I didn’t watch much of the 2016 Summer Olympics this year. And to be honest, I haven’t watched much of any of the Olympics, winter or summer, since I was in high school. Life has sure changed since back then, as when I was growing up, sitting around the television and rooting on our home country in every single event, even with the ones I wasn’t interested in like synchronized swimming, was just the thing to do and we all were so excited about them. It was also the thing we all talked about in many of our conversations with each other. But now it seems like people aren’t excited about the Olympics anymore. So why is this?
Is it because each of the games always seem to be shadowed by all the doping accusations and scandals these days?
Or is it because there are countless other channels to watch on television now?
Or is it because there’s always talk about corruption in the cities where the games are held?
Or is it because many have lost faith in our country due to how it’s been run?
Or is it because so many are far more wrapped up in video games or social media than anything else nowadays?
Or is it a combination of all of the above or something else altogether?
I don’t truly now the answer to this but what I do know is that I honestly miss the good old days when I aspired to be like Mark Spitz who won a ton of gold medals in swimming a long time ago. I also miss playing basketball with a bunch of kids in my driveway, where each of us pretended to be someone from The Dream Team. And I miss goofing off in front of others with my silly attempts at doing gymnastics and laughing at how I’ll never be the next Mary Lou Retton.
But these days, you don’t hear most people talking about specific competitors in the Olympics and I would venture to say that if you mentioned one of the prominent athletes from any of the events to a random set of individuals in our country, there’s a good chance most wouldn’t even know who you were talking about. Sure they would probably know the names of Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt, but that’s only because they’re constantly plastered all over the news due to the massive number of gold medals they each have accumulated over the years.
Unfortunately for the most part these days, the Olympics come and go and people seem to be far less interested in them or any of the athletes who compete there as compared to decades past. This makes me sad, maybe for nostalgia reasons. Or maybe it’s because our country often feels like it’s going in the opposite direction. One where everyone is pulling more into themselves and withdrawing from the comradery we all used to seem to have together, especially during times when the Olympics were on.
Nevertheless, I still hope for the day to return where this trend will reverse and things like the Olympics will be a time to get excited again. One where having pride in our country means something and one where we all seem to unite together during those few weeks while they’re going on. Until then, I think I’m going to just live with my nostalgia by remembering the good old days where I’d shoot a 3 pointer in my driveway while imagining I was Larry Bird playing in the Olympics…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson