Antennas may be popping up on igloos, yurts and even split-level homes worldwide, all for the sake of a glimpse into the Seoul Games. But in the Olympic metropolis itself, some spectators seem to be missing. The evidence: as the Games began, more than a third of the 4 million tickets to Olympic events remained unsold, and hotel occupancy was running 20% below maximum. One reason for the surfeit of tickets is a lack of excitement among Koreans for the myriad preliminaries in some sports (soccer, for example) as well as for some entire events (fencing and the modern pentathlon).
The...