Monday, August 18, 2008

Florida Chick Catches Olympic Fever


I don't know about you, but I have spent the past week in an olympic-sized black hole. I have been completely consumed by every single event and have tried to watch NBC, MSNBC, USA, CNN, and UNIVISION simultaneously in order to not miss any big moments that I might hear about from someone else. I have sobbed uncontrollably over Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, the entire American gymnastics team, the Jamaican runners, the Latvian men's beach volleyball team, and the African swimmer who had never seen an olympic-sized swimming pool until his first heat at the games. I have ignored my children, my husband, and multiple phone calls to watch every possible olympic event...and although I did make it to Bible study this week, it was completely hard to concentrate because I knew someone was in the pool winning a medal.

The olympics has also made me a little nostalgiac for my younger days as an athlete...no matter that the current sprinters cross the finish line in the amount of time that it would take me to set up my starting block, or that the gymnasts throw tricks that are so amazing they are named after themselves...there is something magical about the olympics that makes me think, "you know, I could probably do that..." and with the encouragement of the 33 year old gymnast who won the silver on the vault last night, I have come up with 4 sports that I think I might be able to work on in the next four years in order to earn a spot at the 2012 games in London, here goes...

Number 1 - Shooting. Okay, I haven't actually seen this sport on TV, but I'm assuming you take a gun and shoot it at a target. Now personally, I am opposed to guns and am kind of afraid that if I had one I would accidentally shoot my big toe off - but with practice....

Number 2 - Speed walking. I'm not really a runner but I think that speed walking might be, well, more my speed. This is a sport that I have watched and as far as I can tell, the goal is to wear short shorts and walk a marathon route while stepping heel-toe and moving your hips back and forth - a definite possibility.

Number 3 - Fencing. Currently the U.S. has the number 1,2, and 3 fencers in the world, but I think this might be the possible sport to break into. The goal is to touch your opponent with your pokey-thing before they touch you. With enough practice I think I could become a pretty good poke and ducker. The only thing is the uniforms...I'm not crazy about the uniforms.

Number 4 - Tae Kwon Do. This is definitely the best bet, I have multiple Power Ranger DVD's in my house that have already given me amazing skills. Seriously, I'm pretty confident that I can take down multiple alien-like creatures from the planet Zordon...a human from the Ukraine shouldn't be that hard.

So, there is only one week of olympic awesomeness left, so please don't be offended if I don't answer your phone call in the middle of a synchronized swimming routine...it's not personal and actually, I need to start scoping out my competition. Seriously - I'm ready, I'm fired up...and currently I'm eating a bag of lime tostitos, no seriously...the whole bag. But no worries, I'll start training tomorrow...or at least the next time I put on the Power Rangers movie...and after I finish these chips...and the other bag that's in the pantry...enjoy the games!

Lots of Love from a not as athletic as she used to be Florida Chick!