Thursday, August 14, 2008

Confessions of an Olympic Junkie....

Ok - so I admit it - I am truly an Olympics junkie. That's the first step to recovery, right??? Only thing is that I don't want to recover from this particular habit.

I love, love, *LOVE* the Olympics. I am the person that will lose sleep watching the drama as it unfolds. I root for team USA - but I also love those underdogs that have no hope of winning (think Eddie the Eagle here). I especially love those melodramatic stories of athletes over coming all the odds to even be at the Games. It doesn't matter to me if they are medal contenders or not - I still admire the resolve and strength that it took to get where they are.

So I have come up with some ways to determine if you are an Olympics junkie:

Do you find yourself doing any of the following???

- Crying when your team wins a gold? Or when a hard luck story - even from another country - wins a medal - any medal?
- Humming the Olympic or national anthem? (Did this one as I was getting ready for work the other morning)
- Watching some ridiculously mundane sport - such as curling - at 3 am because you just cannot turn the tv off? (Resulting in much lost sleep...)
- Daydreaming at work of being able to go home and watch 4 hours of events?

I have found myself doing all of these at some point in my life. I am not a sports fanatic - in fact I really don't follow too much in the way of sports. But there is something about the Olympics that just draws me in and captivates me.

I have to comment on 2 things so far with the US:

Michael Phelps is just sick when it comes to swimming. I am not sure that I will ever see this level of athleticism again in my lifetime. *GO MICHAEL GO!!!!!!!!* I hope you do get all of those 8 gold medals - you deserve every one of them. Truly one of the greatest athletes of all time. (And that 4x100 medley relay that we swam and won on Sunday night was probably the best swimming race I have ever seen - GO TEAM USA!!!!!!!!!!)

I also have to say that the men's team gymnastics was truly heart warming for me. The way those guys reacted - you would have never known that they had not won a gold. I don't think I have ever seen a team SO happy to receive a bronze and I just got the warm fuzzies watching them celebrate. Thank you guys for not giving up - you did a wonderful job - and have that bronze medal to show for it. Congratulations!

So - I am off to watch the really late night stuff now....I will say that this has been good for my productivity as I am working on making things as I am watching the Games.

5 comments:

beadsandblooms said...

Hey, I was working on my Sept. challenge piece while I watched Olympics last night! I can answer yes to all your questions. Have always been a sports fan. Used to be married to a basketball coach and had two sons who played so kind of hard not to get involved. Even with all the hype and commercialism involved with the games anymore, the Olympics still seem to bring out the good in people. I, too, will find some favorites from other countries, but ultimately for me, it's USA! USA! USA!

adina said...

I love the Olympics too! My favorites are gymnastics and diving - anything with flips. I'm in awe of them!

SarahKelley said...

Nope-- unmoved by all things sports here. Though in my mispent youth I once watched the baseball end of season game (see can't even remember what they call it) 3 years in a row.
But, to each their own. It's interesting that you're all so interested!
mmm-- I have watched the iceskating before. But again, it's been awhile.

SarahKelley said...
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GrandmaMarilyn said...

It is good that you can be creative while you watch your olympics. Can't wait to see them. I haven't been watching the olympics here. Hubby has control of the remote. But have started a new cuff of my design.