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I think I'm losing my voice. I try to talk, and all that comes out is this wierd, raspy sound. It's kinda funny... :p
The headline today was "Goodbye, Torin". The Olympics are officially over. Can I cry now? The Closing Ceremonies were truly spectacular though. Those floating acrobats were incredible. The Torino games were great. Full of surprises, excitement, inspiration and some disappointment... For many, the Olympics is all about the medals. Who will win gold? But for me, there's so much more to it than that. For me, the Olympics are about goals. unity. courage. and inspiration. They're about drama. disappointment. competition. and success. They're not about who is most likely to win gold. But they're about people like Prawat Nagvajara, the cross-country skiier who had no chances of winning a medal, or possibly even finishing the race; but went as the soul representer of his country, Thailand.
The Olympics show us that you can have favorites... but those favorites can disappoint. Bode Miller had 5 chances to medal, and walked away empty handed. Johnny Weir seemed awfully confident... so much for a 5th place finish! We expected to see a show-down between Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya. Instead, they were both beaten by a quiet Japanese woman. But then there were those who didn't disapoint... Shaun White went in the favorite and came out with a gold medal around his neck. Yevgeny Plushenko skated 2 spectacular, clean programs and is now crowned the best in the world. And Apolo Anton Ohno cleaned up a rivalry between him and the athletes from South Korea by skating a clean, undisputed race, clearly marking him the new Olympic Champion. There's also athletes like speedskater Joey Cheek, who donated his $40,000 of bonus money to charity, and Evan Lysacek who competed after being sick with the flu, and gave a performance of a lifetime.
These are just a few of the memories I'll take away from the games. Call me sappy, call me a hopeless romantic... maybe I am.... But the Olympics are special. For me, there's nothing like them. To see the world be able to come together and compete against one another, putting aside political and cultural differences is truly a spectacular thing.
Torino was special. I can't wait 'til next time.
:::edit::: I guess I'm not the only one who falls under the Olympics magical spell... I came downstairs today to see Andrew running/sliding around the dining room in his stocking feet. Around each turn, he would sink real low to the ground, stick one arm behind his back, and swing the other by his side. He gave commentary the whole race... "Oh! He slips! It looks like he's out of the race! But no! He makes an amazing comback! Look at him go!!!" And at the end, he threw up his arms and screamed, "And he does it again! Apolo Anton Ohno wins the GOLD MEDAL!!!!!" I love my little bro.
The headline today was "Goodbye, Torin". The Olympics are officially over. Can I cry now? The Closing Ceremonies were truly spectacular though. Those floating acrobats were incredible. The Torino games were great. Full of surprises, excitement, inspiration and some disappointment... For many, the Olympics is all about the medals. Who will win gold? But for me, there's so much more to it than that. For me, the Olympics are about goals. unity. courage. and inspiration. They're about drama. disappointment. competition. and success. They're not about who is most likely to win gold. But they're about people like Prawat Nagvajara, the cross-country skiier who had no chances of winning a medal, or possibly even finishing the race; but went as the soul representer of his country, Thailand.
The Olympics show us that you can have favorites... but those favorites can disappoint. Bode Miller had 5 chances to medal, and walked away empty handed. Johnny Weir seemed awfully confident... so much for a 5th place finish! We expected to see a show-down between Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya. Instead, they were both beaten by a quiet Japanese woman. But then there were those who didn't disapoint... Shaun White went in the favorite and came out with a gold medal around his neck. Yevgeny Plushenko skated 2 spectacular, clean programs and is now crowned the best in the world. And Apolo Anton Ohno cleaned up a rivalry between him and the athletes from South Korea by skating a clean, undisputed race, clearly marking him the new Olympic Champion. There's also athletes like speedskater Joey Cheek, who donated his $40,000 of bonus money to charity, and Evan Lysacek who competed after being sick with the flu, and gave a performance of a lifetime.
These are just a few of the memories I'll take away from the games. Call me sappy, call me a hopeless romantic... maybe I am.... But the Olympics are special. For me, there's nothing like them. To see the world be able to come together and compete against one another, putting aside political and cultural differences is truly a spectacular thing.
Torino was special. I can't wait 'til next time.
:::edit::: I guess I'm not the only one who falls under the Olympics magical spell... I came downstairs today to see Andrew running/sliding around the dining room in his stocking feet. Around each turn, he would sink real low to the ground, stick one arm behind his back, and swing the other by his side. He gave commentary the whole race... "Oh! He slips! It looks like he's out of the race! But no! He makes an amazing comback! Look at him go!!!" And at the end, he threw up his arms and screamed, "And he does it again! Apolo Anton Ohno wins the GOLD MEDAL!!!!!" I love my little bro.