Happy Ending

The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games concluded yesterday with magnificent closing ceremonies and the passing of the torch to the next host city, London. In a related matter, I have been informally diagnosed (in other words, I made it up) with P.O.F.S. – Post-Olympic Fatigue Syndrome – so I was relieved to see them come to an end.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the Olympics and followed the events and the stories behind the athletes religiously. But I’m not going to lie to you; it was exhausting. Most of the events I was most interested in were broadcast sometime shortly before or after midnight, which is WAY past my bedtime, especially once school started again last week.

I understand NBC’s strategy – to “hook” you at 7 p.m. with the promise that Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson would be up next, only to have you wait another three hours for their first appearance and then another two hours for their final scores. I get it that NBC wanted to maximize the ratings by tricking you into watching, bleary-eyed, for five straight hours.

But I had hoped to share the Olympics with our children this time. At six and five, I thought they’d really enjoy watching the USA women’s gymnastics team (and their Chinese rivals, who LOOKED like they were six and five) just as I had loved watching Nadia Comaneci back in 1976 when I was around their ages. I also felt seeing Michael Phelps break world records and earn more gold medals than any other athlete in history at a single Olympics would be cool. However, these events were on too late for our girls to stay up and watch.

So my husband and I represented the family on the living room couch, remaining faithful watchers to the bitter end. Perhaps it was for the best. Our daughters saw enough to “play Olympics” from time to time, and I’m not sure our coffee table was ever really designed to serve as a vault for our youngest to jump over (although, to her credit, she did stick the landing).

Like the marathon, the two and a half week run of the Olympics is a test of endurance. I finished the race but obviously need to train harder for 2012. In the meantime, I’m going to rest and get ready for Dancing With The Stars, which premiers in a few weeks. Those semi-celebrities need me at the top of my game.