Last weekend, like many Americans, I found myself unintentionally, but somehow enjoyably watching the Summer Olympics. The storylines are too good. From Michael Phelps going for as much gold around his neck as Edgerrin James has in his mouth, to the USA gymnastics squad being led by two teenagers from the Indianapolis area, this year’s Olympics are a journalist’s gold mine. I would normally never watch a lot of these sports. But because the Olympic stage is so large (and there’s nothing else good on network television these days) I’ve already found myself cheering on a swim team like I would a football team, and cursing the judges for what I thought was a perfectly-timed synchronized dive.
Michael Phelps is having quite a week in Beijing.
Individual sports aside, another valid reason to watch the Olympics has been USA Basketball, or the “Redeem Team” as some have called it. Kobe Bryant and Co. absolutely dismantled the Chinese in the opener 101-70, which brought several thoughts to mind. First off, why was this game hyped so much? Sure, China had a handful of NBA players in Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian and the support of a rowdy home crowd, but who honestly thought that the Americans could choke this early? From a bronze medal showing in the ‘04 Athens games to a shocking sixth place finish in the ‘02 FIBA World Championship right here in Indianapolis, USA Basketball has endured too much embarassment in recent years to let a raucous Chinese home crowd get under its skin.
The USA Basketball headlines didn’t stop after the game. Hot on the heels of ex-Atlanta Hawk Josh Childress bolting to Greece, reports surfaced early this week that superstars LeBron James and Kobe Bryant would consider taking their high-flying acts overseas for a salary in the neighborhood of… $50 million a season. Critics argue that LeBron and Kobe would simply be abandoning their NBA teams and fans for the money, and to a degree they’re right, but wouldn’t most Americans do the exact same thing? Name one electrician or insurance salesman who wouldn’t switch jobs for more than four times their current salary. I don’t believe LeBron or Kobe will actually pack their bags for Europe, but if they did, they would end up being the losers of the situation. The NBA would replinish its supply of stars through the NBA Draft, while LeBron and Kobe would spend the rest of their careers in relative obscurity, getting writer’s cramp from learning to personalize autographs in Greek, Russian, or Hungarian.
August 14, 2008 at 12:46 pm |
Ya know, I never expected that I would be watching the summer olympics either (just not that into it.) then I saw that one race where Michael Phelps just went crazy after the USA won the Gold. The announcers did not even think that the USA would win and kept saying that they might get the silver, but that was a killer win for us. Now I find myself switching over the the Olympics in my spare time to try and catch some action! Go Phelps! Hes winning it all!