Finding Real at the Olympics

     Like a lot of people, I get Olympics fever the first several days of the sports spectacle. The wonderful mix of noble and silly, grand and petty provides me hours of watchable television that eventually will grab me less and less -- but these first few days are addicting!

     NBC has been criticized roundly for packaging the games -- they are, after all, a lucrative platform for  pricey commercials. But I have to admit, the package is compelling: athletes, mostly young, all earnest and in great shape, putting their best efforts on the line in some engaging and exciting ways -- what's not to like?

      I find myself cheering hard and exhorting this or that man or woman to stick it or dig or push just a little harder,  even though I know the event I'm getting excited about may have already finished and the arena is now actually dark! I sometimes cheat the TV illusion of live competition by going online for the scores --but I can still get caught up in the emotions of the moment whether I know the results or not. Sports can do that to us, getting us jazzed up and caring about the outcomes.

     What I care most about, I find, are the human moments. The cliches don't lose their power, like grace under pressure, courage in the dark moments, and composure in defeat. A great set of examples came in the womens' gymnastics. The "Fabulous Five" U.S. team were amazing in victory in the team competition -- but this happened after some disappointing performances a few days ago in the all-around competition. What touched me even more than the girls' comeback was the response of their Russian counterparts who had collapsed in their efforts -- wining a medal, but faltering badly doing it. The Russian girls' faces were warm and respectful, downright gracious, as they shook the hands of the American girls -- a class act. They cared about winning as much as anyone, I'm sure -- but in the end, human being to human being, warrior to warrior if you will, there's warm respect and even affection for strong, successful opponents who called out the best in them.

     I think we play and watch sports because they afford us an experience in which life gets cranked up a notch and we get to care about something as fleeting as whether a ball or a foot is inside or outside a line. The amazing shape these athletes embody remind us of the great gifts like strength, agility, speed and balance available to us as human animals. The shared experience of caring about a game's outcome or whether or not someone got a medal connects us with thousands, indeed millions of fellow human beings in something fun and decent.

     We could be doing much worse than caring about how our young Olympians are doing. Our lives get enlarged by theirs -- their sterling efforts can inspire us and hearten us. They remind us that the human family is wondrous and full of life. In the midst of how venal and violent we can be with one another, these are some good moments. And that's something.