Online national pride
09/25/2000
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The Olympics are in full swing right now and apparently most Americans could care less. TV ratings are way down and overall public interest in the games is squat as it seems most of you would rather watch Millionaire and Survivor reruns than Michael Johnson run for the gold. I guess a small part of me at least partially understands the reasoning behind this national lack of interest - these Olympic games don't offer their standard levels of excitement because none of the action on NBC is live. But after that, you lose me.
I've heard on the radio and TV and read in newspapers and magazines that, since the Olympic coverage we see is tape-delayed, many people would rather spend twenty minutes online to get the latest scoop on the games than spend a couple of hours watching the events on TV. Has it really come to that? Have Americans actually become so lazy that watching TV is now a hassle? I mean, I know it's a struggle to sit on your unpleasant couch for an hour or two and watch some of the best athletes in the world compete for international glory, but we can gut it out, can't we? Sure, you can hop online and read that Marion Jones won gold in the 100m dash long before it's ever aired on NBC, but if you didn't watch it, you didn't see her absolutely obliterate her competition by opening up a monstrous lead at the 40-meter mark. You didn't see her tears after she'd won or the hug she gave her mother and brother in the stands. You may have read about those things, but as a writer I know there's only so much the written word can relay to you. It's very difficult to accurately portray someone else's raw emotion on a piece of paper - or, in this case, on a computer screen.
Many of you may argue that, in the long run, the results are what matter and that by reading the results of all the events, you're in turn updated on all the action. My days of athletic competition are long gone, but I still remember what it felt like to train and practice for months with one major goal in mind. In the end, my ability or inability to accomplish that goal was the only thing that mattered to most people. But there were days, weeks and months of preparation, setbacks, minor victories and minor defeats that I had to deal with long before that one instance of success or failure ever occurred. Most of these Olympic athletes train for years with one goal in mind: win the gold. You can't fully appreciate what they've gone through in their training or how important accomplishing that goal is to them just by scanning some corny Olympic recap. Many of you may have read how Laura Wilkinson, who broke three bones in her right foot six months ago, won gold for the U.S. in platform diving. But if you didn't watch it, you didn't see how her mother, who was so nervous that she couldn't even watch her daughter's four dives, turned her head away every time Wilkinson took off from the platform and then turned back to ask her husband, who was taping the dives, how she'd done. You didn't see Wilkinson smiling at her parents and her coach in the stands before she performed her last dive, and you didn't see her pump her fist in the air after she'd stuck that last dive and nailed down the gold medal. And if you would have watched her crying on the podium as the National Anthem was played, some of you may have said that's an old story, that everyone does it. Personally, that's one of my favorite aspects of the games, no matter how many times I see it. How often does Michael Johnson publicly show that kind of emotion?
I've actually heard people complain about Sydney hosting the games because it prevents us from seeing the live action. How idiotic is that? Hey America: Atlanta can't host the games every four years. They aren't going to give the Olympics to Canada or South America just because we want to see everything live. As my mother always told me, the world doesn't revolve around you.
So let's show some class and initiative. The Internet is great (it gave me a job), but we can do better. I'm not asking for much; just turn off the computer and walk away from your desk, then pick up your remote and a bag of chips and take a seat on the couch. After this week, you'll have another four years to surf those Pokemon sites.
Home turf
What was Terrell Owens thinking? In case you missed it, in last Sunday's 49ers/Cowboys game, Owens, a San Fran receiver, caught a touchdown pass early in the game then ran out to the Cowboys' star on the 50-yard line and raised his hands in victory. Dallas RB Emmitt Smith later scored his own touchdown, ran out to the same spot, slammed the ball down and stared at the 49ers' sideline. Owens again scored later in the game and attempted to repeat his earlier performance, only Dallas safety George Teague rightfully clocked him before his celebration was finished. Teague, obviously upset that his team was being worked over by the struggling 49ers, was tossed from the game. Later, Owens admitted he should have acted with more class but then stated that he's a unique player who brings his own emotion to the game. Well Terrell, you're now 1-3 and you have maybe the worst defense in football. Instead of using that emotion to take cheap shots at the Dallas Cowboys, maybe you should focus on winning some more football games. Jerry Rice, who's been known to show some emotion on the field, scored two of his own touchdowns in the same game but he didn't try to show up the Cowboys or the home fans. Either way, Owens acted in the kind of disrespectful manner I wouldn't even expect out of Deion Sanders, and the only thing I didn't like about Teague's reaction was that he didn't knock Owens out.
In the Bullz-Eye
Washington Redskins QB Brad Johnson and head coach Norv Turner. Johnson played very well this past week in the in over the New York Giants, but the 'Skins are still only 2-2. It's really Johnson's first good game of the year and there were whispers that, if he didn't show signs of improvement, Jeff George would get the call and Turner would get the boot. Both were able to avoid those outcomes for one more week but upcoming games against Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Jacksonville and Tennessee could force owner Daniel Snyder to shake things up soon. Washington has the talent to compete, so failure would fall on Turner's shoulders.