Another Way To Look At It – My Olympic Moment

Another Way To Look At It – My Olympic Moment

I’m sitting here on the next to last day of the Olympics and I already miss them. I admit it. I’m addicted to them – particularly the Summer version. And I know I’m not the only one. I talk to people everywhere and the Games are a topic of conversation. But why? So I thought about it and here’s what I came up with:

I get to be an unapologetic fan of everything United States. I watch skeet shooting, badminton, judo, tae kwon do, table tennis – you name it – just because there is an American competing and we (Americans) are all rooting for the same person. I don’t know about you but that feels pretty good. You may be aware there’s a political campaign going one (does it ever stop?). The discord, over the top coverage and ridiculous rhetoric are enough to make me leave the country – at least until it’s over. But the Olympics doesn’t care about any of that. It’s USA all the way baby.

I have another confession to make: I am a huge US Women’s soccer fan and have been since “we” won the World Cup in Pasadena. My son is a huge soccer fan and it’s rubbed off on me somewhat. Perhaps “the beautiful game” is prettier than I thought.

I get to learn about other countries and their favorite sports. I get to choose for whom to cheer at least if there’s no American, Brit or Mexican competing. Close allies and geographic neighbors need my support. Or not. I never root for the Russians. It’s not personal but some cold wars never end. They kept me scared to death for the first 12-13 years of my life and they’re not getting off easy just because they split up and are having a hard time.

I get to marvel at athletes from other countries like China. Is it just me or are the Chinese divers shaped like toothpicks and everyone else’s divers shaped like a beer mug? No wonder they never make a splash. And their female gymnasts are 20 but look like they’re 12. How does that work?

Finally, and I think most importantly, I get to be witness constant reminders that there are members of the next generation on this planet who still know how to set a goal and achieve it; who know how to lose gracefully and win with class. I get to see amazing examples of sportsmanship and humanity. I’ve been through (what I think are) tough situations but seeing someone fail by one inch or one one-hundredth of a second after preparing for 4 years – sometimes 8 years or more reminds me that it’s all relative.

Perhaps it’s the euphoria of thinking for 16 days, at least for the most part, everyone gets a fair shot and we’re all just one big goofy world. I also can’t help but think that somewhere there’s a 12 year old swimmer, shaped like a beer mug, who is starting now to prepare for his/her shot at their gold medal.

Can’t we do this again next month?

– John Pate