It's the Olympics once again, and when I'm not crocheting, I'm watching the games avidly! I'll watch almost all of it.
And I won't just cheer for the US teams, either. Mom and I will sit in the basement, yelling, "Go Germany! Go Canada! Go Great Britain!" We'll cheer for everyone, which I think is great. We watch events where the US isn't even participating, and cheer other countries on. We just like to watch the events! I mean, sure, we want the US to win, but there's more to winning than just getting a gold medal. The Olympics are all about sportsmanship and unity. I'm truly bothered when people think that unless they get a gold, they lose. Not bothered in a "wow I dislike you" way, but rather a "wow, I kind of feel sorry that you don't see the bigger picture" way. And I know that other countries have different customs and different ideals. I'm not insulting that. I'm just talking in general.
Speaking of cheering for other people, I was a huge fan of the 200 meter butterfly, where Michael Phelps got silver. The reason that I liked it, though, was because Chad le Clos, from South Africa, won gold. The announcers mentioned that he's a huge fan of Phelps, and for me, that's just awesome. He gets to say, "I won a gold medal at the Olympics," but it's also more than that. Le Clos gets to swell with pride and say, "I not only won an Olympic gold medal, but I beat one of my idols to do it."
Come on. Who doesn't get chills when they think about that? There are a lot of awesome and inspiring stories regarding the Olympians. The US woman who got gold in Judo: The first Olympic gold medal that the US has ever had in that event, plus she overcame being sexually abused by her first Judo trainer as a child. The Mexican women who won silver and bronze in the women's individual archery: Mexico, in this event, had never won an Olympic medal. And these are just the examples off of the top of my head. I don't know about you, but I get goosebumps.
On a less thrilling side note, my feathers have gotten rather ruffled over the women's soccer quarter final, in which USA played New Zealand. The game started awesomely, the US ladies didn't seem quite on their game, but the ref was calling fair fouls. That, by the way, is a huge pet peeve of mine: When a ref will be very "lopsided" with their calls. I mean, really? You'll turn a blind eye to the slide-tackle that team X made on team Y (when you're looking straight at them!), but you'll barely see the same foul when team Y does it to team X, and immediately issue a yellow card! I've seen it happen, and it doesn't matter who the teams are, it irritates me. I have choice words for refs like that, and none of them are polite. Anyway, as the game went on, the ref became more and more lopsided. I mean, really, you'll let them shove our girl to the ground, but if one of ours barely glances her, you'll card her? Are you serious? And no, I'm not saying that all of the fouls called on the US team were false; most of them were spot-on. But really? I'm seeing a lot of fouls from New Zealand that aren't being called. I do not approve, ref. Get your eyes checked, please.
On a lighter note, I love the where's-waldo-esque jerseys of the US team. I think they should all get glasses, to complete the look.
edit 8/7/2012: Wow. Fixed a couple of sentences. I was in such a hurry to get all of my thoughts out, that I had a couple of typos. For example, the woman who got the US a gold in Judo: I made it sound like the US had never won a gold in anything before. Oops. XD
edit 8/7/2012: Wow. Fixed a couple of sentences. I was in such a hurry to get all of my thoughts out, that I had a couple of typos. For example, the woman who got the US a gold in Judo: I made it sound like the US had never won a gold in anything before. Oops. XD
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