What Draws Us to the Olympics?

What is it about the Olympics that makes us all stop and pay attention?  What is it about people taking part in sports that, for the most part, so few of us actually keep up with?  Face it, during the off years, you don’t keep up with diving, track and field or some of the other Olympic sports that we will see in the next couple of weeks.

Still, there are many of us that will stop in front of the television, see swimming or diving or gymnastics and find ourselves sitting down to enjoy the sport that we would otherwise not even take the time for.  I think some of it has to do with the idea of having heroes.  Our Olympic athletes have inspiring stories and usually go above and beyond the call to win gold for their country.  Also, it always brings a tear to the eye when you see one of our athletes win the gold and get to hear the national anthem as our flag is raised high for all to see.

Also, we like to see people that do well, no matter what the country.  When someone steps up and does the unbelievable we love to see them.

Heroes are something we have in short supply.  For the next couple of weeks, we get them all over the place, doing their best to make us proud.  We forget that the economy is in a bad place.  We forget our problems and we enjoy the spectacle of normal people doing amazing things in the world of sports.

I look forward to seeing all the sports and getting that feeling of American pride that we live in one of the greatest of countries in the world.  I look forward to that great feeling for those few brief moments before getting back to the reality of our world.  Maybe that is the ultimate thing that draws us back again and again.  The chance to escape and enjoy something uplifting.  I think we could all use it.