COLUMN: Olympic marketing

Speaking of France...

We weren’t?  Is anyone, especially when it comes to the 2024 Summer Olympic games? 

Is it just me or have I been watching too many home building shows that are not sponsored by the Olympic games?  If this was the Super Bowl rapidly approaching, would we not be ingulfed in Super Bowl ads, some of which are about Super Bowl ads? 

Heck, I saw more hype about the NBA Finals than I have about the Paris Olympics and neither team was based anywhere near Montana. 

That new deodorant bar that is supposed to last 72 hours has gotten more airtime than the Olympic Games.  Are the French promoters asleep at the wheel?  I like to think I don’t stink, but I also want to know at least something about the games, which open July 26...of this year. 

Between now and then there will have been countless political ads, this is America, and this is that once-every-four-years onslaught of political ads. 

But the GAMES have always been a pretty big thing, eh? 

Maybe the world’s appetite for something like the Olympics is not as bright as the torch that symbolizes bringing folks together from every corner of the world for good, hard athletic competition? 

Has the battle between the Navy SEAL and the flattop incumbent so dominated the airways that there are no time slots available for the Olympic Games? 

Has running sub 9 second 100-meter dashes lost its appeal?  Do we not care anymore how far grown men and women can heft an iron ball or chuck a spear? 

I still care. 

What I don’t care for, and haven’t for the past several Olympics, is the political garbage that comes with it.  And I suspect I am not alone. 

Back in the days, a phrase I utter more frequently as the years fly by, I used to curse the TV when a Soviet or Cuban boxer, clearly outfought by any Western opponent, would have their gloved hand raised in triumph thanks to the lopsided votes of judges from communist countries. 

Don’t get me “stawted" on that one! 

Do the French have other things to occupy their time this year, like, keeping the riots from spreading?  Is there, gasp, a cheese and wine shortage? 

Perhaps the rest of the world figures so many people have immigrated to the USA and what chance would the other countries have? 

I want to watch the basketball competition, even though many of the “stars” of the NBA have snubbed the games and the rest of the world has caught up with the once unbeatable Americans.  I want to see if there is another Michael Phelps out there, or if maybe against all odds Phelps is going to participate in his 78th Olympic games. 

Just kidding. 

I had the pleasure of going to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.  It was the games that were boycotted by the Soviets and the eastern block countries as revenge for the US boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics.  Politics versus sports. 

But even without the Russians, I was wide-eyed and entertained.  I had seats on the rail for the 200 meter run and watched in awe as Carl Lewis seemed to fly around the corner of the track on his way to gold. 

My heart swelled with pride when the three American runners celebrated their 1-2-3 sweep by running around the track with a large American flag draped over their shoulders. 

I watched in awe from high up in the stands of the boxing pavilion and marveled that even from those high-altitude seats I could tell Howard Cosell did indeed wear a toupee. 

Good times, good times. 

Maybe it’s a blessing that we aren’t swamped with Olympic ads.  I know that even as much of a football fan as I am, the pre-game hype for the Super Bowl is borderline annoying. 

But I for one, would trade an Olympics ad for a political ad any day. 

Do French people take siestas?