Olympics

I am so neutral about the Olympics this year. I'm usually very jazzed. The summer games are such an lightning rod for negativity:

• Doping (Marion Jones allegations)
• Behavior (lectures to US athletes not to display too much emotion -- world stage and all)
• Terrorist threats (of course)
• Political posturing (Iran athlete dropping out because he pulled an Israeli opponent in the first round)
• Interest (reports that half the tickets are unsold)
• Too much (NBC and its affiliates will show a combined 70 hours of coverage each day)
• Dream Team (US men's basketball team is pompous and naive)

But, then again, there seems to be rays of hope in the Michael Phelps and the Courtneys on the women's gymnastics team. And, I like that UVA alum and basketball star, Dawn Staley, was voted by her fellow US teammates to be the flag bearer.

All in all, I think I'll opt for the highlight shows for 99% of the games, but try to catch the Phelps swims and the women's gymnastics.

How about you?