REVIEW: My TV viewing experience of the 2012 London Olympics
It’s not a secret: I’m not exactly a sports fan. If I was, this website would be called “This Is Book’s Home Run” or something. However, there is one major sporting event that I go crazy for, and that’s the Olympics. Doesn’t matter if it’s summer of winter, I enjoy both of them. It’s funny because I definitely wasn’t raised in a house or within a family that were aiming for Olympic gold, and as for winter sports? I’m from Hawai’i, if the temperature goes below 70, it’s considered “blue ball” weather and people have to put on their mainland jackets. Yet moving to the mainland made me not only enjoy the cold at times, but winter sports. I was someone who loved watching the intro to ABC’s Wide World Of Sports and looked for “the agony of defeat” part, a Saturday was not a Saturday without seeing that guy eat it.
I think for the longest time, I never saw myself as someone sporty, and definitely not someone who wanted to be athletic. My goal in life was not to be a lazy ass, but I felt at an early age that if I could use my smarts to get me where I need to be in life, I wouldn’t have to get involved in sports, at least competitively. I loved playing sports with friends, be it football, basketball, or baseball, but for an actual team? Forget it. Growing up in Honolulu, I loved to swim and still do when I am able to get to a pool but I love the beach, and I haven’t had a swim at a beach for way too long. In elementary school, we would go to camp every year and I clearly remember playing a game of water polo. I loved the pool, but playing also meant activity, which I wasn’t about. My appreciation for water sports came from my upbringing, being surrounded by water and ocean.
Which brings us to the 2012 Olympics in London, England. When it comes to my Olympics interests, I tend to enjoy watching what I think most other Americans don’t care about. I tend to like the fringe stuff, and I also like to watch all the athletes compete, and not just the Top 5 or “projected winners”. While my experience with archery is limited to the few experiences I had at camp, and with an uncle who hunted and would leave his bow & arrow at our house, I enjoy watching it. Hawaiians also love their volleyball, and I watched a good share of the games that featured Team USA, both men’s and women, but more of the women. I also watched the bronze metal match between Japan and South Korea, that was good.
In 2008, I watched the full Men’s Bicycling race in Beijing, and did so online. The feed came from the BBC and the commentary was great, but also minimal. What I also liked was being able to see the countryside, along with hearing some of the natural sound, which was primarily crowds and the cars and trucks with the camera crews. I wish I had watched the bicycling online as well, but both races were very good. I also liked the mountain biking event, and if anything, it continues to push me to get a real bike so I can do some riding outdoors and explore the world, or at least the world outside my door. My interests in bicycling has existed since my parents bought me my first bike (a blue Schwinn) when I was 9, and after hitting a tree and falling off, I understood the dynamics and did not want to stop riding.
One event that I fell in love with this year is Handball, or “Team Handball”, “Olympic Handball”. It existed before but I know I didn’t spend time watching it or caring. This time, it looked incredible. It’s a game that looks like water polo but without being in a pool. You mix up elements of soccer (football), American football, basketball and… it’s the most perfect hybrid sport I’ve ever seen. Imagine the Trey Parker movie BASEketball, but as a serious attempt in combining the best of many sports worlds, and without the humor. According to Wikipedia, handball is popular around the world, but there’s not too much attention in the United States. With luck, that will change in the last 10 to 20 years, because I’m addicted in watching and I want more.
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