Who's Watching The Olympics?

I started watching the Olympics on a regular basis (that is, every four years) in 1968, the year of controversy in the United States (assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and the riots at the Democratic National Convention), not to mention at the summer Olympics in Mexico, where during the 200 meter medal award ceremony, black runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists as a symbol of Black Power, and in the winter Olympics in France brought us Peggy Fleming. The 1984 summer Olympics in Los Angeles was the best of all for me, because I got to see the torch and was a part of the city that was hosting the events. I had tickets to some of the events, as well, and a lot of friends who did not have full time jobs, got jobs at the Olympics, and even though I no longer have them, it was that year that I ended up with a collection of Olympic pins (each country that participates has their own pins, and since my friends were working at the games, and could stroll around the "village," they collected pins for me).

1972 we had the Israeli hostage crisis, and from then on, I never missed the Olympics until 2000. Atlanta's 1996 was the last Olympics I ever watched until last night.

One of the reasons I stopped watching was that professional athletes were being allowed to play, such as basketball players and hockey players, and I grew up dealing with the sport being for amateurs, not pros. Now, I know that many people always throw in my face the fact that a lot of countries subsidized their athletes, which is fine by me. If the United States was unwilling to subsidize their athletes, that was just the unfortunate luck of the draw. But bringing in the pros in basketball definitely ruined it for me, and being a hockey fan, stopping the hockey season for two weeks so that the players could participate in the Olympics, just stunk.

But mostly, it was because my mother died in February 2000. However, this being February, and ten years later, and the fact that it was being held in Vancouver, I sort of felt like giving it a peek. And yes, I did NOT see the opening ceremonies in Bejing, nor did I watch any of the coverage of the last Olympics, despite all the hoopla surrounding it being held in China.

I also don't like the fact that although they still observe the every four years rule, the splitting up of the summer and winter Olympics such that we now have the Olympics every two years instead of every four years, to me, watered down the event insofar as fan enthusiasm was concerned.

My mom and I never had a relationship, and I moved away from her when I was 15. As she was nearing her 70's and was in bad health (50 years of drinking from morning to night, and smoking three to four packs of cigarettes a day will do that to you), coupled with the fact that my sister was not at all interested in helping my mother out, the job of taking care of her fell to me.

My mother was a really mean person, but to her small circle of friends, she was a delight and showed a certain personality that was rarely shared with outsiders (or even with family). I remember one of the times she was in the hospital and when I called to check up on her, I could hear her screaming at the nurse "if that's my daughter, tell her I don't want to talk to her." Ouch. I once heard her (again when in the hospital) yell at the patient in the next bed to hers to "put a sock in it" because the woman was talking too loud for my mother's liking. Yes, she actually said that!

The only thing we actually shared was the Olympics, and more importantly, the winter ones, especially ice skating. In fact, we followed the local, regionals, nationals and worlds in skating, and would always call each other after every routine or event and discuss the pros and cons of the skaters.

I haven't missed my mother since we buried her, nor have I ever been to her grave (and have no intention of ever going anyway, I'm not a big "grave" person), but for some reason, this year, this month, I felt compelled to watch the games. I think my mom is watching me!

As an aside, my cousin's daughter has been dating Shaun White since high school, going on five years now. How fucking cool is that? Ha ha! For those that care, the video of them doing a Lady Gaga song is here, and Summer is the blonde.