SOME OF MY FRIENDS ARE SURPRISED to find out that I enjoy watching the Olympics.  I suppose you could draw a couple of conclusions from that.  But I’ve been a fan of the Olympics since at least 1984.

I was recently talking to a friend a few years older than me about watching Mary Lou Retton spot that “perfect ten” back in ’84.  He was surprised that I would remember such a thing.  But I do.  So I laughed a little when Grantland posted the video and a “play-by-play” of Retton’s great moment on their site.  You can relieve the whole thing here.

But there’s this strange dissonance that the Summer Olympics brings that I haven’t heard acknowledged much.  It’s about the two big favorites of the Games: gymnastics and swimming.  More than any other events, those are the two that I find the most fascinating.  And according to Grantland’s head-honcho, Bill Simmons, the same is true for lots of Americans.  The athletes of these two areas are the ones that get the glory, the screen time, the endorsements.  It took us a couple of years to get over Michael Phelps’ 2008 successes.  The same for Kerri Strug and her seminal vault. So if you’ve got a minute, check out Simmons’ “play by play” of what makes this strange rivalry such a close call.  You can read it, footnotes and all, here. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to get back to watching the Games.

(image courtesy of yahoo sports)