On Brink of 2016 Rio Summer Olympics

Normally I tend to shy away from the Olympic Games as I am sick and tired of the overhyped nationalism typifying them.  But this year I may be watching more of this major international sports event, especially since it offers a much welcome distraction from this horrendous, disgusting presidential election campaign we're all having to go through...

This year the Summer Olympics are being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and they are set to officially begin tomorrow...although they're already showing some early soccer matches.  There is plenty of controversy in and around the Games.  For one, Russia has been embroiled in a massive doping scandal, with much of its national team banned from participating.  For another, Brazil, the host nation, has many difficult ongoing problems while at the same time trying to handle this enormous undertaking at such great expense.  Its economy is in shambles, and in bankrupt Rio, government workers...including police, firefighters, and teachers...are not being paid and are instead out in the streets staging demonstrations.  The country's elected president has been suspended from office for corruption.  And the Zika virus is especially widespread here, with several athletes bypassing the Olympics from fear of contracting it.  Not a pretty picture at all...

As for the sports I'm most interested in watching, I like several of them: the bicycle races on those cool banked tracks, soccer, field hockey, and "regular" volleyball...not the beach variety.  And I like to watch the track and field events as well, especially the longer runs.  The sports I tend to avoid are the ones, like diving and gymnastics, which involve panels of judges deciding the scores for the contestants.  That sounds too much like reality TV shows like Dancing With the Stars, The Voice, and The Apprentice and...well, I already said I'm trying to get distracted from this disgusting election campaign...

The NBC network is carrying the Summer Olympics in 2016 and will be spreading its coverage of them on several different channels: NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, NBCSports, USA, and Bravo immediately come to mind.  Surely I'll be able to find something interesting to watch if I surf around enough...