Olympic addict: A sports fan only every other year

By Ray Rodriguez

Busy at work, my attention to my spreadsheet is suddenly stolen by the realization two guys in my office are embroiled in an enthusiastic debate. They overcome the insulating hum of white noise with their sports talk.

If you are not a sports fan and you find yourself in the crossfire of such a discussion, you will find that navigating it is a fine art. You politely attend to the microscopic minutia of the various stats, historical sports figures and trades tossed back and forth like a hacky sack, and though you have absolutely no idea what any of it means, you’re astounded that it’s all so consuming for some – and you do not want to be left standing with a dead hacky sack on the floor in front of your two useless feet.

These creatures’ commitment to such detail must have required hundreds of hours of sports article studies, special TV programming – no doubt in High Definition – DVRing and maybe just as many hours actually attending games. At times I will see my coworkers walk by each other’s cubicles, tauntingly, the day after a game. With the mere utter of two words: [Insert team] followed by “sucks,” they begin a game of one-upmanship akin to two rams butting heads full-force, snorting with flared nostrils, while smiling. I never understood the behaviors of the world of sports mania and I’d figured I never would.

Then came the Olympic Games. When it comes to those, I’ve found myself learning the stats, subscribing to Twitter updates, reading articles and passionately rooting for my favorite athletes and top teams. I’ve never understood why I felt so enthusiastic for these sports events and not professional sports.

In the Olympic broadcasts, the theatrics of the Opening Ceremony dwarf any Broadway play. Later we’re individually spoon-fed the backgrounds of many of the players. We learn from their struggles in life, feeling bonded to them, and even, once or twice, shedding a tear for them.

Before each event, after the introductory movie clip comes to a close – with a frozen still-frame of an athlete posed with one arm in the air – the camera abruptly cuts to the present.

All eyes are watching and waiting, with that familiar banter of the audience in the background. The athlete inhales and exhales with laserlike focus on the task. The entire team and home country’s honor rests in her or his hands.

The Olympics seem to be filled with life-changing implications for everyone involved, win or lose. The chance to compete with the very best from every country of the world will only be presented once every four years. For many athletes, that’s lifetime in terms of competitive years. The stakes are monumental.

For these reasons I am an Olympic fanatic – and I’ve been one from the first time I watched the 1996 Summer games in Atlanta to the most recent Summer games in 2008 in Beijing. That year, my friend Gladys Lopez and I were volunteering at the DNC in Downtown Denver. We had a short break, and immediately gravitated to a table near a TV to see, not a political speech, but the closing ceremonies in Beijing.

It was the same way people flock to sports bars to watch games on TV. Yes, I now understand and respect those nostril-flared creatures of the professional sports world. Soon, with the beating of the Olympic Drums for the 2012 games in London, I will become one again.

In the Olympic broadcasts, the theatrics of the Opening Ceremony dwarf any Broadway play. Later we’re individually spoon-fed the backgrounds of many of the players. We learn from their struggles in life, feeling bonded to them, and even, once or twice, shedding a tear for them.

Before each event, after the introductory movie clip comes to a close – with a frozen still-frame of an athlete posed with one arm in the air – the camera abruptly cuts to the present.

All eyes are watching and waiting, with that familiar banter of the audience in the background. The athlete inhales and exhales with laserlike focus on the task. The entire team and home country’s honor rests in her or his hands.

The Olympics seem to be filled with life-changing implications for everyone involved, win or lose. The chance to compete with the very best from every country of the world will only be presented once every four years. For many athletes, that’s lifetime in terms of competitive years. The stakes are monumental.

For these reasons I am an Olympic fanatic – and I’ve been one from the first time I watched the 1996 Summer games in Atlanta to the most recent Summer games in 2008 in Beijing. That year, my friend Gladys Lopez and I were volunteering at the DNC in Downtown Denver. We had a short break, and immediately gravitated to a table near a TV to see, not a political speech, but the closing ceremonies in Beijing.

It was the same way people flock to sports bars to watch games on TV. Yes, I now understand and respect those nostril-flared creatures of the professional sports world. Soon, with the beating of the Olympic Drums for the 2012 games in London, I will become one again.