I HEARD THERE WAS AN OLYMPICS

This Friday marks the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. I wish I could get some excitement about the games.

There are Olympics I've boycotted. Not as the Jimmy Carter boycott; I've just refused to watch them. It was more apathy than rejection.

I don't think I'll watch much this year. For a few reasons.

Number One, what do they prove? In the old Cold War days, it seemed to prove superiority. I loved to beat the USSR and East Germany in those days. The 1980 Miracle on Ice was fantastic. The Jesse Owens Olympics in 1936 in Berlin, shot a huge hole in the Hitler superiority of the races, and I loved reading about that. But now, our enemies are cave hiding suicide bomb attack terrorists. I don't think they'll be entering any events, so whom do I love to beat?

Number two. I loved The Jim Thorpe Story. It was a travesty to take away his Gold Medals because of a few weeks of playing professional baseball. Today, Kobe, LeBron and the NBA stars are hooping it up. I never did like it when Russia cheated with their paid athletes, but that's what made the ice hockey USA Gold Medal of 1980 so special. They did it fairly and with amateurs. But now pros can earn Gold Medals. No basketball viewing for me.

I still hope the US wins every event. I'm still a home country nationalist. But they've changed it too much for me. Purist? Traditionalist? Realist? Put a tag on me. But as for Beijing this year, I'll pass.