Like many others, I watch a lot of television during the Olympics. There are four or five channels broadcasting sports and on-line choices for viewing events. NBC also broadcasts prime time evening highlights of the day. The only time I watch most of these sports is during the Olympics.
For years I could care less about swimming, diving, and volleyball. Now I'm a fan and a critic. What covers more, NBC or beach volleyball uniforms? Am I able to root for a swimmer that has a clothes closet larger than my house? A closet, by the way, filled with shoes, shirts, pants, and enough jewelry to rapidly pull him down to the bottom of the pool.
I know the difference between winning a gold medal and finishing fourth is several million dollars a year. Cereal and razors and credit card companies want winners to pitch their products. I never see much of the people who struggle just to get to the Olympics, knowing they don't have a chance of winning a medal. To these small countries and athletics the phrase, "just to compete" is true.
These Olympic Games are the fourteenth Wanda and I have watched together. I have some vivid memories of Bruce Jenner winning the decathlon in the 1976 summer games in Montreal. Now he's married to Kris Kardashian and appears on a reality television program. He went from a cereal box to reality TV and not great reality TV at that.
Wanda and I both prefer the winter games. I would rather watch hockey than basketball, skiing than swimming, and bobsled and luge rather than rowing, both sweep and sculling (I added this to see if you are paying attention) I enjoy ice skating a little more than gymnastics, speed skating over track and field. I could live without equestrian and cross country skiing but realize many people like to watch horse and riders and men with frozen snot mustaches.
One thing for sure, winter or summer games, the dedication and hard work of the athletics can not be praised enough.
When the network broadcasts the prime time coverage it produces segments of the most popular sports. Beach volleyball, swimming, gymnastics and track and field. It could be said gymnastics in the summer games is the figure skating of the winter. Do they even call it 'figure' skating? Once upon a time the competitors actually did skate figures, but no longer. Television audiences considered figures unwatchable and boring at best, they were dropped from competition after 1990.
I thought I would write about some of the terms and aspects of the games before they progress much more.
It can be said that to the Olympic fan, gymnastics is the most popular sport of all. Both teams and individuals, men and woman are awarded medals in this difficult discipline. The men compete in six events, the women in four.
There are two events common to both men and women, vault and floor. The vault competitors run very fast, jump on a springboard, touch the 'table' and twist or turn high in the air on the way to a landing. The origin of this event is based in Ancient Greece in the sixth century B.C. when people used this very technique to steal food from the rich. It was not uncommon to see an athletic man or woman snatch bread, or a whole chicken, while flying over a dining room table.
Many who tried this were captured after collisions with walls upon regaining their feet. Given the choice of competing for the wealthy or working as public bathroom attendants, the sport was born. The food was removed from the table. Contestants were dressed in new garments, or uniforms, which were necessary for team recognition. In order to avoid walls the discipline was moved outside.
The other event common to both is the floor, where both men and woman do a series of exercises while running from one corner to another on a large springy floor. Although it can be argued, many think this event originated in Sparta in 724 B.C. Prior to separating the sexes, both would compete in floor at the same time. The woman would begin her pass several seconds before the man. He would try to overtake her while doing somersaults and twists.
If the man was able to catch the woman he was expected to propose marriage. If the woman navigated the floor untouched she was given her choice of unattached males or two lambs and a goat. Many of the women thought animals the better choice as they could be killed and eaten and they didn't snore.
The events uncommon to the competitors are uneven bars and balance beam for the ladies. Parallel bars, high bar, still rings, and the pommel horse for the men.
The true origin of the various bar exercises and rings is unknown. However, it has been suggested the rings evolved from a batch of impossibly hard doughnuts and the bars from a bored regiment of pike carriers.
The pommel was included in the first Olympics following a territorial war between two rival cities, Megara and Croton. Soldiers were seen jumping over their horses while avoiding collisions with their saddles pommel. It was easy to determine the success of this as the victors usually landed on their feet while others usually doubled over while holding their testicles. Failure on this apparatus can be very painful.
Several applications or apparatus' were used over the ensuing years. From an actual horse and saddle (the pommel is the round part or horn) to live bulls. The modern equipment has it's origins in what once was a beautiful sette' that had several door knobs attached. Over the years the pommel horse has evolved from an actual horse to the modern look of a whole wheat bread with two handles.
Enjoy the Olympics.
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