Happy Olympic Year

I say that with a certain amount of caution, because we all know what happened the last time we tried to have an Olympic year.  But I'm also fairly confident that was a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing and the world will, indeed, be gathering in Paris this summer.  And those Olympics will be grand with a capital G.  It'll be the first Olympics in six years that the world can truly celebrate together, and the first time we have a Summer Olympics in all their glory since 2016.

For that reason alone, Paris 2024 will be a celebration unlike anything we've ever seen.  The Opening Ceremony along the banks of the Seine that hundreds of thousands of people will be able to attend free of charge is certainly ambitious.  But it also has a chance to be something glorious!  As will the 17 days that follow!

That may actually be one of the most exciting things about the Paris Olympics.  It was truly impressive that the Tokyo Games even happened.  The IOC and the Tokyo organizers don't get enough credit for what they were able to pull off, holding an Olympic Games with 11,000 athletes and thousands more coaches, officials and broadcasters from all over the globe in the midst of a global pandemic.  But those Olympics had restrictions in place that were completely necessary for everyone's safety, but also created a sterile atmosphere.  It didn't feel like an Olympics!

It wasn't the same in Tokyo.  Athletes were wearing masks and competing in empty stadiums.  They couldn't go out and explore the city, and they had to leave right away.  Basically, outside of the competition, it didn't have anything that makes an Olympics an Olympics.  Those empty stadiums were definitely noticed, and it definitely impacted some performances.  (It's not me saying this.  The athletes themselves did.)  So, you can only imagine how excited the athletes will be to get the full Olympic experience again!

And can you think of a better place for the world to come back together than one of the most iconic cities on Earth?  It's Paris.  Paris doesn't need the Olympics.  Which is precisely why Paris is the perfect place to host the Games!  There's so much to do beyond just the Olympics.  And fans, athletes and visitors from around the world will get to experience the City of Light in all its glory!

Some of those historic landmarks will even be hosting Olympic competition!  Beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.  Equestrian at Versailles.  Three sports at the Place de la Concorde.  More than just tennis at Roland Garros.  A marathon course that takes runners through centuries of French history.  What's not to be excited about?!

While this marks the end of a long quest to bring the Olympics back to Paris, it's also fitting that they'll be hosting in 2024, as we celebrate two unique Olympic anniversaries.  It'll be the third Olympics in Paris, but the first in 100 years.  What better way to celebrate the centennial of the 1924 Games?  Or the 130th anniversary of the founding of the Modern Olympics...in Paris!?

Unfortunately, war is still raging in Ukraine, so we may not see the entire world there.  Russia and Belarus have been suspended from international sports for the better part of two years because of the war.  IOC President Thomas Bach has left open the possibility that some Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete in Paris as neutrals, which is unacceptable to the Ukrainians, who've threatened a boycott if any Russian or Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate.  (But, hey, at least we're not talking about Russian doping and a ridiculous alternate designation for the country's team this time!)

The Paris Games will also, finally, get the Olympic cycle back to normal!  The schedule has been thrown off ever since the Tokyo Games were postponed, forcing everything else to be either cancelled or rescheduled and really just throwing the global sporting calendar into chaos for three years!  But in Paris, everything will get reset and the four-year gap between Games will be reestablished.

Although, while the Olympics will naturally be the focus this summer, they're far from the only major event on the schedule.  FIFA's had to do its own schedule adjusting after the COVID shutdowns and late World Cup.  The major soccer tournaments, too, will finally have their schedules reset after the 2024.  Both Euro 2024 in Germany and Copa America in the United States are set for this summer, and they'll be mostly overlapping.  Fans will be able to watch the Euro in the morning and Copa America at night.

We'll also see a Super Bowl in Las Vegas and the first NFL game in Brazil, as well as three games in London and another in Germany.  MLB will also go international, with a Spring Training series in the Dominican Republic, as well as regular season series in London, Mexico and South Korea, where Shohei Ohtani will make his Dodgers debut.  There will also be a game between the Giants and Cardinals in Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, where Willie Mays played in the Negro Leagues.

This fall will also bring about a seismic change to the world of college sports.  Texas and Oklahoma's move to the SEC will become official, as will all of the other conference expansions.  UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington are off to the Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will go to the Big 12, and Stanford, Cal and SMU will join the ACC despite being nowhere near the Atlantic Coast.  That's four superconferences with at least 16 teams apiece, with Oregon State and Washington State left to pick up the pieces of what used to be the Pac-12.

All of this conference realignment happening next season is not a coincidence.  Because 2024 will be the first season of the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff.  The four first-round games will be held on campus in late December before the remaining games are at the New Year's Six bowls (in early 2025).  The supersized Big Ten and SEC hope to monopolize the seven at-large bids.

So, while the Paris Olympics will obviously be the highlight, there's plenty to look forward to this year.  And the stuff I listed is just scratching the surface!  Bring on 2024!