The consensus seems to be that the Turin Olympics were a pretty blase affair – TV viewership was down, many of the events did not sell all their tickets, none of the pre-packaged personalities played up to expectations – in general there was a lack of tension and excitement.
Already, though, there are stirring about the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. Seems people are expecting a pseudo-Cold War style Olympics with a presumed US vs. China rivalry. And I don’t think they’re wrong. According to this article:
and
So China seems to be on the ascendant. I’m too young to remember any of the Cold War Olympics, but based on what I’ve heard about them, the War injected that critical element of global intrigue and suspense that made a hockey game more than just a hockey game. Can we look forward to that same type of suspense in '08? What will the significance be if China slams the US in the medal count – or vice versa?
There’s another important point about the 1980 Olympics, which is that that was back when all competing athletes were supposed to be amateurs. The US’s hockey team was made up of college kids, whereas the USSR’s team was made up of Red Army soldiers whose military job happened to be “hockey player.” But they weren’t professional hockey players, of course. They were soldiers.
So it was seen as both a victory against the Soviets and a victory for fairness and western values. Of course, since professionals are allowed now, the point is moot for Beijing.
This is bordering on GD or the Pit, but I actually think it’s shameful for IOC to have Peking host the Olympics. Money talks and all that, but there’s too much sucking up to China as it is. Why the U.S. bans cigars from Cuba and desperately try to isolate a puny backwards Island state, while helping China come forward as a world power is beyond me.
It will make for a very political game though. The most since Moscow in '80 and L.A. in '84. China will try to score some serious goodwill points and I expect the games to work flawlessly. This will lead to good entertainment and possibly very good ratings for the different networks around the world that carry the games. Problems will be with the time zones. The biggest tv-market is the U.S.
N.Y. is 13 hours behind, which could mean that scheduling events very early in the morning in China would mean American primetime. It would send ratings down the toilet in Europe (presumable the second largest market). L.A. is 16 hours behind, putting a prime time event at mid morning in China - somewhat better.