Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
August 7, 2008, Washington Post

Olympic Teams Will Be All Over the Map

Almost everyone will be watching the Summer Olympics in China for the next two weeks. I have a suggestion about a different way you and your family and friends should watch the world's biggest sports event. But first, a story from American history.

When the United States was fighting in World War II during the 1940s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would often speak to the nation by radio; that was before many people had televisions. Roosevelt would explain what was happening in the military actions all around the world. Before those radio talks, the president would encourage people to buy a map of the world so they could follow along with his speech. When Roosevelt explained that American soldiers were landing in North Africa or Normandy, listeners would locate those faraway places on their maps. Stores across America sold out of maps before the president's talks.

That's how you should watch the Summer Olympics: Get a map! When you hear the name of a country, find it on your map. Notice what other countries are around it and how far away it is from the United States. Make locating countries on a map into your own Olympic event. Your family and friends can keep a list of the countries they find. The person who locates the most countries on his or her map wins the gold medal -- in geography.

Chances are, the winner will have a long list of countries. Although many of the medal winners will be from the big countries, including China, Russia and the United States, athletes from such smaller countries as Bahrain, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Zimbabwe are expected to contend for medals. Almost every country in the world sends athletes to the Olympics.

Of course, American television reports mostly on American athletes. So get a map of the United States, too. When they mention a swimmer or runner's home town, find it on your map. You might have trouble finding Brad Vering's. The American Greco-Roman wrestler grew up in Howells, Nebraska, a town northwest of Omaha with just over 600 residents. That's fewer folks than in some local elementary schools.

If you can't find the athlete's home town, you can at least find the state. The American team has athletes who were born in 47 of the 50 states. The three states that have not produced an Olympic athlete for the 2008 team are Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia. California, the state with the biggest population, produced the most Olympians this year.

The Summer Olympics is a time when the world comes together in the name of sports. It's also a great time to learn something about the world.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

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