Hopefully, this post will 'do it' for me ... getting rid of demons that still continue to haunt, and reveling in the glorious exploits of those determined and dedicated athletes who were so richly rewarded in the Olympic games which concluded just this past weekend.
I think I'll get to the 'demon' side first and then go on to more positive things, if that's OK with you.
I'd like to know whatever happened with the International Gymnastics Federation's investigation into the possible ineligibility of the Chinese women gymnasts? Supposedly as many as five (5!) were involved!! The last I heard, Bob Costas was interviewing the IOC chairman (this was Friday night, the 23rd), who said that the IGF had in their possesion all of the pertinent documents -- birth certificates, passports, family papers, etc. -- and was studying them.
I wrote in an e-mail to a friend of mine, "We should know something within another hour or two." (Actually, I was quoting what Bob Costas had said in his conclusion to that interview. Meanwhile, I have heard nothing further!?! Something's terribly wrong, and I do not have the vaguest idea what it might be.)
Did you ever participate in track and field? I did, in high school. I excelled (at the high school level only, understand?) in the 'hop skip and jump' and 50-yard dash events. Nothing to 'write home about', I can assure you.
I was fascinated to learn about this one fellow's changing history by going backwards over the pole vault. I think I had 'known' about that some time ago, but this time the information has (hopefully!) become more permanently-ingrained.
Don't you think that there should be a study made of the conditions/diet, etc., in Ethiopia and Kenya that allow/foster their athletes to excel in the marathon? I do! Congrats to all of them!!
I don't want to leave out the US athletes in basketball, water polo, or volleyball! (I'm almost positively sure I'm going to be leaving someone out here. I'm sorry, whomever you are!)
The Jamaican athlete (forget his name) who broke world records ... the first one by 'dogging it' across the finish line (kind of lost my support there -- sorry about that, fella!).
Watching those 'weirdos' (my term, only!) who participate in that insane 'sport' of TMX (am pretty sure that I don't have the name right!).
'Ping pong' as an Oympic sport?!? You have got to be kidding!! What'll we have next? Arm wrestling? What about hang-gliding?? Puhleez!!!
I very much enjoyed watching the little bit that I did of the 'synchronized swimming' events. (Shades of Esther Williams, right?)
Well, peoples, I am now yawning mightily, and am going to 'hit the pillow' for a bit.
PS. It is now going on 3:30pm my time. Have had my nap, and just reread this post. No comments yet (not that I expected that there necessarily would be). I wanted you, in particular, Tammy, to know that, if I didn't cover all of the bases that you thought should have been covered, you should feel free to be my guest and flail away all you want, all right? Later!
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6 comments:
hey goldenrod, you've got canadian readership and no mention of the fatc that we cleaned up in wrestling, equestrian, and rowing - all truly canadian sports!ha!
actually here are some stats that'll make americans wriggle just a little:
Country Population/millions Medals Pop. (millions) per medal
Jamaica 2.7 10 0.3
Australia 21 42 0.5
Cuba 11 19 0.6
U.K. 61 45 1.4
Canada 33 17 1.9
Germany 82 37 2.2
Russia 142 58 2.4
USA 305 102 3.0
Spain 46 12 3.8
China 1325 89 14.9
Brazil 187 12 15.6
Indonesia 232 5 46.4
Mexico 107 2 50.4
Vietnam 87 1 87.0
India 1137 3 379.0
uh oh! looks like "little" canada came out ahead of the big guy to the south in that stat!
laughing my way to the fridge! steven
Hey yourself, Steven! Trying to get out of here and get some supplies, but can't HELP but respond to your comment before I do it!
What do you want me to say? That you're all OVER us in wrestling, equestrian events, and rowing?
We BOW to you, we prostrate ourselves before you, what ELSE do you think we should do???!!!???
Those events were not covered by NBC because they are not 'our' events ... ... ... methinks, Steven, that you should post on your own blogsite the results of these/those events. As you did NOT, methinks that you were not that concerned!!!!!!!!
Aaaahhhhh......I get my Olympic fix one more time. :) No complaints here about that! lol
I've wondered about the whole gymnastics thing too. Such a big to-do and then...POOF....nothing.
I did happen to catch women's fencing once FINALLY. Sheesh, I'm glad I wasn't born in a different time period as a jouster or a knight or something. lol!
Oh, I loved it all. Truly I did. It was all good.... And I'm looking forward to the coming winter Olympics. Any idea where it's going to be?
no seriously goldenrod, i don't care about the events we "won". what was very cool was how many national records were set by our athletes in the course of finishing fourth or seventh or thirty first or whatever. it was also cool to watch the coverage by the canadian broadcasting corporation switch from panic (after we didn't win a single medal for the first week)to total "phew we weathered the storm" kind of reporting after the medals and records started flowing. my family and i watched quite a lot of olympics coverage - i am married to a former competitive gymnast - we are always so proud when a canadian wins but honestly goldenrod, none of us in this house care what country the winner's from as much as we are amazed at the incredible skill, perseverance, and passion of these athletes, many of whom don't come from "advantaged countries" such as those you and i live in. the c.b.c. invariably covers a wide range of events regardless of which countries are involved, but generally if a canadian or canadian team is involved they'll follow them. i like that. that way i can see amazing athletes from north africa, people from tiny islands, athletes from obscure little villages in india all bringing their dreams to the world stage.my fave events were the marathons, the cycling, the track events, and the gymnastics. the ones we "won" - not even on my radar!!!
i hope that everyone in houston is safe and remains that way.
steven
And the world records did fall, didn't they? All over the place! It was amazing. Despite all the negative hoopla about weather conditions there (how hot it was, how muggy it was, etc. and blah -- sounds like Houston, actually!), at least by the NBC commentors, which is what I was watching, the records fell like tenpins.
I don't know how your TV coverage goes, but here we get a lot of little personal stories about many of the athletes. I enjoy those very much. I felt so sorry for that British gal who finished the marathon despite limping badly and being in obvious pain. Evidently four years ago, she dropped out of the marathon and was heavily criticized by her fellow countrymen. A darned shame!
And I wonder what ever happened to that one synchronized swimmer who wasn't able to get out of the pool unassisted after her country's routine?
Your seeming obsession with medals and comparative counts is shared by many, Steven! I just went back and reread ALL of my posts where I talked about the Olympics, and I mentioned a silver medal one time and a gold another. That's it!
I think that I am a comparatively strange person when it comes to 'games'. I like to play well and I like to win -- who doesn't? HowEVer, if I win and didn't have any fun in the so doing (particularly in bridge), then I find another partner. Quite a simple philosophy, actually.
There's an expression that goes something like, "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that counts." Well, for sure I would add, "Did you have fun?" Life is too short not to enjoy what you're doing!
As far as the biking events were concerned, the only one that I found somewhat intriguing was called (I think!) mountain biking.
There were a lot of events that I had no interest in, whatsoever, and so did not report on those except for maybe a personal comment or two.
About the only track & field events of interest to me were the relay (because, being a good 50-yard dash person as a kid, I ran relays), the pole vault, and the decathlon.
Tammy, the next Olympics will be the winter ones held in Vancouver, British Columbia, February 12-28, 2010. You can get more information by Googling 'vancouver2010.com'.
Those folks are 'all over it', and supposedly all the facilities will be finished this year ... plenty of time for young athletes from all over the world to get up there and practice!
My favorite events are figure skating, figure skating, and figure skating ... followed somewhat distantly by the events where these 'insane' people do loops, spins, and whatever all else takes their fancy off jumps on boards or skis ... further down the interest ladder comes the slalom ... last will come hockey. (It's been so long since I lived in the far north that I find I have mostly forgotten the rules!) :)
My goodness, but this has been a long response! Maybe I should have done another post? Nah! Enough already on the Olympics just concluded, wouldn't you agree?
Figure skating, luge (I think that's what it's called), bobsled, and all of the skiing. Those are my favorites. Oh, and I enjoyed skateboarding (lol) last time. I think it was the winter olympics anyway. Can't wait! :)
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