So last night, I settled in to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Paris Olympics.

 I know there’s always a truckload of spectacle, of bells and whistles, of over blown over-the-topsness.  That part I usually ignore, just mute and do something else while it plays through.  But when the athletes start parading in, THAT’S what I’m here for.  Seeing all the countries come in with their flag ahead of them, seeing the huge American, Chinese, English and German contingents, and the tiny, 1 or 2 athlete contingents from Liechtenstein, or Nauru, so some tiny Caribbean island nation.  I like seeing them all happy and waving and seeing whatever their nation uniform is.   And seeing them all gather together in the stadium for the raising of the Olympic and host nation flags.  All of that is what I enjoy.

So, I turn on the TV at 730, to NBC and I see……Payton Manning as one of the hosts.  WHAT THE FUCK?   I used to like him, until I read an article about how  he sexually harassed, repeatedly, a female assistant when he was a QB in college.  And it all got covered up.  And she had to leave.  And then he took up promoting Papa John’s, which is hugely homophobic corporation, right up there with Chik-fil-a and Hobby Lobby.  And views on his totally changed.  His voice make me cringe now.

But what’s worse, they were bringing the athletes in on boats?  Down the Seine?   And multiple countries on one boat, which meant a relatively big grouping like Canada pretty much  squeezed a tiny group, like Cape Verde, into nothingness.   And they were going past things like Lady Gaga and some pink fluffy poof things, or a big casket being carried down some stairs, or a beheaded Marie Antoinette and a Heavy Metal band in the same castle.  WTF?  And this was also interspersed with some masked dude running across rooftops for some reason.

And in the middle of this, occasionally, as if an afterthought, oh HEY, here’s a boat or two of athletes.  Now back to the whatever the fuck we’re showing on the riverside.

 After an hour and 15 minutes, I had only seen up to like Cape Verde, just in the beginning of the C’s.  But I saw all the crap in the above paragraph.   So after that much time with so little of interest, I turned if off and watched two West Wing reruns instead before going to bed.

What crap.

I know, there was other stuff: Celine Dion, who I’ve never cared for but good for her that she could get out and sing despite her illness.  And there was a drag queen reenactment of the Last Supper or something, which made right wing MAGAmoron heads explode, so that’s a good thing.  Plus there were a whole shit ton of other “celebrities” that I had no idea who they were.  But that’s just cause I’m old and not up on current culture.

 Now some of this I blame on NBC for cutting the tape and showing it this way, although I imagine the live version was probably pretty similar.  So most of my blame goes to the Olympic planners in Paris.  Not that they care what I think.

Nonetheless, it was a HUGE disappointment.  I have no issue with the spectacle, but don’t interfere with the athletes’ arrival, do all the spectacle at once: like 2008 Chinese drummers drumming at once In in 2028, or the “Queen” parachuting into the stadium with James Bond.    Spectacle has it’s time and place and superseding and over shadowing the athlete’s arrival is NOT the place.

 And yes, I realize I’m just two steps away from standing my porch and yelling at the kids in my yard or shaking my fist at the clouds overhead, but I don’t care.  It was disappointing.  Fuck it.

POLT