Tapping into the rhythm
MICHAEL VILLANI
It’s Sunday night here in Athens, two days into the Summer Games of
the XXVIII Olympiad. Everyone, staff and volunteers alike, has fallen
into an Olympic rhythmic pattern, with strict schedules being adhered
to and sleep caught at all hours of the day and night as shifts
fluctuate from venue to venue.
My little band of announcer colleagues, who got together almost
every night last week, as rehearsals were mostly held in the day, are
now leaving notes to one another. “Can you make dinner at 11:30 or
midnight? Won’t be off till then.”
The schedules are demanding at best as these “pros from Dover,”
the “top” in their fields from all over the world, are being called
to work not only the preliminaries but also the most high-profile of
contests. Makes for a long day. But hey, as I told them all, “We’re
at the Olympics in Athens, Greece, and they’re paying us to be here!”
Now that I’ve fallen into this pattern, it gives me time to pause
to reflect on just where I am.
I’m in a country where, with all due respect to the Eagles’ lyrics
using “brutally” and “terminally” as descriptions, at every turn you
see “devastatingly” handsome men and “exquisitely” beautiful women.
There is no hint of anti-Americanism. There is no hint at the threat
of terrorism.
One can only hope the feeling of euphoria this country is
experiencing now will last not only through the final competitions
but for all eternity, and that the world learns by it.
Paraphrasing Nelson Mandela, when he said “17 days of friendship,
20 seconds of competition,” what a wonderful idea for us all to
embrace. More soon as I report “From the Games.”
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