I am obsessed with the Olympics.
I mean, who isn't? My love for them dates all the way back to the Magnificent Seven in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The team included Dominique Dawes and Dominique Moceanu, and I remember thinking that "Dominique" must just be the honorific for an elite gymnast, much like you call a doctor a doctor. Ha! Plus, I wanted one of those American flag warm-up jackets in the WORST way. Such a 90's child.
My passion for the Olympics only grew as I fell in love with Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan during the 1998 Winter Olympics, which inspired a brief, ill-starred flirtation with figure skating. I was terrible, and gave it up pretty much instantaneously after I realized that I wasn't going to get to wear sparkly costumes and have people throwing bouquets and teddy bears at me every practice...narcissist from the start, huh?
So many great memories...watching the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (I still have my own copy of the Roots official team beret!), falling madly for Michael Phelps in the 2004 Athens games, tuning into Vancouver in 2010 from London and fighting the time difference the whole way through. And of course, this totally made my life during the London 2012 games...oh my gosh, that entire Olympics made my life, let's be real.
Also from the London Olympics, the best thing to ever hit the Internet, Go Fug Yourself's "Olympic Abs" slideshow. Ladies, do yourselves a favor and please go admire. It will start your entire week off on the right note.
My senior year, I even took a class on the Olympics...Dr. Ken Dye, Director of Bands, arranged and composed music for the Sydney Olympic games. His class, "Music and the Olympics," explored the intersection of music and sport and dove into deep detail on each of the modern Olympic games. While the class was a true senior "slacker class," composed primarily of marching band kids who worshiped Dye and athletes who needed a fine art credit, I absolutely adored it and loved his firsthand accounts of directing the recording of the music for the opening ceremonies.
These Olympics are extra-exciting for me, as, like London, I've actually been to Rio! Ken Dye took the Concert Band down right after I graduated college, and we spent two weeks touring beautiful Brazil. I've sunbathed on Copacabana Beach, hiked to Christ the Redeemer, and viewed some of the Olympic venues from the top of Corcovado!
These days, my Olympic dreams are confined to the annual Beer Olympics over Labor Day at Greg's cabin, and I missed the bulk of the last few days as I was at Kelsie's cabin drinking like a gold medalist. That said, if you need me in the next few weeks, I'm almost sure to be glued to NBC watching the games...Citius, Altius, Fortius, and here's to many, many gold medals for the USA!
