Unreasonable Olympic Spirit

I get inexplicably excited for the Olympics. The first games I remember are the 1992 Olympics in Spain, though I remember the candy jars my mom bought commemorating that summer more than the events themselves.

SM and I were talking the other day about how I always cheer for the American team. That might seem like a given, but I am rarely a blind fan of anything; all of my allegiances have been thought about (though not necessarily "reasoned") and applied deliberately. Reasons may be little more than gut feelings, but they're feelings nonetheless. I guess what I'm saying is never assume I'm a fan of anything.

The best counterexample is the World Cup. I am rarely going gung ho for the American team. I usually have a good feeling about France. Not that they'll win, but that I will cheer for them. With gusto.

The best explanation for this I could come up with is that the World Cup, in my eyes, is a celebration of international vigor and country/team personality. The common ground is already soccer (okay, fine, football), so the variables become the countries themselves. The individual team members, while certainly important and loved by fans and noted by commentators, take a backseat to each country going head to head. And, frankly, I don't care if America comes out on top. America doesn't even care if America comes out on top. I'm rare enough in America that I even care about and watch the Cup itself, which I do. With gusto.v The Olympics, on the other hand, is all about the individual. Amateurs from all over the United States, Americans as young as 14 years old, are chosen for their superior skill to join Team USA, and around the world other athletes do the same for their countries. They all come together to compete as representatives of their homelands in a ridiculous number of niche sports. It's beautiful. So, in my eyes, it becomes less about rooting for skeet shooting or badminton, and more about supporting this random American who comes from who knows where but who is really good at skeet shooting or badminton for some reason. And when it comes to some random American with a heartwarming story going up against some other rando from Country X in some crazy sport, I'm going to choose the American because that individual amateur got to the Olympics to represent America and is therefore awesome. Every four years the Olympics remind me that the United States is made up of some pretty talented people who excel at their activity because they love it and they work for it, not because they're getting paid millions of dollars.

I'm going to leave it at that, but I will say that the obvious exception is basketball. I have to admit the fact that our professional basketball players from the NBA can play sucks a little of the fun out of it. Basketball is not my favorite sport by a long shot, but I already know these guys. I know who all of them are, and not even by the random nicknames I give them to remember who they are when SM talks about them. That's lame. I would much rather watch some kids come out of nowhere to represent America on the court. It's a lot more dramatic, and a whole lot more fun.