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Wednesday, August 11

The games are worth all the trouble

Dear Theodosios I ...

Can we call you Theo? Good.

It's about the Olympics. The Greeks tried this idea once before, you remember. It worked for nearly 12 centuries - a bunch of guys running around in the nude every four years in Olympia - until there was so much excess and overindulgence, you pulled the plug in 393 A.D.

Of course, being a Roman emperor, you had the juice. And you didn't have Coca-Cola or Nike to answer to. You just snapped your fingers, and no more javelin throw. Olympia went quiet for eons.

Now the Olympics are back in the old neighborhood, 16 centuries later, just down the road in Athens. And Theo, you might be interested to know, the issues haven't changed all that much.

In the beginning, the Greeks asked for a truce from whatever wars were going on during the competition. Didn't always work. The Spartans or Persians or someone could always find an enemy worth a few arrows.

Now, the Greeks are spending $1.2 billion on security, trying to make sure no one blows up the boxing venue, or anything else. The games used to require only a small force of police, and now they ask for protection from NATO.

The ancient Greeks publicized cheaters by fining them and using the proceeds to build statues of Zeus, placing the busts on the road to the stadium with the names of the transgressors, so all could see. This Zeus is brought to you by the wrestler who put on too much oil.

Now, the world gets its look at alleged violators in grand jury courtrooms, and federation arbitration, and hearings, and news conferences.

Then, the winners officially received only an olive wreath. But back home, riches awaited, such as free meals for life.

Now, the winners officially get only medals. But back home, riches await, such as television commercials and book deals.

Theo, you decided the Olympics had become a bloated, idol-worshiping pagan festival, resorting to the use of slaves and gladiators. This after starting out as a competition open to all free Greek men who had not committed murder or heresy.

Now? Everything about the games is supersized. Big price tag. Big crowds. Big field. Big media. Big money. Big security. Big headaches.

And by the way, there's a New Zealand boxer entered who has been convicted of killing his infant daughter.

The ancient Olympics began as homage to Zeus. And now, it sometimes seems, they are in homage to NBC.

More than 10,000 athletes are headed for Athens, because the Olympics have tried to make room for every sport that shows up at its door.

Plato wrote of the ancient Games. What would he have to say about synchronized swimming?

And so there is reason to wonder if it is all worth it anymore.

- If the host city must endure too much chaos, and possibly bankruptcy in the end.

- If cheating has become so sophisticated, there is no way to stop it.

- If the money at stake is so vast, it obscures the sport like clouds hide a mountain.

- If the world is so dangerous, such a global spectacle is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Especially this tense year, when the Olympics are held in a country where some of the terrorists have home-court advantage.

Maybe, Theo, you were right all along.

And yet, to surrender the Olympics would be to yield to the darkest forces of our nature. It would allow arenas to be emptied by thugs, competition ruined by the lawless and selfish.

To be sure, the Olympics are flawed, in a time we hardly expect different from any institution. This time, the Olympics in Greece are of the humans, and not the gods. They will come with imperfections.

But they will come with tiny gymnasts who have paid for this chance with their childhood, and mighty weightlifters that have worked all their lives for the moment.

They will come with anguish and agony and glory, for the famous and obscure alike. They will come with their usual timeless quality, in a city that goes back 5,000 years.

Fate willing, they will end without tragedy or mortal wounds. A message back through the centuries to you, Theo, that even in an age of technologically advanced turmoil, the games go on.

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