The Games

 I know the Summer Olympics are upon us again, because yesterday I looked up at the TV  in my favorite hang and there was Fiji playing rugby.

"Fiji?" I said, and I wasn't alone.

But then I watched a little more and I saw Fiji was actually whipping Ireland, which you'd think would be yea more experienced at rugby than Fiji. But, nah. The Fijians were quicker and had a couple of guys who just refused to be tackled, and at one point one of the Fijis lads deflected an inbounds toss (or whatever they call it), and another Fijian scooped it up on the bounce and ran it in like he was, I don't know, Micah Parsons or Nick Bosa are someone.

Later, I went home and saw the Fijians had won, 19-15, and that they'd also whupped the home team, France, in their Olympic opener. So they're 2-0 in Olympic play and now I'm ready for the opening ceremonies tonight, because Fiji being good at rugby is one of those happy revelations that make the Games, the Games.

I mean, think about it. What are some of the more indelible memories of the Olympic Games? All those "Hey, who's that guy/gal/team?" moments, right?

I mean, just think about the last time Paris hosted the Games, for starters. An underdog from Great Britain, Harold Abrahams, won the men's 100 meters, which was supposed to be the sole property of Charlie Paddock of the United States. It was such a stunner that later they made a movie about it called "Chariots of Fire", where everyone ran along a beach while that song played that for sure is stuck in your head now.

Or how about the Soviets, those clodhoppers, beating the U.S. in men's basketball in 1972, even if the officials royally screwed the Americans? Everyone remembers that, right?

That's what makes the Olympics such a treat every four years, because it's only every four years we think about most of its athletes and/sports. What? You mean Fiji's good at rugby? You mean there's some swimmer from England (Adam Peaty) who's going for an unprecedented third straight gold medal in the 100 breaststroke? Hey, look, it's Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, Sha'Carri Richardson! They're still around!

That sort of thing. 

Oh, it's gonna be fun, and educational, and weird. Hell, it's already weird. Snoop Dogg got to carry the Olympic torch through a Paris suburb. Flavor Flav made an appearance at a news conference for the U.S. water polo team. Fans stormed the pitch and threw trash on it during an Argentina-Morocco men's soccer match, and the Canadian women's soccer team got caught using a drone to spy on the New Zealand side.

With all of that as a prelude, can two weeks of delicious craziness and "What th-?" be far behind?

(Also: Go Fiji)