United Through Television: The Olympics

There was a time when we, as Americans, had fewer options when it comes to television. These days with TiVo, thousands of channels, not to mention streaming television online, the Olympics are far from the only option to watch.

I generally stream episodes of my favorite television episodes on my laptop, avoiding the crowds, noise and politics that surround reserving a common room at Wellesley. When the Olympics began, I realized I wouldn’t be able to watch from the comfort of my bed and would have to make the trek to the common room.

Just watching the Olympics wasn’t really something that attracted me. I was interested in how America did on the world stage and I thought Apollo Ohno was pretty cute, but I just wasn’t that excited. I missed opening ceremonies, but was talked into watching the first night of events. Without the foresight to reserve the common room we didn’t find an empty one until the third try. After the first night, I was hooked. What can I say; I got swept up in the drama, costumes and adrenaline.

What can be great about watching the Olympics is that it can be a bonding experience. While not hanging on every word or listening for plot points, it’s easy to talk with the other people in the room, compare favorite athletes and trash talk based on something you, yourself don’t actually have a hand in. One of my friends turns away from the screen every time they show a crash. Another criticizes based on technique and a third just cheers for whoever is wearing the red, white and blue. We listen for tidbits about the athletes between events and start talking about sports like speed skating and ice dancing as though we know what we’re talking about.

I have now watched the Olympics in five different common rooms on campus and each has its own personality. It doesn’t matter whether the people in the room live in that dorm, know anything about the Olympics or know anyone watching. Everyone is united in the experience of watching the impressive display of athleticism. During commercials we discuss everything from the quality of the Olympic commercials (general consensus: much better than this year’s Superbowl commercials), pieces of stories we've heard about the athletes, to our own critique of song and costume selection.

The night that Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won gold for China in pairs figure skating, stories were told about how they were taken away from their families at a young age to begin training and live in dorms, how they’ve been paired for almost twenty years and achieved everything except Olympic gold, and how they came out of retirement just for this Olympics. By the way, their short program was fantastic. When they took gold and the commentators began talking about how they really hadn’t skated a perfect long program and were relying on the excellence of their short program, we booed the announcers and cheered for the sheer strength of their short program that it could have gotten them so far.

The night of the men’s long program in figure skating I watched in Punch’s Alley and smiled when Lady Gaga’s music came on as Johnny Weir took to the ice. The costume debate began anew as we discussed the relative ridiculousness of a man’s corset with pink accents versus the equally flamboyant black and white outfit of the second night. When Evan Lysacek took his place on the ice, even the girls on the dance floor took a break to watch the screen. We collectively ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the jumps that we didn’t know the names of, and loudly commended Lysacek for his gracefulness from our seats. When he was announced as the gold medalist, people cheered and whipped out their phones to text and call those who had turned in for the night.

Though not everyone on campus follows the Olympics, and fewer people watch it, (as often I’m tempted to because of the way Wellesley is designed) if you’re planning on watching the Olympics on campus, chances are you’ll end up in a room where you don’t know everyone. However, the camaraderie and spirit that can sometimes be lacking at Wellesley’s own sporting events is evident everywhere and is encouraged by the environment in which you’re watching. I’ve met more people for the first time in the past week than I did my first week of classes. If you’re on campus sometime in the next week, try and watch an event in a common room, you’ll see what I mean.