The Olympics are upon us, and while there are plenty of stories about China's atrocious human rights beliefs, the choking haze of pollution that surrounds Beijing, and sadly, the tragedy of the murder and attack of a U.S. Olympian's family, the real story is always the athletes themselves.
As for patriotism and pulling for the U.S., sure, I'm rooting for our boys and girls. But I also root for all the athletes.
But understand the amount of time, effort and pure hard work that these athletes put in, often for only a 3 minute performance. To see the joy when one wins the gold, to see the disappointment when they come up short says it all.
Oh, the U.S. basketball team? They are not Olympians. Sorry, LeBron, Kobe, et al. Good luck getting a medal, but it doesn't count. Not in this writer's book.
Swimming and men's gymnastics are on tonight. Michael Phelps won the first of possibly eight gold medals with a world record performance in the 400 meter medley, and that was cool to watch. But the thing that always blows my mind is the gymnastics still rings.
You know. This one:
The strength, the flexibility and the outright determination and focus just amazes me. For every move they make, the athlete must hold the position for two seconds. Two seconds.
I don't think I could even hang on to those rings for two seconds, much less pull my ass up into a handstand on them.
Granted, that's not saying much, but still. You get my drift.
I know a lot of people think the Olympics are boring, and sure, some of the events don't exactly scream "Must See TV!" But if you get the chance, watch some of the action. Do it for the athletes.
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