#MIDDLEBURY
By Mark Vasto
If there was one consistent takeaway for America from these past Olympics it is that: 1) we have the best athletes (and sport outfitters) in the world, and 2) yeah, we’re more than just a little bit insane.
I know where you think I’m going with this … that I’m going to bring up the Ryan Lochte “situation.” I am, of course, but only for a brief moment.
Ryan Lochte is a dunce.
Now, before you say it’s not nice to name call, let me also call out Usain Bolt. He is great. Also let me state that Michael Phelps is a freak of nature and broke records that had stood since ancient Greece. Carmelo Anthony has won three gold medals, and Coach K has lost only one game ever in Olympic play. That’s incredible. You want name calling? Just how many kids are going to be named Simone after these Olympics?
Yep, America won the eagle’s share of the gold, and pretty much lapped the competition. For Russia, this was a particularly humiliating Olympics. It’s one thing to implement state-sponsored cheating, it’s an entire other thing to get completely nailed for it, too.
The Olympics are actually great places to call names. Everyone knows that there is a tradition at the end of the games to proclaim them as “the best ever,” even if it didn’t happen in Atlanta or Rio, I think. In Atlanta, we received an “attaboy” sentiment, and I believe Rio was simply told they were “magnificent.” Whether or not that was a good thing is for Rio to figure out.
One thing we have figured out is the art of storytelling. Every Olympics, the pre-match bios get more and more “Million Dollar Baby.” Just once I would like the story of an Olympian to be boring and with no compelling backstory at all. It would really be something to see a b-roll of some kid who simply grew up in Middletown, Wherever, and carried a C or B average through high school, but one day found out he was really fast … or a really good shot … and by accident, he tried out for the games and came in seventh. We never hear those stories.
Of course, it also wouldn’t hurt if the press would stop with all the “displaced resident” stories. Look, we get it … the powers that be aren’t going to bulldoze the mansions owned by the richest people in the ritziest part of the city to build a stadium that will be useless in two weeks’ time. Is anyone shocked to learn of this?
Every year, the reporters write about government spending on infrastructure, how pollution is atrocious, how everyone that dips a toe in the water will contract syphilis, and come dusk, will be eaten alive by head-shrinking mosquitos.
Sometimes you just have to let the simple ideas win out. We were watching people, athletes, run and jump and play games for their country, and that simple thrill should be enough for us all.
Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in New Jersey.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
