The Olympics, A Rant

Does anyone else feel guilty for being excited for the Olympics?

The Olympics are my favorite. Actually, I don't think "favorite" really covers it.

My 22nd birthday was called the D'Souzolympics and my friends and I staged ridiculous opening ceremonies at bars all over Madison (complete with spandex, score cards, a cardboard torch and a viewing of the actual opening ceremony). In 2010, I returned from a trip to India and immediately flew halfway across the continent to Vancouver just to be near the Olympics.

This year, however, the Olympics are shadowed by so much garbage that it's difficult to be a fan and, I assume, a gazillion times more difficult to be an athlete. Sochi has become a battleground for gay rights and the Russian government has been consistently called out for corruption and human rights violations. Also, they had a stray dog problem, so they hired a company to poison them.

Most recently, journalists have been arriving and sharing the miserable state of accommodations on Twitter, including "dangerous" (bright yellow) water, no heat, no doorknobs and entire parts of hotels left unfinished. At least this particular disaster is kind of funny.Basically, it's a train wreck and it bothers me that Sochi was chosen over plenty of less-bigoted places that would've more equipped to handle an event that's supposed to be about countries and people coming together and being best pals for at least a couple of weeks. It's not like the Olympic Committee didn't know what they were getting into with this.

Anyway, first Worthy Pause Rant of the Week is over.

The athletes worked just as hard to get to Sochi as they did to Vancouver, so I'm going to cheer them on loudly from my couch like I always do. I may also use commercial breaks to pen strongly worded letters to the Olympic Committee and the Russian government, but that's neither here nor there.