Olympics
He was inhaling from the bong like there was no tomorrow, like this is where Olympic champions go to escape the pressure and expectations and photographers hiding in the bushes.
“I worked my butt off for four years,” Ryan Lochte reminded those asking questions Saturday. “I put in all the hard work.”
It was a lot easier in 1908, when Britain ruled both the seas and the tug of war competition. The first Olympics in London was a smashing success, with no gridlock and a home team that not only swept the tug of war but also beat the upstarts from America in most other sports.
It can’t be a bad thing. Impossible. Rivalries in sport tend to create greatness, magical moments, snapshots that eventually outlive those special athletes talented enough to produce them.
Think of it this way: If the opening ceremony of an Olympics is designed to celebrate the concepts of friendship and peace while also paying tribute to a host nation’s history and traditions, those who welcomed the world to the London 2012 Games on Friday did so with varied success.