More thoughts about the Olympics that I am having

Oscar Pistorius is simply amazing. People throw around the word “inspiring” for things that sometimes are not inspiring but this guy actually is an inspiration.

I barely noticed before but now the podiums for the silver and bronze medals are on the same level. This is bullshit. It’s unfair to the silver winner to be at the same level of the bronze winner because even though 0.001 seconds might separate them, that still means something to people on the Olympic level and the podium, even if it’s only symbolic, should reflect that. I hope nobody did this in a misguided attempt not to hurt people’s feelings. These are tested Olympians and I think they can handle being third place in the world. Maybe the podium is just that way because it’s easier to build it with two levels instead of three.

There has been a lot of discussion about the media attention on Lolo Jones, who finished fourth in hurdles. Then Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells, who finished silver and bronze, wondered in an interview why nobody paid more attention to them. They have a point. I wonder how many athletes have intriguing stories but get less coverage than the perceived stars of the Olympics.

It’s anticlimactic that two United States teams played in the women’s beach volleyball finals. There’s no suspense in knowing our country gets gold either way. Each country should only have one team per event. Also, in a bracketed event, I guess the loser of the finals gets silver but how they determine who gets the bronze? 

I like watching countries that never win anything win medals. It was fun to see the Grenadians go crazy when one of their countrymen won a medal. For whatever reason, I enjoy watching the Jamaicans win their events.

It’s so refreshing to see Gabby Douglas’ million-dollar smile. She stands out because she actually looks happy. The rest of the gymnasts look like they’re terrified to go home; like if you make any sudden moves, they’ll run away. I cannot tell most of these women apart. They look like identical fawns with ponytails and glitter makeup. There’s something creepy about it.

I don’t like the gymnasts’ rhinestone fuchsia uniforms. They should go back to the iconic red, white and blue leotards of Mary Lou Retton’s days. I should be able to tell they’re American without having to squint to see the little flag.

I don’t care for the cultural reports NBC does. These shouldn’t happen in prime time because there are too many sports highlights to show. I didn’t have a burning need to watch a report on bagpipes. If they want to deliver feature-type stuff, they should stick with the weepy reports on athletes’ backgrounds. I am a sucker for these.

It was entertaining to see the debate over whether that rower had a boner during his medal ceremony (he says no). Hey, I wouldn’t blame him if he had been erect. If you can’t sport a chub during your Olympic medal ceremony, when can you?

Congratulations to Michael Phelps. But now I have no desire to watch any more interviews with him or his mother. Enough. 

Like other Americans, I by default root for the U.S. But I wouldn’t care if the men’s basketball team lost. I have no desire to see Kobe Bryant get another accolade. I also don’t have any interest in watching the basketball games because I could see a season of that if I actually cared about the sport. At the Olympics, I like watching sports I never watch otherwise, like swimming or fencing or shotput.

Huh. So that’s what a velodrome is.