I swore I would not get caught up in the hype of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. And then, a little over an hour ago, I flipped over to NBC from Monk and almost immediately got caught up in the Opening Ceremony.
Within minutes, I was already teary-eyed when a Chinese duo sang a song called “You and I” and performers held up big pictures of Chinese kids — and then, as the song went on, suddenly the pictures were of kids from all different nationalities and races and what-not.
And then, of course, the Parade of Nations began, so I had to see the U.S. athletes walk in while I also looked for various tennis players (Rafael Nadal was all smiles as he walked in with his fellow Spaniards, and Roger Federer appeared to be quite happy as the flag bearer for Switzerland).
I think I will try to watch as much of the Olympics as I possibly can. I’m not quite sure what’s going to be available; I know that NBC and its affiliates supposedly will be offering wall-to-wall coverage, but I really have no idea what that means. Will I be able to see anything “live” without staying up until all hours of the night/morning? Will the networks stick with a certain event, or will there be the constant jumping from one sport to another
Did you ever dream of being an Olympic athlete? I can’t say that I did. I used to think about how cool it would be to play at Wimbledon, but I’m pretty sure I never considered the idea of winning Wimbledon. For the longest time, tennis wasn’t even an Olympic sport.
Oddly enough, the Olympic sport that somehow has always appealed to me is skiing — something I’ve never actually done! I once attempted to (water) ski, and I know people who have actually gone (snow) skiing on various occasions, but I’ve never tried it myself; in fact, I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted to do it … aside from the time we went to visit Karl and Sherry in Reno and drove up to Tahoe, and I found myself thinking, You know, skiing looks like it might be really, really fun!
I’ve also thought cross-country skiing looks like it would be a great way to get in shape AND move slowly enough (??) that I could actually take my camera with me and shoot various stuff along the way.
Then reality sneaks in:
- I can’t stand to be outside in the cold for only a few minutes at a time. And, I’m sorry, but no amount of clothing — no matter how perfectly layered — could keep me warm enough.
- Skiing — especially cross-country skiing — would have to be a ton of work!
Anyhoo, I doubt there’s going to be any skiing going on at this year’s Olympics. I think I’ll try to see some tennis, gymnastics and diving; I’d love to see badminton and kayaking (I got interested in that event following the great Chattooga River* whitewater rafting trip during the 1990s), too, but no doubt those sports will be difficult to find, even if I put forth a supreme effort.
Still, I’m gonna give it a try. Let the Games begin!
* — Also the site of the filming of Deliverance, the scariest movie I’ve ever seen!
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August 16, 2008 at 9:42 am
if there were slacker olympics, i'd get the gold for sure
i also wasn’t going to watch any olympics. therefore, i have no idea how i’ve ended up watching it every day since last saturday. i missed the opening ceremony, but even though it was apparently “the best ever” i’m sure i’ll live. it is irritating, though, cuz they’re always showing the same things (soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming) and i want to see cool things like karate and more track and field stuff. (neighbor simon wishes they showed table tennis) but still, i haven’t been able to not watch. some nights i just couldn’t stay up until 1am to see everything!
but michael phelps has been pretty fuckin’ cool. even i’ll admit that, with all the damn swimming they’ve shown. and one of the asses i work with has a (15-year old) cousin – elizabeth beisel – swimming for the american team. she swam 3 times but i was only paying attention to her last night. it was a quick race and they didn’t profile everyone as they usually do, so i practically missed her again! she came in fifth. but really, she’s only 15! go her!
and how come there’s been so much angst over chinese gymnasts being little and “under 16” when swimmers have kids as young as 14 on their teams?
even though i played sports as a kid (basketball was my thang) i never even thought of going to the olympics. i wonder if ray’s youngest ever thinks of it – she’s an excellent soccer player and i bet if she really tried she could – i just doubt she has that much of a drive. i’ll have to ask her.
my favorite winter sport is curling. no surprise there – the drokiest sport for the drokiest spectator, i suppose. and i’ve always wanted to try cross-country skiing, too! brother tim says it’s really hard, though, and like you, i hate hate hate being cold. i’m more of a sit-by-the-fire-and-drink-while-watching-the-skiers-come-down-the-hillside type gal. : )