Fair Game

Just as roughly one billion other humans did, I watched the opening ceremonies of the thirtieth Summer Olympic Games. Alternately confused and amazed by the spectacle mounted by the Brits and orchestrated by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, I spent the evening wondering. First and foremost, I wondered why there weren't medals given for performances in the opening ceremonies. Certainly, her majesty the Queen deserved some sort of "good sport" tribute.
I was also wondering about how Great Britain chose to share their history with the world. They went from a very bucolic agrarian bunch to an industrial power who got caught up in global conflicts, and then suddenly found themselves immersed in the digital age. Who knew that some British guy came up with the Internet? I suppose next they'll be telling me that Tim Berners-Lee came up with global warming.
But mostly I sat on my couch, listening to Bob Costas and Ryan Seacrest take turns introducing the nations of the world. They offered up trivia bits to connect the viewers to the struggles and sacrifices that the athletes had made to make it this far. They also described the various political skirmishes that made each team's participation a part of a global quilt of conflict. This country won't march next to that one and these guys were only recently allowed to carry their flag and this bunch just decided to let women come and play. I wondered what all that fuss was about the Olympics transcending politics was about. Like Erich Maria Remarque and Holly Johnson have suggested for decades, maybe we should send our leaders into that ring and let them fight it out, to see who's king.
We know how Mitt "Rhymes with Grit" Romney would fare in the equestrian events, but I'm guessing Barack's three-point shooting would help out even more.