The Games In China: Sanitized For Your Protection

What was the International Olympic Committee thinking when they awarded the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing, China? Maybe they thought they were getting a China that has become a world economic power, stepping out of the shadows of its dark past, and on its best behavior in the face of charges of human rights violations.

What they're getting instead is possibly the most repressive Olympics since Hitler's Germany hosted them in 1936. China still has a dictatorial Communist government made up of control freaks. Protests around the world, citing the government crackdown in Tibet and its role in the ongoing Darfur tragedy, have greeted the Olympic flame to the point where it was actually snuffed out at times. (And you thought the Bush Administration was bad.)

Those who do make the trip to China will find that security is everywhere, Internet access has been restricted, and its cities are choked with pollution despite the country's best efforts to clean up. To that end, factories have been shut down and few people are allowed to drive.

For those who choose to watch the Games on television, NBC and several of the cable networks they own will air thousands of hours of Olympic coverage. How much of it we actually get depends on whether or not the Chinese government pulls the plug somewhere down the line.

Most of NBC's coverage in prime time will be devoted to female-friendly sports such as swimming, gymnastics and volleyball, plus the occasional profile of an athlete who either has a fatal disease, or is competing for someone who does. Marquee sports such as basketball and track and field will be relegated to cable.

It's as if the network is telling millions of men not to watch. Go watch baseball, the NFL pre-season, even a rerun of Ice Road Truckers. This one's for the ladies, they tell us.

As for the athletes . . . Oh, that's right, the athletes. You know, the ones who are supposed to be the focus of the Games? Well, unless an athlete loses a gold medal because of a positive drug test, is arrested for wearing a "FREE TIBET" T-shirt, or fails to live up to expectations of greatness, who really cares?

We mean no slight to the people of China, but it will be a long two and a half weeks for everyone involved, and after it's over, we'll be hearing tales of those who couldn't wait to get the heck out of the country. Compared to that, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Games in London will seem like a breath of fresh air. Literally.