Or as my niece would say, I love the Olympkins. I know that I am not supposed to. I know that I should be railing against the IOC’s decision to hold the Olympics in a country where human rights are secondary to the government’s whim. I know that I should see these games as a marketing ploy to give the sponsors of these Games an entree into one of the fastest growing markets ever.

But you know what? I love them. And I don’t love them for Michael Phelps or the “Redeem Team“. They are great, Phelps is great, but that’s not why I love them.  I love them because I see the faces of athletes who have sacrificed the last four years of their lives for a shot at glory. I see badminton championships played with as much tenacity and grit as the NFL playoffs. Tears of joy running down the champions face, and shear agony on the “losers” face. Sure there might not be a lucrative sponsorship deal coming from the likes of Wheaties or Visa or Coca~Cola. These athletes aren’t playing for the pay day - they are playing for the love of their game, their country, and their desire to be great.

It might be old fashioned and corny to admit such a thing, but what I see in these athletes, the ones who are doing it for much more than the dollars, is the reason why I still believe in sports. Because, for one brief moment, all the hard work, all the training, all the joy of competition, comes together and you see people, athletes, who simply love to compete. Athletes who love to have a shot at being the best. And that is why I watch. From the mundane to the popular - for a glimpse of that joy, and sadness, for the beauty of competition and the beauty of sport.

Darfur, Tibet, and everything else still lingers, I know! But for two weeks, it’s about sport and at least I can enjoy that.