Don't Mess With the Olympics

I thank my family for my perhaps abnormal giddiness about the Olympics. At my house, it's a big event. It's the only time we get our cable hooked up. (The cable company can never understand what we're doing.) We go on a family shopping trip and each choose our favorite snacks to eat during the Opening Ceremonies, which we all watch together, though I sometimes fall asleep through the Parade of Nations. Then, the rest of two weeks or 21 days or whatever it may be, the Olympics are on almost constantly in my house. Bedtimes are much more flexible and snacking in front of the TV is much more accepted.

So last week in my Political Science class, we were discussing how media sets the social agenda, and how most of the time the stories (no matter how lame) are about Americans, not other countries. Because Americans want to hear about Americans, because we're lame/patriotic like that. A girl directly behind me raised her hand and commented about how that was true, and it could be seen in NBC's recent coverage of the Winter Olympics. "They only talked about American athletes, and they never went indepth on any other competitors. Any events without a major American contender, they just didn't show."

DID. YOU. EVEN. WATCH. THEM????? Maybe you only thought they covered Americans because you yourself only chose to watch the main events with strong American contenders, personal-agenda-setter! I'll admit, Evan Lysacek, Lindsey Vonn, and Shaun White are as cool as cold milk, but I also saw plenty of coverage of events in which the closest American athlete was in 28th place. I watched Cross-Country Skiing, and was just as tuned in to the Norwegian, German, and Swedish medalists. I learned about the Ladies' Figure Skating winners and was touched by the story of Canadian Joannie Rochette's mother. NBC showed the stories of Tessa & Scott right alongside Meryl & Charlie in Ice Dancing. I teared up as they showed how Shen & Zhao came out of retirement to finally catch the one accolade that had eluded them.

I thought long before that PoliSci class that the coverage of the Olympics had always been sportsmanlike, inspiring, and illuminating of the very soul of humanity. So think what you may, Miss NBC Has a Political Agenda, but I love the Olympics, and I truly think they bring the whole world closer together in a few days of understanding. I hope I never become so apathetic towards the Olympic games!


Husband and Wife Ice Skating Pairs Team Hongbo Zhao & Xue Shen.