Jim Examines Olympic Competition

I like watching the Olympics. Not surprising, I enjoy The Games for different reasons than some people. Not all my reasons are so different however. Like most people, I like to see the underdog win. I don’t care if the athletes are American or not. I’d prefer the U.S. basketball team lose if the opponent is lowly Liechtenstein. It could never happen, of course, but I’d like to see it. But I am patriotic enough that I do not want an American athlete to lose if he or she is a slight favorite. If however the American is playing a decisive underdog, I’m pulling for the underdog. I guess I’m more sympathetic than I am patriotic.

I enjoy seeing a world-class athlete fail, especially if the failure is embarrassing. I’d get a kick out of a weight lifter splitting out his shorts while squatting into a press with three under pounds resting in his hands. Such an occurrence would be a real hoot. I’d probably replay it a half dozen times. On the other hand, in the subsequent interview I’d love to see that same weight lifter redeem himself by displaying some grade-A, self-effacing humor. If a world class weight lifter would ever split out his shorts while in competition and go on to make light of it, I’d be his fan forever. I’d immediately apply to be his Facebook friend.

I’m over sixty now and I still do athletic stuff. (I almost said that I am still “athletic”, but I caught myself.) I play basketball once a week with a bunch of guys, every one of whom is younger than I am, some younger by decades. Though I still do athletic stuff, I no longer compete, technically speaking. I quit competing when I was about thirty years old because I suck at almost anything resembling a sport. I am awful at tiddlywinks. I am pitiful at Twister. When it comes to athletic competition, I have always been an unfailing loser, if you can excuse the conflicting terms. Still, I have always enjoyed playing. So I play without actually competing.

If you’ll look at any big sporting event you will notice that there are usually far more losers than there are winners. In the Olympics yesterday I saw a swimming final that featured eight swimmers. Since it was a final, there were probably a number of quarterfinals races, semifinals, etc. I wouldn’t want to guess how many swimmers started off competing for those three Olympic medals. Fifty perhaps? And that does not include all the various national trials just to get to the Olympics. The reality of sports is; in the end there are more tears shed out of sadness than there are tears shed out of joy.

There are those athletes who are happy just to be in the Olympics. I’m speaking about those athletes who know that they have little chance of winning and consequently have drastically lowered their aspirations, often to the point of having no competitive aspirations at all. All I can say to these athletes is, well, welcome to my world.