This week topic is all about the summer Olympics: "For something fun, lets write about the Olympics. If you could participate in any Olympic event, what would it be, and why? Is there anything that really irks you about the Olympics? Do you watch them, if so why, and if not, then why not? What is your least favorite Olympic event and why? If you saw the opening ceremonies what did you think?"
Okay, I have to admit, this was my topic. I came up with this while the summer Olympics were going on, and I was out of town. I was staying at my in-laws, and they really love sports. So, needless to say, a lot of the talk around the house was about the Olympics. I am not what I would call a huge fan of the Olympics, but I do enjoy watching them if they are on. I like to watch the coverage on the Today Show in the mornings, and learn a little bit about the culture and people of the host country. I know it's just a quick, light hearted snapshot into a different part of the world, but I'm okay with that. There is so much negative news on, that I see the Olympics as a happy escape of some of that harsh reality.
I feel the first thing I need to address is the opening ceremony. Boy am I glad that I decided to let my kids stay up to watch the first hour of the opening ceremony. (Please read: sarcasm all over that last line). Geez. The commentators mentioned tributes to "Harry Potter" and "Peter Pan." These are two things that my kids love. So, I decided what the heck, it might do them some good to watch this global event, and learn about a different country. Little did I know that the tributes to two stories that my kids normally love would instill fear into their little hearts. Seriously-who comes up with "children's nightmares" for the opening ceremonies. Don't get me wrong. I love literature, and I understand that there is some wonderful literature born from British authors, but help a mother out. Although the appearance of Mary Poppins may have warmed my heart after that strange display of evil (and weird, giant babies), it didn't do anything for my kids who have no idea who she is. Needless to say, I didn't get to see the end of the opening ceremonies as I spent the rest of the night sleeping in my children's bedroom because they were too afraid to go to sleep. We will just chalk that one up to A-1 parenting.
Okay, so as far as the actual games go, I happen to catch a little bit of the swimming, women's diving, men's diving, track and field, women's soccer, women's volleyball, women's beach volleyball, women's gymnastics, and men's gymnastics. I also saw some snippets of a few random things, but the ones listed above I watched for five minutes or more. It was really hard to stay dedicated to watching these things when they were on late at night. I am not such a huge fan that I would get on the Internet to watch them. So, I have to say there was quite a bit of nodding out going on as well. Also, I really think they need to have the coverage on more than one channel during prime time. Just when we would get to something we really wanted to see in the women's gymnastics or the men's swimming, they would switch over to something no one really cared about. That is something that irked me. Also, how many times do they really need to show Aly Raisman's parents acting out her routine in the audience? I mean, it was entertaining the first 5 times or so, but after that, I kind of just felt bad for the whole family. You know as a parent, you probably will have a moment similar to this one if your kid is ever in the public eye (be it sports, theater, spelling bee, etc.) so, you try not to judge...but it was oh so hard.
I think one really interesting thing about the Olympics is getting a group of people together to watch certain events and hearing what people have to say. It's so funny how everyone seems to immediately become an expert on any given event and add their own commentary. When I was watching some of the coverage with my in-laws, we could barely stay awake. There was not a whole lot of commentating or watching of anything, but the inside of our eyelids for that matter. On the flip side, when we watched it with a group of our friends, there were comments, scores, and cutting remarks flying out of every one's mouth. I think it's pretty easy to pass judgment sitting on my couch, but the fact of the matter is, those competitors have more talent in their sport than I do in my pinky toe. Still-a good foobar is fun to watch.
I would have to say my favorite events this time around were track and field (hey-I'm training for a marathon, and that's the one sport I have an inkling of experience in), women's gymnastics, and women's soccer. Oh, and I did enjoy watching the women's 3M diving. That Chinese gold medal winner was amazing. My least favorite was probably the women's volleyball (seriously-do we have to have a huddle hug during every pause in the game?). I didn't see any of the synchronized swimming while it was on, but I saw a story on it with a little bit of footage from some of the routines. Wow. That's all I have to say. I know the athleticism of those women must be amazing. I can not imagine trying to attempt any of the moves they do while holding my breath upside down underwater, but the make up and the costumes seem a bit over the top. It almost seems distracts from the actual difficulty of the sport in my opinion.
The one sport I would have liked to have seen is trampolining. Seriously-trampolining as a sport? Awesome. I also enjoyed seeing the small amount of coverage on the rowing. I was on a rowing team in Australia, and it is one tough sport. I found out from my cousins that golf is going to be in the next Olympics as well as some sort of video game. I'm not sure if they were pulling my leg on that last one, but I could see it happening in the future. Wonder what kind of workout regimen that would require? I think I would like to see swinging or slide climbing be included in the 2016 summer Olympics. My kids might have a shot at those events.
To hear the other ToT ladies' take on the Olympics, check out the links to the left.
PS-The "Bond" moment in the opening ceremony was excellent.
No comments:
Post a Comment