Did you happen to notice the TV ratings for the recently concluded Summer Olympics in Paris? They were through the roof. NBC reported the two weeks of games averaged more than thirty million viewers every day. That was an 82 percent increase over the 2021 summer games in Tokyo. I don’t do much streaming of TV programs, but apparently tons of others do, because the network says the games attracted 23.5 billion minutes of streaming time on its Peacock service and other platforms.
Unless you are totally uninterested in sports of any kind, it was hard not to be drawn in to the drama of these games. There was star power everywhere you looked. Mega-names such as Lebron James, Steph Curry, Simone Biles, and Sophia Smith were magnetic in their appeal. There were stirring finishes, tears of joy, desperate heartbreak, emotional parents, and irresistible melodrama, all spiced with audience shots of famous celebrities like Tom Cruise, Charlize Theron, Martha Stewart, Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order SVU) and Seth Rogan.
Yep, all the elements for a compelling display of entertainment were there. Yet, I don’t believe that’s the whole story behind the massive ratings. There’s a far deeper reason. It was a rare opportunity for Americans to be united in their passion. And we reveled in it.
You don’t need me to tell you we are living in an era of intense division in our country. Political differences have become weaponized to foster fear and hate. Outlets such as Fox News and CNN reel in viewers by playing to these emotions, fanning them into wildfires of intensity, sometimes resulting in extreme, even tragic overreaction. We have witnessed a storming of the United States Capitol building, an assassination attempt, and all manner of deception, misdirection and manipulation on both sides of the aisle.
And we are tired of it. It’s exhausting. We are sick of being made to feel scared. Fearful of walking out our front doors. Terrified that moral values are disappearing. Worn out from being made to feel that some of our fellow Americans have to be enemies because of how they feel about issues. Weary from worrying the deterioration of our nation is washing over us like a tidal wave, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
In the midst of all this psychological fatigue arrives the Olympics. Suddenly, it’s no longer Republicans against Democrats, conservatives against liberals, race against race, young against old. It’s our country, our whole country, defending its place as the greatest and most accomplished nation on this earth, against the rest of the world seeking to take that distinction away from us.
The United States basketball teams, men and women, used to win gold medals barely having to break a sweat. But foreign teams have gotten better. Much better. Good enough to threaten us. So we watched, all of us, with joyful pride as both teams fought off mighty challenges to remain the elite. We still got it, baby.
We watched entranced as distance swimmer Katie Ledecky become the most decorated woman of all time in her sport. We saw Simone Biles reclaim her mastery of gymnastics. We got shivers when a nerdy and somewhat frail looking young man with a pony tail came out of nowhere with a finishing kick to defeat two overwhelming favorites in the 1,500 meter run. As Cole Hocker’s crying parents draped him in an American flag, it was hard for any of us to hold back the tears of joy. We didn’t care if he was a conservative or a liberal, gay or straight, pro-life or pro-choice. We were just happy for him. All of us were.
We had to wait breathlessly as sprinter Noah Lyles leaned into a photo finish in the men’s 100 meters with a Jamaican competitor, then rejoice seconds later as he is declared the winner. A few days later, the same Lyles finishes a disappointing third in the 200 meters, but we watched in alarm as he lay on the track afterward, struggling mightily to breathe. In obvious distress, he is taken off the track in a wheelchair. We later learn he competed despite being diagnosed with Covid. It didn’t matter how he felt about border crossings or runaway inflation. We just wanted him to be okay. All of us did.
In those dramatic moments, we were all together. It made no difference if you lived in Trussville, Pinson, New York City, Los Angeles, or Possum Trot. For at least that fortnight, we could take a break from fighting the cultural battles. We rediscovered we are all still Americans, and at least when it comes to sports, we are still the best in the world when we compete as one. It made us feel good. Dare I say it may even have given us some hope.
It will serve us well to remember those feelings over the course of the next two and a half months, because those months are going to be brutal. We are electing a president and a large portion of Congress, and the campaigns are going to be ruthless. Both sides will try to secure your vote by scaring you and making you feel insecure and uncomfortable. No doubt we will again be in need of some sort of break from the political pounding.
Thank goodness for football season.