Why do I love the Olympics? Let me count the ways.
1. (I have no photo online with which to prove this...) When I was in high school I held the Olympic torch when it went through my hometown. I happened to have a dentist appointment and when we got out of it, we realized all the roads were blocked... so we parked the car to see what was going on-- and saw a runner with the torch coming... so we followed them. They stopped, took some pictures for the newspaper and tv stations... and then because there were only about a dozen people there... and because I asked... they allowed me to hold the torch, get my picture taken with it and (unofficially) run a block with it. So I was an unofficial and unapproved torch barer for the day! It was AWESOME!
2. When I was little.... (4 to be precise) during the '88 winter Olympics my parents were watching the figure skating. I decided I could totally do that... so I went upstairs, got my blue galoshes on and put on one of my dress up outfits... I came downstairs, pranced around, jumped and twirled. So, my dad decided to be my announcer. At age 4, I was 22 year old Klonda Londa from East- West Germany and my special move was the backwards 18 point pike jump twirl spin. NO ONE could do that move as well as Klonda! (It also didn't hurt that it was totally made up.)
I was always twisting or spraining my ankles when I was little... and when I went to the ice rink found that my ankles were actually too weak to support me on ice skates- thus ending my actual Olympic career before it even REALLY started.
During the opening ceremony (this year) I got about 5 texts asking if Klonda Londa was going to be performing at the Olympics this year. However, the last I heard she retired and went into obscurity.
3. I know many people say that world peace is not an option. But I point to the Olympics. How many times have the Olympic games gone on-- summer or winter... where there was peace?! While LOTS of people in the world are focused on Sochi- even those people who don't really care about watching the games at all and just grumble that they're missing their favorite tv shows... I believe that for 16 days (this year for the winter games)- or however long they go for... that for that small time frame you can have several people from all different countries- Russia, Canada, France, Sweden, Finland, United States of America... and the athletes are all living together peacefully. Have you ever heard of a fist fight breaking out amongst some of the athletes? No. (The Lapinski scandal was completely different and they were from the same country) You might sure-- but as far as I know there's never been an athlete or representative from another country try to physically hurt each other because they lost the bronze or the silver.
Also- for that brief moment of time, we get to know about each of the athletes-- not just the ones from our home countries, or home towns (Go Nick Goepper- US skiier bronze medalist- who is from about 25 minutes southwest of where I live).
I know about the Russian pairs skaters- Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar...what is up with them... they live together, have a dog together, they are a pairs skate team and they love each other but "aren't dating"... right... pah-leeze!
4. All I gotta say is: Cool Runnings Brotha! or the "Miracle on Ice"... these people train their ENTIRE lives for something that people have told them will never happen... maybe it won't.. but maybe it will. Maybe that no-name from no-where will qualify and no one expected them to make it on the Olympic team... and they end up winning a medal! I mean.. THAT is the dream! RIGHT?! HECK YEAH! The Jamacian Bobsled team didn't even know if they would have the money to go... and now they are there, training for their moment.. possibly on the medal stand! How cool is that! Going from not even enough money to get there to having a shot at a GOLD FREAKIN' MEDAL!
Lastly #5
Red, yellow, blue, white, green- every color of every flag from every country participating in the Olympics- at the beginning and the end of every games- hangs equally. We are all the same. No one is better than any other person or country. Sorry Putin- you are no better than any homosexuals. We are all created equally- even if you don't believe in God and don't have a "Constitution" which says so... we are all equal. Every one of us breathes air, bleeds if we are cut and cries when we are hurt... we are all born and we all die. No one is better than anyone else and the Olympics remind me... if not everyone.. of that. Yes, some athletes have sponsors like Wheaties or Coke or what have you (i.e. Shaun White and Apollo Ono) but they had to train and fight to get to where they are too. Usain Bolt grew up in a house with a dirt floor for crying out loud and HE'S GOT A GOLD MEDAL! It TRULY DOES NOT matter how much money you have... if you have a skating rink in your back yard or if you live in a country where it doesn't get below 40 degrees ever... you can still make it to the Olympics if that's TRULY what you want and you have the want and will to do it!
That is why I LOVE the Olympics. It's a dream for some of these athletes who've never been out of their country to compete. It's a dream for the parents who get to see their children maybe not medal but to even compete on such a stage- to be recognized for the achievements their children have surpassed.
It's a great accomplishment and I LOVE the Olympics.
Get some rest and get back when you can.
Congrats for making it half way! It's hard to keep up with with the DIS when you are focusing on the baby! Enjoy this time and just get back here when you can! We'll be waiting!
