Olympics Viewing Guide

摘要

With all due respect to NBC and the 17,000 places they are let-ting us watch the Olympics, my inter-est in the Games has really waned in recent years. But I have to admit, this one has my eye. And it is that exact sentiment that has me thinking NBC's billion-dollar bet on Beijing may pay off starting this Friday. The Olympics used to have a certain mystery. Growing up in Minnesota, it used to be my one time to see those evil Russian hockey players taking on our young freedom fighters. Nowadays, all the Russians are playing on an NHL team in Nashville or Dallas or some other storied hockey hotbed, so that shroud of mystery is gone. The world got smaller, and the Olympics were no longer as big a deal. But the mystique is kind of back with China opening its doors-at least a crack-to the world and the world's media. So there are plenty of things I will be checking out this time around. Opening ceremonies: I've never been a fan of the opening ceremonies, sorry to say. Too much pageantry. Too much marching. Too much Bob Costas. Costas doing the opening ceremonies would make a fine drinking game.