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Broken cable line
couldn't extinguish Olympic flame
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___What is it about the Olympics that gets to us? The pomp and ceremony, the stories of athletes, and then the competitions themselves have captured our hearts one more time.
___ I admit I’m a sucker for all the drama. I still cry at those Hallmark
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ALISON WINGFIELD
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commercials at Christmastime. But even my threshold for drama has been taxed the last week and a half over the endless stories of athletes and teams that draw out the nightly TV coverage. I’d rather see more of the competition.
___ A major highlight for me is usually the opening ceremony when all the athletes are coming into the stadium. That Friday night we were all set to watch the ceremonies to the bitter end, with our pizza and a cozy set of blankets on the floor for the boys, when it happened. Our cable went out. Static for several hours. Mark hunted high and low for our old rabbit ears, but they were nowhere to be found.
___ And of course, the cable company’s phone line was busy the whole time. I was furious and then philosophical. Technology is not all it’s cracked up to be.
___ But there has been plenty of high drama to make up for that one night. The greatest moments for me so far were when Gary Hall and Anthony Irvin tied for the gold in the men’s 50-meter swimming event, and when Maurice Green and his best friend and close competitor from Trinidad-Tobago finished one and two respectively in track’s 100 meter final. Mark and I both had tears in our eyes after watching them hug each other and seeing the interview with Maurice and his coach afterward.
___ The boys come and go in their interest in the Olympics--they seem to be more gung-ho when it’s close to bedtime. "Please can’t we stay up and watch the Olympics?" is the nightly question.
___ Couch critics abound in our household. We have become experts in each event as we critique and comment on the dives and vaults. As if we could ever relate to the tremendous pressure and difficulty these athletes undergo just to get to the Olympics.
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___Have you noticed the number of athletes praying at the Olympics this year?
___ I don’t know anything about Maurice Green’s religious affiliation, but you don’t have to be a color commentator on TV to see what he’s doing before each race when he walks out on
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MARK WINGFIELD
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the track and kneels down—-or when he quietly bows at the end of the race.
___ And he’s not the only one. We’ve noticed several other athletes doing the same thing--quietly, unobtrusively, beautifully.
___ What’s astounding is that none of the TV commentators feel comfortable mentioning this--a fact that perhaps says more about them than it does about the athletes. They offer lame explanations such as "He’s composing himself" or "He’s gathering his thoughts before the race."
___ Anyone who’s ever whispered a prayer before tackling a big challenge knows exactly what he’s doing. The other night, I found myself nearly praying along with the world’s fastest man; I could almost imagine the very words he was saying.
___ This is just one of the reasons I find the Olympics to be spiritually inspiring. These athletes are people who aren’t getting paid millions of dollars to take the field and show off. And they’re not surrounded by a Bible Belt environment that wants to force meaningless public prayers on their events so some of the spectators can show off a spiritual depth they really don’t have.
___ For that reason, I’m almost glad the TV commentators can’t figure out what’s going on--or don’t want to draw attention to it. The faith of some of our Olympic athletes reminds me of the message of the Apostle Paul about developing a mature faith:
___ "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
___ May all of us armchair athletes be so bold as well.
Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly. |
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