The Olympics has come and gone. I will admit to being an Olympic junkie, particularly the Summer Games. While I like the Winter Games, it’s those Summer Games I love.
It’s not as easy for me to zoom in on a winter sport as it is summer. Sledding down hospital hill in Bowling Green is pretty much it. But ping-pong, badminton, track, swimming, biking, and golf are a different story. All of a sudden it’s must-see TV.
In the Olympics we suddenly became interested in sports we have never followed or perhaps never even seen.
The 1960 games in Rome were my first real exposure. Wilma Rudolph, a Clarksville, Tennessee girl, and Muhammad Ali, by way of Cassius Clay, a Louisville guy, made it easy for me to jump on board.
The ‘64 Games in Tokyo were all about new timing and scoring systems as a result of computers being introduced for the first time. I’m not saying stop watches and the naked eye had been used, but close.
Four years later, in 1968, I was made aware of the fiery competition between the United States and Russia. It was fierce.
The Munich Games in 1972 was like no other ever. The world was glued to their televisions when Palestinian terrorists, eight of them, took nine Israeli athletes hostage after killing two. The horrible result was all were killed, including a West German policeman.
For a while it looked like the games would be cancelled. However, with 7,000 participants in place, and with a couple of days to figure it all out, the games continued. I couldn’t wait to see how this could happen, and television was right there.
It was the 1972 Olympics that brought to the forefront the East German and Russian women’s use of chemically enhanced performance aids. It was also when our basketball team lost 51-50 to the Russians in the most controversial game in history. Kenny Davis, from Georgetown College, captained the team and to further draw my interest, Doug Collins, who I saw play when he was at Illinois State, was the star of the team.
Do you remember Mark Spitz and his seven swimming golds? How about Olga Korbut, the Russian who made gymnastics must-watch TV?
For sure, 1972 was the craziest of all Olympics.
In 1976, no one missed watching when Sugar Ray Leonard or the Spinks brothers, Leon and Michael, boxed. And I was all in when Bruce Jenner, before he became Caitlyn, won the decathlon.
I couldn’t get enough of the Olympics. But there was a problem. During those years, I was a student and then later had a job. It was catch can, and usually news reports “previously recorded.”
Finally, I was ready in 1980 not to miss a single minute of the Moscow Games.
I purchased a large television with a new thing called picture-in-picture. It wasn’t just one picture mind you, but four. I now would be able to keep an eye on several events at the same time.
However, I wasn’t done. Next came a Zenith Betamax VCR. And it wasn’t cheap. With piano-like keys and a sophisticated timer that even I could set, I shelled out some $750 for the final piece of my “never-missing-an-Olympic-event” system. It was a stretch for my finances, but what is more worthwhile than watching the United States dominate the Olympics.
So what if I was all in at almost $2,000.
But things began to happen that many Americans had not planned on.
On Christmas Eve of 1979, Russia invaded Afghanistan. Because of the Soviet aggressiveness, the U.S. and 64 other countries boycotted the trip to Moscow. President Jimmy Carter sent a message loud and clear. My little discomfort was only a small blip when it came to what was happening worldwide. I had some nice video recording equipment for the future, and that was okay.
Of course, the Olympics is all about television. Now more than ever they can be seen morning, noon and night on five or six cable channels.
I do think the Paris Games missed on their opening ceremony. The artistic aspect not withstanding, with all of the countries contained on separate boat decks floating down the Seine River, there was no opportunity for different countries to mingle before and after their parade into the huge stadium.
Kenny Davis, the 1972 Olympic basketball team captain recalled that, “This was where we got to meet other athletes, trade pens, and swap caps.”
Don’t be shocked if there is not another push to permanently locate the Olympics in Greece, where it all began. Fewer and fewer cities are able to step up and even bid on the Games. Losses for each city now runs into the billions, and, too, a Greece set-up might just take any politics out of it all.
By the way, I think I sold my Zenith VCR in a yard sale way back when. I might have gotten $7.50 for it.
There’s no excuse, get up, get out and get going! Gary P. West can be reached at westgarypdeb@gmail.com.
