Have you noticed the lack of substantial media coverage for the upcoming Olympic Games?

Now, I can’t speak about coverage in other countries, but in the good ol‘ United States the traditional pre-Olympics “get geared up” news has been pretty slim.

Reading and hearing so relatively little about the 1988 Olympics might not seem like such a big deal to some people, but compared to the 1984 games, this year’s may as well not even exist—for Americans.

Remember the last summer Olympics? American media coverage for it was drastically different, for three good reasons.

First of all, the location was a little more important to most of us. Los Angeles has a more “baseball, hot dogs and apple pie” ring to it than Seoul, South Korea. The games weren’t just close to home, they were at home. And along those lines, the news generated dealt more with the games themselves than the ridiculous amount of security needed this year to keep lunatic terrorists from raining on the Olympic Party.

Secondly, the U.S. hadn’t participated in any summer Olympics since Montreal in 1976, because of our 1980 pullout of the Moscow games. American athletes were kind of chomping at the bit after an eight-year wait to throw the shotput and swim a few miles.

But the third reason for the seemingly inadequate media play given to this year’s games is more interesting to me—we’ve moved out of the “Era of Good Feelings” in which America was immersed in 1984.

At least that’s what I call the period of time from about the beginning of Ronald Reagan’s administration until some well-publicized federal court hearings in June and July of 1987.

I got that little term, the “Era …” from the American history class I took junior year in high school. I learned that the years 1819 to 1824 are historically known as the “Era of Good Feelings,” because there was more or less a political consensus in America at the time and basically a one-party state. There was greater participation than ever for common people in elections, and everyone was gung-ho about being just plain American.

These ultra-optimistic and patriotic feelings peaked about 1822, but didn’t last too long. Financial crises and other less-than-pleasant American traditions brought people back to their collective senses pretty quickly.

I don’t just apply this “Good Feelings” theory to one stage in American history, however. There are other such time periods of extra-patriotic euphoria. For example, the end of World War I. Now, there was a reason to join the “don’t worry … be happy” mentality.”

Then there are periods like the early-to-mid 1980s, as I have mentioned.

984 was in the middle of one of those goofy, supercharged idealistic times. First of all, it was an election year—the best time for patriotic fun and games. Take Reagan’s reelection campaign, for example: “Four more years!” Unemployment down. Jellybeans. Reagan Prosperity. Stay tough on Lebanon, etc. etc.

I personally witnessed “Good Feelings” history at a July 4th rally in Rockford as I stood in the blistering sun for a half-hour, staring up George Bush’s nostrils as he toted four more years of Reaganomics and a brass band blared 47 choruses of “Happy Days Are Here Again.”

Speaking of bands, how about the musical fare of 1984? We had Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” and, if you were into country, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” Ick. I couldn’t stand those dime-a-dozen ripoff anthems after their third or fourth radio playings. And I guess I generally deride that whole era for its ostensible aimlessness and often empty patriotism.

The 1988 election campaigns have put patriotism in the news once again, but it is always one candidate atttacking the national pride of another. Let’s give the political blarney a rest for awhile and concentrate on the Olympics.