I love the Olympics. Every two years, we get the chance to see men and women give everything they have to achieve a dream. There is drama, heartbreak, triumph, and about a dozen other things wrapped into four minutes on the ice or thirty seconds in the pool. The Olympics takes everything I love about sports and catapults those things onto a world stage where somehow we come together if only for two weeks. Spectators across the world join together, and for a short while we are interested in the same thing. We cheer for people who come from countries whose political ideologies we may not agree with. We mourn with people as they struggle – whether it is the sad death of the young luger from Georgia or the loss of a Canadian skater’s mother just two days before competition.
I hope you have had a chance to see a few of the highlights or read some of the incredible stories. Some of my favorite moments so far have included—
*learning about the Chinese pair skaters Shen and Zhao and watching their love translate into some of the most graceful and seemless skating I have ever seen.
*reading Rick Reilly's editorial about John Napier. I can’t say that I care much about bobsledding, but his story inspires me to be that much more appreciative of the men and women who are competing on completely different stage so that we remain safe here in the United States.
*laughing in disbelief at the snowboarding aerials and ski jumps that are landed - insane and incredible. Those people are so brave and so completely crazy.
*seeing Evan Lyscacek’s tears of joy and relief after his nearly perfect short program. Anyone who knows him has talked about his relentless dedication to his craft – that he practices more than he needs to because he cares that much. Learning that and then seeing his long program and bliss at winning gold were fantastic. Can’t say that I didn’t love the news today that he and Nastia Liukin are, in fact, a couple – not that we hadn’t already surmised that from her presence there with him. So much discipline and talent in one couple—
This is just the beginning of the wonders taking place in beautiful British Columbia. So glad we are only halfway through the games!
ps. Definitely would not have had a chance to watch the games without the magic of Jewels and her DVR. Way too many commercials to sift through if you're watching live and who really wants to watch ice dancing? So much better to just skip through and find Bode Miller tearing up the slopes or Evgeni Plushenko getting angry. So thanks Jewels and Brett for sharing.
2 comments:
How have I missed your blog?!? Hi, I'm back.
I love the Olympics, too--BUT I wasn't too crazy about the coverage this year. When I get really into a sport, I want to keep watching that sport--not suddenly be switched to something else! Also, OK, curling is cool (I've actually been to live curling matches; we do that around here, plus I've never met a live sporting event I didn't like) but I'd really have rather watched skiing and skating more! Believe it or not, one of the girls on the US ski team is an old wardmate of mine from back in the day.
I love your comments! Also, I totally agree about coffee and soda. Both you and Sierra brought up good points (but then again, you always do). My mom has actually come up with a lot of really good alternative drink options; she makes her own lemonade, which is really good (less sugar). Jim also makes excellent iced tea from herbal tea; he brews the tea with honey. Also, I've written about this before on my blog (the WoW section is basically devoted to Jim's musings on the subject...he's so much smarter than I am), but one point he's made is that if it's about addiction, and using substances in unhealthy ways (e.g. to avoid emotions, or help you cope, or whatever), then ice cream should be a prohibited substance, too.
I'm sorry you're swamped; how's school going? I think it's so cool you're in business school! What do you want to do next?
Post a Comment