Faster, Higher, Stronger

Confession – I’m addicted to the Olympics, and have been since I can remember, all the way back to Atlanta in ’96, when I was  seven years old. Back then, I made a “scrapbook,” which was about five pages total, with pictures and news articles about gymnastics’ Magnificent Seven. I also attempted to write fan letters to all the gymnasts, but that didn’t work out so well for me, and I never got a response from any of them.

My addiction, however, has only grown over the years. In 2008, I was working as a caterer, and was in the middle of a shift during the opening ceremonies. My friend and I BEGGED and BEGGED to be cut first that night so we could make it home before the Parade of Nations (which we did). I’m also a total Olympics crier. There’s something about this event every four years that just brings out the patriot in me, and I’m crying every time I see a fantastic vault, a new swimming world record set, or a US gold medal ceremony.

Every night this week, I’ve stayed up until at least midnight to watch as much coverage as possible, every sport I can get with my limited basic cable package. Consequently, work has been a BITCH, because I’ve spent the days trying to stay awake, and also thinking about all of the things I’m missing by being at work. They always play the cool obscure sports during the day, like whitewater canoeing or badminton. There’s ONE TV in our office that in playing the Olympics, instead of the usual CNN news, but it would be pretty obvious that I wasn’t being productive if I just parked my laptop in front of the screen for the afternoon.

I’ve watched all of the swimming and gymnastics thus far, as well as volleyball, soccer, cycling, rowing, and one of my more obscure favorites, diving. I’ve watched so much diving in my lifetime that I fancy myself a pretty good commentator. Watching all of these people in their late teens winning gold medals makes me feel pretty lame about my life accomplishments. I’m still pretty hell bent on finding my sport, something that I can become world champion at in a few years, then win gold in 2020…wishful thinking, I know.

What’s YOUR favorite sport to watch? If you were to compete in the Olympics, which event would you want to take a stab at?

One thing I’ve noted in this Olympics is the overwhelming presence of social media. It’s actually kind of ruining things for me. There’s a lot of “spoilers” floating around out there, especially when you’re on the west coast and EVERYONE gets to see EVERYTHING before you do. For instance, yesterday, Oprah ruined the women’s all-around for me via Twitter. You can hardly watch the news without something being given away (NBC at least warns you to close your eyes, or turn the channel, some stations aren’t so generous). The social media aspect kind of sours things…if you know the person you’re rooting for is going to lose, it’s kind of painful to watch. Despite Oprah’s transgression yesterday, I still watched Gabby Douglas take down Russia, and still sat there nervous about each and every routine, but the magic is gone, just a  little bit. Really, people need to THINK before they start posting stuff. I’ve tried to stay off Twitter/Facebook/news media websites as much as I can during the afternoon hours, but it’s almost inevitable that each and every day, you will learn some results prematurely. I rather liked the days of everyone glued to their television, all watching at the same time, and then mourning or celebrating together with genuine emotion, not as an afterthought. That’s my little rant for the day. It’s really hot, and my fuse is short.

In other news, I need to get better at using photos on this blog, and maybe plan out some content, if I really want it to get good. I finally learned how to use an RSS feed and link all my favorite blogs to Google, and I feel inspired by everyone’s work.