30th
The oldest instrument and the Olympics…
As a fan of ancient Greek things and of the Olympics - ancient and modern - I loved this article: apparently, one of the functions of the world’s oldest-known scientific instrument was keeping a schedule of upcoming Olympic games.
Every Olympic year since at least 1992, I hear sports commentators (I listen to a lot of sports-talk radio during my commute) talk about how the Olympics “don’t mean much any more”, with the lack of a US/USSR rivalry, problems with performance-enhancing drugs, decrease in “amateur spirit”, increased commercialization, and other issues cited as causes.
I couldn’t disagree more, and I think that increasing participation - both in terms of numbers of athletes, and in terms of engaged viewing audience - is evidence to the contrary. The Olympics is certainly different today than it was in 1984, or 1960, or 1912, or 500 B.C. - but less significant? No.
I can’t wait for next week - it’s about 6 days and 9 hours before competition starts. (What, you thought the Olympics started Friday evening? No - soccer matches start on Wednesday before the opening ceremony, specifically at 2am Pacific.)
