Wonderful world.

Steve Buchheit said on August 8, 2008:

The Olympics are fabulous.

Todd Wheeler said on August 9, 2008:

http://www.nbcolympics.com

Streaming video, archived and live, of all the events.

We've come a long way since Jim McKay.

Nathan said on August 9, 2008:

Opening ceremonies are usually the lamest thing on Earth. I'm talking about lameness that plumbs the depths of lameness. I'm talking lameness that has to have been the result of geniuses aiming for lameness.

Last night's ceremony was amazing. The design and choreography was unlike anything I've ever seen before.

The only disappointment (slight) was when the guy lit the torch. You could see him running in air on his harness and I really thought he was going to light that seam of troughs that lined the top level of the stadium. I thought they were going to make the entire top of the stadium into one humongous cauldron. The torch itself was fine, but having the entire upper rim of the arena be the flame would have been uber-cool.

Nathan said on August 9, 2008:

Oh, and I almost forgot, having all of the teams walk across those matts with paint and then trailing it across a blank canvas was sheer genius. It might have been my favorite element of the ceremony and it was the lowest-tech gimmick of all.

L.A. Mitchell said on August 9, 2008:

Matt's video does make you want to get up and dance.

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