Olympic time again.

I have to be honest. When I was much younger I didn't really care about the olympics...I didn't really care about ANY sport. (not even when I looked at the ultra mega totally cute gymnasts like Mary Lou Retton. I liked the girl but the sport just left me cold. Of course I was a couple of years younger than her but...) I blithely went around totally oblivious to the events in the sports world around me. Today is a little bit different. The 2012 Olympics started and I watched them. in fact I watched the last few Olympics but this is the first time I have felt obliged to Blog on them. Why might I pick this Olympics to blog? well simply because this one has meant more to me than any other yet. I have decided to skip the politics or the questions in this blog... maybe those will come later, today I want to talk about the reasons why I like the Olympics now and why I choose to blog now. I have found that there are some sports that I really do like to watch. I like Beach Volleyball, Archery, Soccer/Football and Women's Gymnastics. The last one I think is because I have daughters and there are times that I see their determination or youth on that mat in the girls who are competing. the reason why I chose to Blog this though is what happened a couple of nights ago with the women's Gymnastics. I watched the Russian team trying to compete and no one can deny it was an utter disaster for them. My heart went out to them and as I watched one girl doing her routine I saw my daughter's face on hers. the determination and afterwards the pain I saw was one that I could easily have seen on my child's face. I think that is what helped me realize why I was not a big sports person before either, I just don't come by the killer instinct naturally like that. I had to have it trained into me. To go ahead and mash your opponent into the ground after they have been handed an enormous blow like that... I am not sure I could have done it so easily. I DID see the value and need for the American team to succeed and to do their best. I also am aware that they needed to perform at their best for the audience as well as themselves. I know that if the American team had not done their best they would have cheated themselves, the audience, the rest of the Americans they represented and even the Russians a grave disservice. I feel fairly confident that if I had to go out and do my best even though my opponent had suffered so badly I would have been able to do so. Still My heart truly did go out to those girls. This isn't the first time And I think that is one of the points to the whole event. How many of us held our breath when the Jamaican bobsled team had that crash? how many of us jumped into the air screaming for joy when the American Hockey team won against all odd and against the Russians? How many of us cried when we saw Derek Redmond or Kerri Strug continue on even when they were so badly injured? All of these moments the ups and downs are part and parcel of why we get so hooked on these sports. Yeah I guess the American team could have gone easier on the Russians, but if they had that would not have been the Olympic spirit. Possibly worse than that we can see the effect this attitude has on our society today. there are a lot of people out there who could be better if our society would let them. Anyway. I think I will go ahead and enjoy the Olympics. I have a better understanding of the whole thing and of myself. And that makes it worthwhile. Oh I gotta go... Swimming is coming on.