So, DC, do you care about the Olympics?  Are you excited, or do you feel blase?  I’m ambivalent about the Olympics — it seems like they are on all the time ever since the split of winter and summer games.  On the other hand, one of my favorite childhood memories is of watching the torch handoff in my hometown, on its way to the games in Lake Placid.  A relative tried for the Olympics in the seventies, and I wore my Colorado Springs ^[1] training camp t-shirt with pride.

In the here-and-now, we’ve got quite a few local Olympians this year, which is exciting and a reason to watch at least some of the competitions.  Locals ^[2] include Freddy Adu (late of DC Uniiiiited, clap-clap, clap-clap, clap!), the thrilling Michael Phelps, and Justin Spring.   Sadly, the news ^[3] today tells us that local boxer Gary Russell, Jr. has collapsed in Beijing (evidently trying to make weight) and won’t compete.

Via DCist ^[4], I discovered NBC’s tool for geographically customized TV listings ^[5], so I can find my favorite dressage ^[6] events on one of the approximately eleventy-million channels owned by NBC (it’s like a return to the dreaded “triplecast”) in between trips to the county fair ^[7] for Ferris wheel rides.

Will you watch?  What’s your favorite Olympic event?