2008 Beijing Olympics

I’m kind of obsessed with the Olympics. I’m normally not a “Rah! Rah! USA!” type person. But around the Olympics? I get nuts. I’m not sure why. I just get swept up. My allegiance, based on my heritage, goes like this:

1. USA;
2. Panama (not normally a contender in, well, anything, but just in case);
3. Canada (My grandmother was Canadian. That’s where my blonde cousins come from. My mom’s Hispanic genes kind of stomped on that.);
4. Most Spanish-speaking countries (Panama is a small country—I need to broaden my scope.);
5. Germany (That’s where my branch of Bopps originally came from. I think. Plus there’s all that good beer).

My cheering for the above teams can sometimes lead to ugly scenes. For example, Tues. night I was cheering for the US Women’s Gymnastics team. We (ok, “they”. Technically I’m not competing and shouldn’t say “we”) screwed up. Fell on our butts a few times. So the Chinese team had to screw up in order for us to win the gold. So what did I do? I kept yelling “Fall!” during every release on the uneven bars, every tumbling pass on the floor exercise. Tim thought I was being mean. I asked how it was different from him rooting against the Cubs. He said that the Cubs are a bunch of douchebags and these were innocent little girls. I get his point—pro atheletes are a lot less sympathetic v. some little 12 year old Chinese girl who was plucked out of daycare at age 3 and expected to carry her country’s hopes and dreams on her slight shoulders on a regular basis. But there I was, continuing to yell “Fall!” It ain’t pretty. But there you have it.

So I’ve been watching for a week and here are some thoughts:

1. The Opening Ceremonies were awesome! Granted, when you have THAT many people under at totalitarian regime, you should be able to muster up a good show. And boy did they.
2. At the Opening Ceremonies, the Danes were wearing jeans or jeans SHORTS and red polo shirts. They looked like they should be in a sports bar in Schaumburg, not the Olympics. Target employees are better dressed-- at least they have khakis on.
3. And did Ralph Lauren, who did the US athlete’s uniforms for the Opening Ceremony, have to make his polo pony quite so big? It’s huge! Takes up the whole breast pocket of the jacket (hee hee, I said breast). I think NBC should consider having Michael Kors or some other fashion person doing some sort of fashion police for the Parade of Nations
4. I love handball. For real. I got a little tutorial on the rules. Thank you ESPN. But why doesn’t ESPN carry it? http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/fanguide/sport?sport=hb
5. Men doing the butterfly and all those muscles propelled out of the water…oh, my.
6. I like that the horse jumping is co-ed. And has old people in it. I don’t like the fake landscaping that’s supposed to simulate a gallop in the countryside. You’re not faking anyone out. Just put up the obstacles and call it a day.
7. The Australian softball team had on tank tops. It looked funny. It looked even funnier when the catcher had on her gear. I’d love to see Pudge like that.
8. Have you watched synchronized diving? I can’t believe that they actually walk in sync and jump at the same height in sync. But actually do those twists and dives in sync? Insane.
9. Bob Costas is an idiot. I’m not tell you anything you don’t know. But I felt it needed to be acknowledged.