Confession

Confession being good for the soul and all that - I have a confession to make: I'm not watching the Winter Olympics this year. Actually, this is kind of unusual for me. I generally watch at least the ice skating, but I just can't get into even that this year.

I think I'm hyped-out. I get so tired of the rah-rah, "we're the best ever", super-expectations for the competitors. While the super-patriotism which seems to rear its head about this time bugs me, I think I'm more irritated at the ultra-cockiness of the competitors, regardless of country. (Now this isn't true of all the competitors, of course, but there certainly are a significant number of them who are.) And, while a fitting comeuppance isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just have no desire to watch as competitors who are at the top of their game do stupid little 'watch me' stunts and then knock themselves right out of the competition.

I'm not sure I would have watched even if Michelle Kwan had been able to compete. I've known skaters like her for years. When I roller skated competitively, there was an absolutely awesome skater named April Allen. Let her step out onto the floor and the whole room was filled with excitement and energy! She brought grace, beauty, and athleticism to a sport which generally slipped over into the power jumping and spinning mode. At nationals, the arena would absolutely fill to the brim whenever she skated ... and empty almost as fast once she was done. That is, until the tv cameras showed up! When it was absolutely the right time for the world to see such an awesome skater, the charisma left the building.

The same is kind of true of Michelle Kwan when it comes to Olympic competition. Something seems to grab hold of her and the little mouse which sometimes hides within pops out. There is a caution in even the way she takes the ice. And I just decided that this year I'm not going to watch the magic leeched out of a sport I usually enjoy.

The incredible pressure we place on competitors is more than I can handle this year. It's been creeping up on me from Olympics to Olympics ever since they began to allow professionals to compete. (OK - I know that there were countries whose 'amateur' competitors were actually professional, but at least our competitors were in it for the true love of the sport, not the money.) We seem to expect more from those with the imprimatur of 'professional' after their name, or those who are accepting endorsements for this and that under the auspices of the Olympic competition. I'm not quite sure why, but that seems to take the magic out of the event for me.

So................don't ask me about the Olympics this year. I'm not watching!