Summer Olympics in Rio... where's the hype?

Did you know  the summer Olympics kick off with the Opening Ceremony down in Rio tomorrow? Is it just me, or has this been the quietest lead up to the world's biggest sporting event?

Golf's return has certainly been well discussed and publicized by Scott Simmons and his team at Golf Canada before and during the send off at RBC Canadian Open week. Most sports fans in this country would know Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp are representing the women with David Hearn and Graham DeLaet for the men, and it can be argued that Brooke is our best bet for gold, although she will be facing all her peers from the LPGA Tour.

It's on a brand new Gil Hanse designed course which is pretty well wide open with a lot of rolling undulating green areas, and it is not a team sport, rather a straight forward stroke play competition which I think was a mistake. Can you imagine Brooke Henderson vs Lydia Ko for gold ?!!

However I'm sure fans tuning in will have an added incentive if any of our foursome, all decked out in red and white get into contention, and for them at least it will be pretty neat to be part of our Olympic team. So from that point of view why not just sit back and enjoy.

I know we are a country that sits up and pays attention to the winter Olympics and our 2010 performance in Vancouver was one of this young country's top 3 defining sporting events. However even with the tepid response to the summer games, this year seems to have flown in right under the radar despite the 18 medals won at the 2012 Games in London.

Part of that lies in this summer of summer's with endless sunshine, and in the fact the Jays are right in contention, and we have just had an exceptional few weeks of golf high lighted with Stenson and Mickelson's epic Sunday at Troon, and part of is the TV rights are back with the CBC, and seriously who apart from the prairie provinces are watching the old girl anymore.

In the big cities cable companies like Rogers and Bell who had the rights in 2010 have been shut out, and their Olympic programming reflects it.

I was in the UK during the 1980 games held in Moscow, and despite the fact that the USA and 64 other countries boycotted them because of the Soviet war in Afganistan, that country was at a standstill watching the likes of Alan Wells, Brendan Foster, David Wilkie and David Bedford, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe who had all become household names, Coe has since been knighted..

The summer Olympics are a BIG deal around the world.

Yet here in Canada do you have any idea who Ryan Cochrane  (swimming) or Shawn Barber (pole vault) or Melissa Bishop (800 meters track) or Andre de Grasse (sprinter track) or Rosie MacLennan (trampoline gold in London) are?

Well along with our golfers they and many more will be in the headlines for the next month, our women's soccer and basketball teams have qualified as well, along with our women, in rugby sevens..

It's just a pity nobody here, seems to care.. yet..

Bryan Angus