I don't know about ya'll, but I don't think I've had this much fun watching an Olympics since I was a kid. Amazingly, every event I've watched has been exciting and interesting: gymnastics, swimming, diving, beach volleyball, & track & field. I wish I could have had the time/energy to watch some more of the day events, especially since I've been home, but unfortunately it just never really happened. Many mornings I've spent fending Violet off ("I don't wanna watch dis.") while I caught up on the coverage from the previous night, and between running around and watching 2 kids, it was all I could do to keep up with the prime time stuff. Regardless, it's been fun and poignant in so many ways, and I know that these Beijing games will stick in my memory for a long time. With the closing ceremonies tonight, here's some random thoughts of some of my/Sam's thoughts over the past two weeks:
Russian Athletes
Sam: "Russia. An entire country where everyone's last name ends in `ov'."
Beach Volleyball
I think I'm a little in love with Kerri Walsh. She's so...beautiful. And tall. Can I look like that in a bikini, please? And she has the cutest, warm personality. I love how she referred to Misty May-Traener as, "this girl right here," in an interview. Adore her!
Bela Karolyi
He's been in the USA for close to 30 years now, but he dresses and talks like he came straight off the Soviet bloc yesterday (huh?! Wha'd he say???). Whatever his coaching practices--and I'm sure I wouldn't agree with them--I've enjoyed his enthusiasm and bluntness.
Bob Costas
I have always stood up for Bob, but now I think he might be kind of a d-bag. No matter what your politics, it's just plain rude to spend an entire interview trying to get the President of the United States to insult the host country! Okay, Bob, seriously??!
Swimming
Once again, thank you for existing, male swimmers. Also, your swimsuits are borderline indecent. Okay, they are indecent....YAY!!!
Diving
Our divers. Just. Can't. Get there. Argh. Why can't they just hit all their dives? How come the Chinese don't seem to get enough points taken off for when they do screw up? Ditto on this one for gymnastics!
On another note, am I just overly sensitive, or could anyone else just not shake the homoerotic vibe on the men's synchro diving? The only guys who pulled it off hetero were the Russians, 'cause they just looked so bada$$ no matter what. No way around it, men's synchro diving is just not a straight sport.
Gymnastics
I looked on Jonathon Horton's Wikipedia page, and the dude is freaking 5'1"!! Naomi and I were joking that he's so cute we just want to, to, put'iminourpocket! Well, we actually can.
Tim Dagget seriously needed to stop talking up the Chinese sports system as if it were this wonderful thing, and not institutionalized, well, abuse. Hey, let's take kids away from their families starting at 3 years old and train them full time! Let's screw their heads and bodies up for life! It's all worth it for gold medals to honor the country of China! Blegh. He kept saying that Cheung Fei's parents put her in gymnastics because they hoped for a better life for her, which financially and opportunity-wise I guess she got. But at what cost? She's lived away from her family since she was 7? In an interview with her parents, they said she responds in monosyllabic answers to their questions when they do talk on the phone. She's stoic--gee, I wonder why. I guess as a parent I'm being completely judgemental here, but I just find this appalling.
The Opening/Closing Ceremonies & Venues
Yes, they were amazing, but using up that much money and resources in a country where the average rural citizen lives on $2 a day just made me a little sick. It's monstrously decedant, and the U.S. would never get away with that. Nevertheless, I did very much enjoy the beauty of the ceremonies and the buildings they built, and I'm sure these images will be enduring even after many other Olympics have taken place.
Okay, this post came off a little negative...honest, I really enjoyed the Olympics! I loved seeing us win medals in all the events and all the human interest stories they throw in for us women! (Good job, NBC.) The good and the bad just made it all the more interesting experience.
Here's to more fun (and possibly restraint) in London come 2012!
2 comments:
Seriously....are you an alien who can clone mental notes and thoughts? Because your blog summed up my entire experience with the olympics to a tee! Did you happen to see the little segment (and I don't know which night it was, near the end though) of all the highlights to some song called "dreamer" or something along those lines? Call me cheesy (and I know I am) but I was whipping out the tissue for that little ditty. Like you said, nicely done NBC. Oh, and one more thing ( I know this is much longer than what is socially acceptable for a comment on a blog, but I HAVE to) that woman...Mary...something...nostalgic and all, but lady's got a dude voice. I simply cannot get past that every time I see her segments. Okay, done.
Lyn, your comment is soooooooooo long. ;)
I don't think I caught that segment you mentioned, but I will say that I did tear up several times during the coverage--I am a total sucker for that stuff!
Sam wouldn't even watch that Mary lady's reporting, because she, "is a man." However, I do feel bad that she has a deep voice and all, so I watched. :)
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