Olympics

I go into the Olympics I think like everyone else. I just think of it as a bunch of stupid sports that don't really matter. It's almost like a your elementary school track and field day. I assume I'd rather be the best football player, than the best at the high jump. But I found out yesterday that, that is what makes the Olympics great. I love watching sports on TV. I watch as much of the local teams as possible, I watch the vast majority of the big games, and often times find myself watching the irrelevant out of town games too. But what's nice about the Olympics is that we're all cheering for the same team. Well all of us Americans at least. I'm assuming that since only about 6 of my friends read this I don't have many international readers. We all want to see the American(s) win. I've grown up hating the French. I've never even known a french person. I have been close enough however to smell one. What is it with Europeans and their utter lack of hygiene? Anyway last night the Frenchies were trash talking our 4x100 swimming relay team, which included Michael Phelps. I was watching the Olympics and listened to Bob Costas tell us how they said "They were going to smash the Americans." Then closer to the race I had to listen to announcer guy tell me that they're was basically no way the Americans could be the French. Then after 3 of 4 laps I found out what everyone was talking about because those dirty smelly Frenchies had an almost full body lead. Then came the fourth and final lap. The American who I've never heard of still trailed by 1/2 a body length, started to catch up. I've watched about a dozen swimming races in my life and didn't think there was any way he could catch up. But apparently no one told him that. He must have shared the American feeling towards the French too. Because he caught him. It was one of the rare times in my life that I actually cheered watching a sporting event. Partly because I'm a Minnesota fan and we've won 2 professional championships in nearly 140 seasons. But mainly because of the emotion that I saw in these four individuals who were competing as a team, and as a country. The reporter afterwards immediately asked Michael Phelps about his dream of 8 golf medals. He ignored that question and talked about winning the team event. My favorite quote was when Lesak just said, "He was tired of losing to them." You don't see that kind of joy or excitement when teams win the big professional championships often. This I found out is what the Olympics are all about. I fell into the trap of wondering why trap shooters can be Olympians. What I forgot about is the competitive fire these athletes have because for the most part they aren't going home to million dollar mansions. Let's be honest how heart broken was Dwayne Wade after the Miami Heat didn't make the playoffs. Let's see he is a 25 year old living in Miami making 10+ million dollars a year. But these Olympians have one shot, and for some that's all they'll have then they'll go back to being average citizens like the rest of us. I've had as much fun watching 3 sporting events this year than any others in my life. They are Nadal vs. Federer, Tiger vs. Rocco, and the 4x100 swimming relay race. I know 5 0f those 8 people are multi millionaires and maybe the other 3 are too, but it has a lot to do with the moment, the stakes, the history. These guys can't change teams or get traded, because they either play for themselves or play for our country. So that's what makes it great. It is the same feeling that all of us had when we played sports. Some played on bigger stages than others. But when we all played in high school or even before that we all wanted to win. Not because Nike was going to sponsor us, not because it was a contract year, but because we wanted to win so bad for ourselves or our team.