Posted 5:47 PM by Gene

Here's one reason THE GAMES aren't drawing an audience: we have no rooting interest. Back when (and I must mention her again) the ethereally beautiful Peggy Fleming became an American sweetheart THE GAMES were still in the realm of hopeful star-gazing amateurs who really did represent their countries; and from Berlin on THE GAMES were nothing if not xenophobically political, whatever their faked universalist view. Now players can play for anybody -- look at the alleged hockey tournaments -- and love of country can hardly rank when the moving force behind so many of these would-be stars is love of ENDORSEMENTS. It is nonsense to say THE GAMES have thus been morally polluted; any outfit that can bring on the likes of AVERY BRANDAGE [sic] is rotten to the core, and such craven genius intensified the ultimate UEBERROTHING of THE GAMES, so now we have the best of two bad worlds: an intensely fake show of political naivete with a hidden evil smirk, and even more intense MARKETING.

It's healthy that we shouldn't root for these GAMES' latest Wheaties-box models. They only represent themselves. Far better to honor the true patriot soldiers in harm's way in Iraq, who work without the meaningless beckoning glow of a gold medal, but do more than their weight in gold.