I’ve been watching quite a bit more than I thought I would. When they first started I thought I might watch a little bit of the swimming because I was vaguely interested in Michael Phelps and his pursuit of the most gold medals ever (a mark he’s already reached and surpassed) and I figured I’d try to catch a few of the “Redeem Team’s” games for USA basketball. But NBC is doing a great job of switching things up and giving viewers a glimpse of multiple events. Immediately following a Michael Phelps race, we cut to the Chinese national men’s gymnastics team doing their routine on the rings or the parallel bars, or a clip of Togo winning their first ever Olympic medal (a bronze in Canoe/Kayak), and I find myself drawn in.
Not because I have a vested interest in Togo or Chinese men’s gymnastics, but because watching these amazing athletes strive for their dreams is riveting television. And they really are amazing athletes. I see the American basketball team all the time in the States, and I’ve seen and heard enough about Michael Phelps to realize he’s one of a kind. But the Chinese men’s gymnastics team did things I didn’t think were humanly possible during their routine. I literally couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen. And then, by extension, NBC did a terrific job of incorporating the slim chances the American team had to beat these juggernauts of gymnastics by cutting to the team preparing for their next event. So by the time swimming was over and the network went to gymnastics for the duration, I wanted to keep watching.
And I guess there’s also the fact that I love an underdog. The Chinese are apparently some kind of gymnastics gods walking among mere mortals. And when I look at the medal count online, the Chinese are also dominating the field when it comes to earning gold medals (although the US has a slight lead in total medals). So when faced with odds like that, it was easy for me to root for the United States gymnastics team to beat the Chinese. They didn’t, of course (had the lead and lost it), but for a team that wasn’t expected to medal, earning a bronze was a nice accomplishment. And even though the US team was disappointed in their inability to beat the Chinese, they were gracious and still pleased to earn another piece of hardware for their country.
What those guys do is incredible, by the way. I keep thinking of Batman and Robin training in the Batcave. Batman and Robin are always listed as “world class gymnasts” in their “list of powers”. Now I finally know what that means. And it is awesome. Is it realistic to let go of a bar, flip and twist three times over in midair and then grab the bar again at the last possible second all without losing any shred of momentum? Not for you or me, no. But for these guys it’s possible. They do it all the time.
So basically, I like what I’ve seen so far. Michael Phelps has me watching more swimming. Men’s gymnastics has me watching women’s gymnastics (USA placed silver in that, second again to the Chinese). And the events I wanted to watch are so good that they’re allowing me to find hidden gems I had no interest in before. And I still haven’t been able to catch USA basketball yet.
