Olympic spirit

By the time the Summer Olympics come around, I forget how much I enjoyed the last one. It's the one time that I can enjoy sports like swimming, gymnastics, volleyball and other "minor" sports. I enjoy them because I have someone to root for. I find myself wraped up in the games, so much so that I stay up past midnight to see if the U.S. gynnastics teams can get a medal. I don't care a whit about gymnastics any other time. But during the Olympics, I'm practically screaming at the TV in excitement. How can you not get excited when the U.S. swimmer in the relay event came back from a full body length to to pull out the gold by a split second. Who can't get excited about watching Michael Phelps winnining five gold medals in these Olympics and becoming the Olympian with the most career gold medals. He can break the record for most Olympic golds in one Olympics if he wins gold in his final three events. I know I'll be rooting hard for him. it's a great sports story.
Even cycling was somewhat exciting when six competitors were neck and neck at the end after a 20 kilometer race. And in that instance there wasn't even an American involved in the race.
I'm just astounded by the amount of Olympci coverage NBC is giving us this year. During the week, three hours in the morning and at least four at night, then six hours in the afternoon and five more at night during the weekend. Then there is coverage on CNBC, MSNBC and the USA network late at night and early in the morning. There aren't too many Olympic sports that isn't getting at least a little coverage. I watch Olympic handball on one of those channels. I thought handball was plated with two competitors hitting the ball against the wall. This handball was a team sport with a full team of players passing off to each other at an amazing speed trying to throw the ball past a goalie and into the goal. That was something I've never seen before.
Then next week, just when you start to get a little bored with it all, the track and field events begin with a U.S. competitor competing in just about evey event. If they're taking enough steroids, they have a great chance of winning. (Sorry track fans! I just couldn't help myself).
I'm a big believer in the Olympics and the Olympic spirit. For two weeks athletes from over 200 nations don't care about anyone's religion or politics. You see athletes from China and the U.S. congratulating each other after a competition. That's what the Olympics are all about.