Olympic Fever

It really bothers me that I’m posting about the Olympics but here we go anyway…

With the Olympics recently beginning and it being EVERYWHERE, I got to thinking about some things. I believe and will prove to you, there are 2 types of Olympic Fever.

TYPE A:

First I must explain I call this one “Type A” because it impacts more people than “Type B” I would call it Type 1 but I didn’t want to give it presidence over type b. That being said….. Type A is your basic fever. We’ve seen this happen many times and will forever. Whatever the BIG THING at the moment may be consumes people and is ALL they talk about. Its something you see and hear about everywhere. Its the latest fad or the new cool thing to get involved in. I believe this is a universal fever but I’d classify the Olympics as having type A fever. Don’t get me wrong its not that I don’t watch some of it. I enjoy sports and competitive events. I also have a HUGE respect for the Olympics solely because of its uniting of countries. I watched a pre-recorded version of the Opening Ceremonies and was in awe. Not only because of what China presented but also having all of those athletes and all of those countries in one location and for the same reason, putting their differences aside, no conflicts other than for their sport… it just amazes me and gives me hope for the world. However, I don’t think it justifies the Olympic Fever Type A.

I like to be different, true I like to blend into the crowd often, but I HATE it when people follow others because “everyone is doing it”. I almost don’t want to watch the Olympics just to be unique. TO NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD. I don’t want to have Olympic Fever Type A.

TYPE B:

On to the next type.. this being “Type B” not to be confused with or second to “Type A” by any means. Classified as Type B solely because it impacts fewer people.

This at first baffled me but after a short discussion with a co-worker (who sufferes from Type A) I soon came to understand A LITTLE, this being the reason why I gave it a Fever classification at all. Type B impacts only the athletes who partake in the Olympic games. While watching the Men’s Gymnastic All-around competition… I noticed something, they’re making a lot of mistakes! The announcers commented on it as well but not to the extent that I felt necessary.

Think about it… you’re a gymnast… you have, like many others, trained for a good portion of your life for this specific event. You have spent years on the parallel bars. Not to mention months possibly years on this 1 routine on the parallel bars.  You go to compete and you make a mistake on the simple things, or for arguments sake lets say you fall off the parallel bars completely!  Now your shot at any medal is gone. This is the Olympics…what you’ve dreamed of, what you’ve planned for, if not for this… then what? If this is ALL you do… train for gymnastics (or whatever it may be)… how could you make mistakes? Especailly on the little things? Many people defend this by saying “no one is perfect” which is true, yes. HOWEVER, many of these men competing were far from perfect. If this is the 1 thing you’ve worked on for YEARS or even MONTHS how could you not do well at it??

The only justification I can give of this, and why its classified as Type B, is that its a fever. Caught up in the moment, it all comes down to this, 5 billion tons of pressure, a freak-out-mess-up-bigtime fever takes over. I know I couldn’t do it and like mentioned previously, don’t believe anyone is perfect. It just baffled me that the competitors would mess up the little things, or make a huge mistake that a beginner would. All I can say is it must be Olympic Fever Type B.