Celebritism and Hype

I actually caught this disappointing moment in the Olympics when Jordyn Wieber didn't qualify for the all around.

The gigantic reaction has to do with America's strange relationship to celebrity and sport.  For some reason, we find it only worthy to pay attention to people who are "the best" and have adopted a strange over-compensatory attitude in sports that boils down to "winning is the only thing."  In some ways, it is the exact opposite to the prevailing cultural norms of the "trophy" generation and the entitlement and "we are all special" attitudes we see amongst young adults these days.  But I actually think these attitudes are related and our attitudes towards competition are dysfunctional and problematic.

All you hear about on sports radio are men talking about "rings" and winning.  As if your career as a sportsman is meaningless without rings or championships.  Nevermind that teammates matter, competition matters, timing matters, and luck matters enormously.  The chattering mass pronounce sport victories as if they were predestined from the beginning, that there was an inevitability to so-and-so prevailing over so-and-so.

This Jordyn Wieber had apparently won a lot of gymnastic competitions and NBC was gearing up with the full-court coverage to maximize her celebrity in order to sell car commercials.  They hyped her up, basically neglecting the other incredibly strong gymnasts on her own team.  They made her an alpha-dog because that's the easiest way for people to consume ideas.  But she lost in a tight competition that comes down to judging.  Is this really an immense surprise?  I don't actually know because I know nothing about gymnastics.  Per the hype, it seems like a big deal.  But I feel sorry for both of the girls.  Jordyn because the hype makes her feel like a gigantic disappointment, even though she is undoubtedly an exceptional athlete and competitor who had perhaps a "bad" or just "so-so" day when it mattered.  And then there is this other girl who took her spot who was basically ignored until this moment and although all American gymnast fans should be celebrating her, they are actually disappointed because they were sold Jordyn Wieber.

Anyhow, strange business this celebrity.  Disconnected from reality and unhealthy if you ask me.