Editor’s note: Sports TV columnist John Walters is in Greece this month working for NBC at the Olympics.
On Tuesday evening I attended a dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony in Athens.
I am here writing for the NBC talent (Can you say, “Boondoggle”?), and I will sit next to NBC’s Al Trautwig, who will do commentary for the HDTV broadcast. My primary task will be to hand Al notecards filled with minutiae (“The president of Gabon is named Omar Bongo”) as the parade of nations passes by.
The Opening Ceremony typically includes a soundtrack that sounds as if it were culled from Enigma’s basement tapes. With more partial male nudity than a “WWF Smackdown,” it’s an easy target for critics. (Hey, I’d love to write that I hate all this Cirque du Soleil crap except I don’t. And if you must know, I also have a cat.) And Athens’ program is no exception.
Having seen the show before the rest of the world, I can tell you that you may just be blown away by this spectacle. After all, Greece is not only the ancestral home of Western civilization and dime store philosophy, but also of the Olympics themselves.
Fun fact: The Olympics have been held in each of the last four millennia, but only Greece can say it has hosted a Games in each of the four 1,000-year spans.
Greece is also home to “moussaka,” which is not only the national dish but, if said a certain way, makes you sound like the diabolical genius laughing in every bad horror movie ever filmed.
Anyway, the big program is educational, but more so entertaining. I’ll leave you with one hint: The Olympic swimming pool won’t be the first place you’ll see outstanding performances in the water.
Tune in and find out.
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Edited by the Sports staff of RedEye.
