COLUMN: Olympic bummer

You had one job France: put on an Olympics. 

Granted, such an endeavor is no doubt massive in scope and execution. 

But like Lucy pulling the ball away from poor old, trusting Charlie Brown, you blew it. You yanked the ball away and left poor Charlie staring up into the sky in disbelief. 

I should have known something was amiss when I heard that standout athlete Snoop Doggy Dogg, or whatever his name is these days, would be carrying the Olympic torch as part of its journey to Paris. Snoop? 

Then, my suspicions were confirmed when, during the Opening Ceremony, the Paris organizers chose to feature a motley crew, to say the least, doing a parody of the famed depiction of the Last Supper. No matter what you believe, even a Paris organizer should have recognized this was not a good idea. 

So, right off the bat, right or wrong, you’ve pissed off roughly half or more of your prospective audience. 

Then, with the competition underway, the triathlon had to be postponed due to unhealthy water conditions on the Seine River, which flows through the heart of Paris. In this case, it soon became known, the river had unacceptable levels of feces.  

Follow up a bad blunder with poop in the water to be used by the athletes. During opening ceremonies, they all floated down the river. Thank goodness they were in boats.

Strike two. 

And most recently, there was the controversy surrounding boxer Imane Khelif, who was disqualified by the International Boxing Association from the 2023 women's world championships, which reportedly said the Algerian athlete failed gender tests. Last week in Paris, Khelif's opponent from Italy abandoned their match just 46 seconds into the bout.

The Olympics are supposed to represent fair, honest competition. So much for that. 

Now, I’m just one guy in small town America. But I am disgusted, offended and bummed by the 2024 Summer Games. 

I love to see the medal count for the USA climb past everyone else. I’m glad to see the U.S. men’s basketball team right the ship and beat South Sudan by about 20 points. I love watching the Americans in the swimming pool; it’s indoors and supposedly free of feces. 

I got to tell ya, the future of the Games does not look promising to me. Already I’ve heard comments from folks who are claiming Hollywood will have to find a way to top that opening ceremony, a reference to the fact Los Angeles is the host of the 2028 Summer Games. 

Yeah, Hollywood. 

Meanwhile, stay tuned for the zip line competition from the top of the Eifel Tower to the Arc de Triumphe.   

I’ll bet a lot of wine is being consumed in Paris these past few days.