I am not a sports person. I'm uncoordinated and slow, so I don't enjoy playing them. And I really have about zero interest in ever watching them.
With one very big exception: the Olympics. Like most of the world, I loooooove the Olympics and will spend every two years glued to my television for two weeks going: Archery? Hit that target! Curling? Look at those brooms go! Swimming? Yes, let's have more poolside interviews with lovely, shirtless men, thank you.
In all seriousness though, I know exactly why I love the Olympics so much whereas I shun all other televised athletics as pointless and boring. It's the stories. Those little edited packages that tell me why exactly I should be rooting for certain athletes (their affinity for one-legged dogs, the fact that they are an over-the-hill 22 years old and this is their last shot for an Olympic medal, their tragic brush with alopecia)...and the instant gratification of finding out whether they win or not. The soft lighting and slow-motion close-ups, the epic music featuring that lone horn, the parental interviews with the crying...my god, I love it all.
So what I'm saying is: manipulate me, NBC, with your carefully constructed narratives. I look forward to it every time.
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