U.S. Campus Life The Games begin By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
冬のオリンピックが開幕 先週号で雅子さんは、アメフト・スーパーボールでの地元チームの優勝に沸いたボストンの様子をレポートしてくれましたが、その興奮冷めやらぬうちに、今度はソルトレーク五輪が開幕しました。ボストンでも関心は五輪に移りつつありますが、やたらと愛国心をあおる今回のイベントに雅子さんは、ちょっと懐疑的です。

Several days after the Super Bowl, Boston hosted a parade honoring their victorious home team, the New England Patriots. It is estimated that over one million fans flooded the streets of Boston to see the Patriots ride by on the duck-shaped buses that commonly carry tourists around Boston. This is many more people than the population of the entire city of Boston!

The parade was held around noon on a weekday, so the natural question is who, exactly, were all those people on the streets. Apparently, fans from near and far skipped work to make it to the parade. Many kids also played hooky from school, some with their parents' approval. Many of these loyal pilgrims left their homes at the crack of dawn to make it to Boston City Hall on time. Security was tight, public transportation was over capacity and the weather was cold, but these minor details didn't seem to discourage fans.

After witnessing such real, live, city-wide excitement, I would say that the arrival of the Winter Olympics has been a bit anticlimactic for me. I can't speak for others, however, since the TV ratings for the opening ceremony were record-breaking, and the proportion of Bostonians tuned into their sets was even higher than the national average. I suppose Bostonians haven't had their fill of excitement, in spite of the Super Bowl.

Apparently, young viewers have shown unprecedented interest in this Winter Olympics, partly because of the slick, exciting advertisements that have been created to attract this finicky, impatient crowd, and partly because of the new wave of patriotism that has swept the U.S. since Sept. 11. It's coincidental that the Olympics happened to be held in the States this year. The timbre of the entire Olympics has been tailored to reflect the change in attitude that has come upon this country.

I'm not sure these are the "right" ways to attract a new audience to this time-honored sporting event . . . but when I saw the tattered flag from the World Trade Center come into the stadium, I admit, I was moved. I understand that there was a lot of controversy surrounding the inclusion of that flag, since people from around the world (and not just the U.S.) were killed in the terrorist attacks. The authorities were afraid that people from other countries would be hurt or offended by this show of patriotism at a peaceful international event. In the end, the flag was approved, and I think it was an appropriate symbol.

The question is whether people will continue to maintain their interest in the Olympics after the initial excitement wears off. I've been calling a friend of mine almost every day for the past several days, and every time I've called, I've heard the Olympics in the background. I guess she keeps her TV on the Olympics all the time while reading or doing her chores. She pays attention only when something exciting happens on TV. I think this is a common way for people to watch the Olympics. There are so many events covered every day that it's impossible to really focus on all of them.

Like most people, I find it hard to resist the sparkle and drama of ladies' figure skating, and I understand why TV coverage focuses on such events. But I also want to root for those hard-working competitors in non-marquee events from non-marquee countries, even if they don't improve TV ratings.

One thing I would really like to see more of is stories about Salt Lake City. With its gorgeous craggy mountains, its famous Salt Lake and its largely uniform population of white Mormons, it seems very far away from Boston, almost like a foreign country. I remember hearing a lot about the difference between Catalonia and Spain during the Barcelona Olympics, and I learned something about a place I'd never heard of before. It might be a bit difficult to provide balanced coverage about Salt Lake City because it's so strongly built upon a single religion, but I'm more interested in the city than in the Olympic events.

I suppose it's the same reason I felt so happy witnessing the joy of my fellow Bostonians after the Super Bowl victory when, in fact, I ignored the TV during most of the actual game.

Shukan ST: Feb. 22, 2002

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