It is probably safe to assume that during the summer months, local residents cut back on the amount of time they watch television. Even Oprah and Jeopardy take a back seat to pursuits like long evening walks, golfing, fishing and sunset rides in the boat, not to mention camping, gardening and keeping the lawn mowed.
That lack of viewing may have changed this past week due to several historic “firsts” available on our television sets.
One of those opportunities was the wonderful coverage of the high school football games played at night under state-of-the-art lighting at the magnificent Rotary Athletic Field. The Adelphia Cable football network, channels 2 and 22, does a first-rate job in providing this coverage with great camera work and exciting replays all in “living color.”
Then, of course, there are the Olympic Games being held in Sydney, Australia. Spectacle and excitement aside, we were privileged to welcome the very first Olympic games of our new century. If that were not historically enough, how about watching Aboriginal Cathy Freeman, a favorite in the 400-meter run, crossing a pond of water to light the Olympic Flame, symbolically bridging a racial divide that has for years tormented and tainted Australia? Or seeing the teams of North and South Korea, once bitter enemies, entering the stadium as one during the parade of athletes?
The triathlon event became a first also as the Olympics’ newest sport. As an early host for this type of event long before it became so wildly popular, members of this community must have been ecstatic to view its Olympic debut. As I sat glued to my television watching those splendid athletes emerge from the swim portion of the race, shedding swim gear as they raced to the transition area to begin their bike leg, I could envision local organizers Ted Merrihew and Jim Frenette carefully monitoring the Australian setup, mentally taking notes to see if the procedure was as smooth as our well-organized local effort.
As a point of history, it may be of interest that the original ancient Greek Olympics were a tribute to the Gods, a show of humanity’s capacity for grace, speed and strength.
Our modern Olympic movement was founded in 1896, when a Parisian aristocrat named Baron Pierre de Caubertin became determined to rekindle the ancient ethic.
The Olympics have suffered some abuses over the years, but at least one of De Caubertin’s ideals has been realized – that of uniting the world’s countries – if only briefly.
I stayed up until the early hours of the morning last week watching the women’s mountain bike race. The course was laid out over a working farm just outside of Sydney, a torturous course with gut-wrenching uphills and frightening obstacle-laden downhills, a highly technical course almost three hours long, requiring great daring, stamina and the utmost skill and strategy.
I watched in complete awe as the Swiss woman struggled to keep the lead she had heroically built up while being relentlessly pursued by the best bicyclists in the world. And then, after more than two hours of leading the field, she was suddenly passed in a daring downhill move by the reigning world champion from Italy, who put the hammer down in a mad sprint to the finish. The Swiss woman finished second with the Spanish entry tight her rear wheel.
Here is where the cynicism about the games vaporizes. Why? Because this was what the Olympics were meant to be. Speed, daring, skill, stamina, determination. Here was a glimpse at the transcendent. The quest to excel. You see these athletes in their glory and cheer, you cry, you smile. Little kids smile. De Caubertin smiles. The Gods themselves smile.