My Olympic Claim to Fame...

I LOVE the Summer Olympics! There are so many fun events to watch...I always think the Winter Olympics got robbed! Volleyball, diving, swimming, basketball, baseball, gymnastics...the event list goes on and on! I personally think that there are several summer events that should be made winter events, so as to allow the Winter Olympics to be some-what exciting. For example, gymnastics...it's an inside sport. Why, oh why does it need to be clustered in with all the other phenomenal events? It could be the star of the winter games! There are dozens of other sports that could be performed just fine during the winter (like swimming, wrestling, boxing, table tennis, basketball...all of which are inside events). I'm going to step off my soapbox now, as I wipe a tear from my eye for the poor little Winter Olympics...they may take the gold for funny event names (Slalom, Luge, Moguls, Skeleton), but they will never have my heart...or my attention.

Now, let's get down to business. My sister called me the other day and informed me that one of our old Sunday School teachers is competing in the Olympics this year. Jen has been keeping tabs on her because she was a pretty extraordinary lady when we knew her, so she was up to speed on her changed name and everything. When I knew her she was Melanie Pritchard, and she was quite possibly the funnest teacher I ever had. She is now known as Melanie Roach, the Olympic Weight Lifter. We always laughed at her because she wanted to be a weight lifter, but, she is this incredibly petite woman (5'1" and 119 lbs of pure muscle). I remember going to watch her compete in Canada, and she was able to lift me! Incredible! She has already competed this year a placed 6th...in the world. Way to go Melanie!

I need to get back onto my soapbox for a minute to discuss what technology has done to our Olympic events. I have been watching the judges play and replay the tapes of the gymnasts looking for absolute perfection...I am currently watching the men's synchronized diving events, and by replaying the event over and over again, and having the judges point out all of the mistakes, I'm starting to think these athletes aren't as great as they appear to be. Honestly, if I could just watch the event, I would love it and think that they are all incredible for being able to do what they do...so I don't think I like these technological advancements very much. I guess it helps inspire the athletes to be their very best, but do any of these athletes become depressed when they do not live up to last weeks performance? If suicide attempts are made, I will blame technology.

And now, for all you nay-sayers who told me that "trampoline is not an Olympic event", the trampoline competition starts at 11:00am on Saturday (happy birthday to me), and the men's and women's finals are Monday and Tuesday at 8:25pm...enjoy!