Ever since I was a little kid, I always remember getting incredibly excited for the Olympics. I'm about to turn 28, and I still feel the same kind of excitement. I remember watching the 2008 summer games, just a little bit back, watching the US Men's 4 x 100 Meter freestyle relay team have a magical anchor leg to win the gold medal. My wife and I both jumping up and down and shouting at the TV to GO GO GO!! I remember being a kid and pretending that I was a speed skater flying around my living room while my parents laughed at me. And I remember having a monster crush on Kristi Yamaguchi.
I think we can all agree that there is just something special about the Olympic games. During the rest of the year, people could care less about figure skating, or cross country skiing, or curling. But when the Olympics come around, suddenly everybody knows something about each event. I'm sure that national pride has a lot to do with it, but there is a little bit more as well, I think.
The Olympics is still one of the last pure sporting events left. True, recently the summer games have had issues with doping scandals, but even those have been less and less this last time around. And we know that there always seem to be some kind of judging issue to come up in the figure skating competition, but still, there is something incorruptible about the Olympics. Something pure. Something that people all around the world see, and recognize every other year. A time when honoring your country and respecting your competition is celebrate more than the next big signing bonus or possible work stoppage. A time when bitter enemies can shake hands at the end of a match, or race, and each side can forget about the hate bred between them. For 2 weeks, at each Olympic games, we see peacefulness. We see the world the way that it aught to be.
For all the scandals that come and go, for all the corruption and greed that may prevail, the Olympics, summer or winter, remain good and pure. Success and failure is measured differently. People fulfill their dreams just by being able to compete, and a medal is just icing on an already amazing piece of cake. I cannot wait for the start of these games, and I cannot wait to see the ICE HOCKEY Tournament! Go Canada!
What events will you be watching?
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