Let the games begin

Let the games begin

Every Olympics opening ceremo- ny in recent times has contained several elements. It is an homage to the Olympic ideal of striving to be the best without denigrating the competition. Each team marches in under its own flag, but then congregates in a center ring where the athletes are encouraged to mingle in the spirit of homogeny. And every host nation takes the opportunity to brag a little bit about itself.

All of that and more was on display Friday as Great Britain opened the Olympics in London.

As an indication of how seriously Great Britain is taking the Olympics, Queen Elizabeth II filmed a skit with actor Daniel Craig, she playing herself and he playing James Bond on a mission to open the Games. It’s a testament to producer Danny Boyle’s imagination that he would present to Buckingham Palace a proposal that 86-year-old monarch take up film acting for an afternoon.

Boyle’s daring paid off throughout the ceremony, which traced in spectacular fashion Britain’s history through the industrial revolution into the cultural revolutions it has spawned in literature and music through the centuries.

Now, for the next fortnight, the world will get to watch the extraordinary accomplishment of athletes striving for perfection in sports that we know and love — and some that may make us ask, “really?”

All of the competition will be available for the first time, either on the NBC broadcast network, its cable arms or streaming on the Internet.