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Olympics Aren't The Same

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By ROD REDER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 19, 2008

It's just not the same. The Olympics I mean. I remember the first Olympics I saw on the television - the 1964 Summer Olympics from Japan. There were Bob Hayes, the World's Fastest Human, and Joe Frazier, the young boxer. My dad, an Air Force officer, taught me to root against the Russians, East Germans and any Soviet bloc country because they were "commies." These were the countries that wanted America to fail, he said. They hated the way we flaunted our freedom, our capitalist ways and the way we want others to be more like us. Don't be mad at the athletes, just their governments, he said.

I have to say, it made watching the Olympics much more entertaining, because Americans like winners. Americans like the good guy beating the bad guy. Good triumphing over evil. And then Ronald Reagan took that away. He told the Russian President Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" and he did. Then Germany reunified in 1990 and the Soviet Union folded like a deck of cards and the Olympics haven't been the same since. Of course Vladimir Putin is trying his best to reinstall that us vs. them mentality. His timing of the invasion should go down as one of the most bold and heinous political moves in recent world history.

I watched President Bush's interview with NBC's Bob Costas last week. He said we have to work with the Chinese government, but it doesn't mean we have to approve of its extreme oppression it imposes upon its people. How can you not feel for the Chinese women's gymnastic team? Despite the controversy of their age, the stress in their young faces is beyond description. Stories of being taken away from their families at age 3 and working years for this one critical moment in their lives seems to go against basic humanism. It makes one wonder what would happen if they fail. Yes, the Chinese are putting on quite a show, but a lot of it is smoke and mirrors. The opening night's fake fireworks and the young girl with buck teeth, who was suppose to sing at the opening ceremony, being replaced by a lip synching "prettier girl" shows the cracks of an oppressive regime trying desperately to make it appear like life in China is great.

It's great to watch the hundreds of U.S. athletes who have worked so hard to reach their goal. Oh, and thank you Michael Phelps. You are a true American hero who epitomizes hard work.

Rod Reder is a retired sheriff's captain and owner of Reder Investigations & Security Consulting. He lives in Lutz.

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