Blah, Blah, Blah, The Winter Olympics
E. Noel Preston, MD

   When I heard that American Idol was trouncing the Olympics in the ratings game I was disappointed. Not watching the Olympics seemed sort of unAmerican, or at least a blue-collar beer guzzling trailer-park low class tacky thing to do. Who would want to watch a bunch of pushy young people competing with each other for a recording contract instead of the noble Olympics? But with the exception of the opening ceremonies, which were truly dazzling, amazing, beautiful, and unbelievably marvelous, the Games themselves were almost a total bore.

   Eventually I started watching American Idol myself, and was surprised and a little disappointed to find it much more entertaining than the Olympics.

   I've always liked the Summer Olympics better than the ones in winter. Maybe it's because there are so many more events:
   horsemanship, archery, swimming, diving, gymnastics, water polo, bicycle races, the marathon, and much more. Even the strange competitions like weight lifting and synchronized swimming are more fun to watch than curling or luge racing. Maybe it's because the summer athletes are wearing lighter, form-fitting clothing and it's easier to see the human body in active, athletic, competitive motion.

   The winter athletes are so bundled up in helmets, sun goggles, ski jackets, baggy trousers, and boots, and then are further encumbered with sleds, skis, sticks, and gloves they look more like machines than people. Think of a bunch of Arnold Schwartzenager Terminators battling each other on the ice, and that's the Winter Olympics. It's more mechanical than human.

   It didn't help that NBC was so jingoistic rah, rah, USA that it didn't show very many events where the USA wasn't expected to win anything. It had to show skiing and figure skating, whether America was expected to win or not. But it went way off the deep end covering snowboarding, a somewhat ugly exercise ("Hooligans on Ice" is what I would call it) that we Americans invented and in which we would be expected to dominate. And so, to fill up air time and sell more commercials we had all those human interest stories about athlete mothers leaving their infants at home to be cared for by aging grandmothers, or former Olympians from earlier years who were now coaching their young protegees who left home at age 6 to become Olympians themselves ten years later. Why couldn't we be watching an actual competition instead? I suspect it was because someplace like Norway was expected to win instead of the USA, and so we got fluff instead of sports.

   Also, I don't think NBC showed anything live. Everything I saw was a tape-delayed broadcast. I knew the results of every event from the internet at lunch time. I knew Sasha Cohen fell twice and won silver six hours before I saw it on television. NBC could have, should have shown at least something in real time.

   Maybe it's just me, but the summer Olympians seem more noble and sportsmanlike. This year, one of our winter Olympians admitted he was drunk while he was in training and skiing down a mountainside before the Games began. Talk about being a role model for our young people!

   This guy was so hot he was expected to win 5 gold medals, and I was pleased beyond measure he walked away empty-handed. His interview after he lost his last chance at gold was as graceless as his skiing.

   But to be fair, Sasha Cohen went on to compete and fall even though injured from a groin pull and wearing a bandage on her leg. In my book, she's as noble as they come.

   Another reason the Winter Olympics weren't all that exciting is because winter is, well, it's winter. In the summertime, people like to be outside, whether they run, jump, swim, or ride horses or motorcycles. In the wintertime, most people come in from the cold.

   They sit by the fire and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate.

   And so American Idol was just as competitive and rewarding, just as demanding and unforgiving, and perhaps even more genuine than the Winter Olympics. Watching it wasn't such a bad choice after all.

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E. Noel Preston, M.D. is a pediatrician in solo practice in Peachtree Corners. 6063 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 202-A, Norcross. (770) 448-1553. More information can be found at www.PeachtreeCornersPediatrics.com

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