COLUMN: Two-week patriots

From Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fall '96 From Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fall '96The media made mockeries of the OlympicsFrom Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fall '96The media made mockeries of the Olympicsand the political conventions this summer-From Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fall '96The media made mockeries of the Olympicsand the political conventions this summer-and we citizens stood by and cheered. From Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fall '96The media made mockeries of the Olympicsand the political conventions this summer-and we citizens stood by and cheered.In this post-party convention recovery period, it is not uncommon for Americans to reconsider how much they really care about the campaigns of either candidate. Despite being force-fed the Democratic and Republican versions of patriotism, I am still hungry for my own. The other event in question is the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In the 100 years that the modern Olympiad has existed, it has been transformed from a good-natured competitive event to a televised spectacle designed to make viewers' mouths drop around the world. During the Games's opening ceremonies, everyone becomes a patriot, particularly here in the U.S. This is not dissimilar from national convention time, when everyone's interest in the presidential race reaches a new peak. Both events are televised live -- except perhaps on the West Coast -- and they attempt to reach into the consciousness of everyone watching. Perhaps a sense of inner guilt causes many Americans' fanaticism with the Olympics. Nevertheless, it is obvious that many people become two-week patriots who follow every movement of the athletes for as long as the Games last -- only to lose interest for another four years after the closing ceremonies. I am one of the guilty parties in this case, because my patriotism rarely shows itself unless provoked. As I followed the exploits of genuinely fascinating American athletes like sprinter Michael Johnson, the members of the women's gymnastics team and archer Justin Huish, I became somewhat fascinated by their personal stories, mainly because NBC's coverage consisted of incessant, syrupy vignettes about them. NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics was effective in that it showed how we as fans are not as interested in the actual events, but in these "touching" personal stories of almost every athlete who wore the Stars and Stripes. The network overcompensated, fearing that interest would be minimal if viewers could not identify with and reach inside the personal lives of the athletes representing them. The danger of this strategy is that the two-week patriots will reach instinctively for the most negative element in the mix and feed upon it. It is not surprising that attention peaked during the Olympics at two key times: during the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park and the Carl Lewis 400-meter relay controversy. The first event certainly deserved all the coverage it received; I was concerned about a loved one who might have been at the park. However, the media's willingness to link a security guard to the crime -- seconds after his name was revealed as a possible suspect -- was a chilling reminder of the Simpson trial (or of the Salem witch-hunts, for that matter). It became clear that not only can a bomb blast shake the spirit of the Olympics, but the American public's obsession with a good real-life whodunit can make that spirit crumble completely. Even though people claimed they had the Olympics on because the competition was so fierce or because they wanted to see Kerri Strug vault for the 79th time, the amount of NBC coverage of Lewis' self-serving struggle to get onto the 400-meter relay team revealed what the public was really interested in following. Lewis, who had just won his ninth career gold medal in the long jump, began appealing to get on the relay team so that he would have a chance at a record 10th gold medal. (Never mind, of course, that Lewis had already had his chance to make the team and wasn't even an alternate.) He claimed he wanted to help the team have the best chance of winning, but his selfish motives shone through -- and the American public loved every minute of it. NBC's ratings shot through the roof (as if they weren't there already) as the event grew closer. The relay itself was completely obscured, let alone the tremendous athletes of the Canadian team that eventually dusted the Americans without Lewis. But America's two-week patriots had no need to despair, as there was plenty of the much-anticipated second-guessing! The relay coach was second-guessed for not accepting an undeserving Lewis onto the team. The members of the relay team were second-guessed, particularly because the slowest leg of the relay was run by the man whom Lewis would have replaced. Mind you, none -- absolutely none -- of this attention went to the Canadians who embarrassed the U.S. team. The coverage had a familiar spin to it: the Americans lost because of distractions and slight injuries afflicting their team, not because they were just whipped by a superior opponent. NBC had to shelter the fragile egos of the two-week patriots, right? Unfortunately for these temporary flag-wavers, the Olympics eventually had to end. Suddenly, all Atlanta 1996 merchandise was 50 percent off and no one was talking about the Olympics anymore. No one had it on their minds; they had other things to complain about and busy themselves with now. The national conventions were just getting ready to start!