Olympics Obsession

As of 7:30 tomorrow evening, the 2012 Summer Olympics officially begin.  Deep breath.  I love the Olympics.  Love as in obsessively watch every primetime second and then read all about it again the next day.  I love everything about it--the events, the symbolism, the rivalries, those special interest back stories they do on some of the athletes right before a really important race or event.  Love those.

Let me back up by saying I'm really not a sports person.  I'll glance at a football game on TV here and there, but unless one of the teams I root for is doing really well and in a playoffs situation, I couldn't care less.  And let's face it: I'm a Cleveland sports fan, so it's not often that we find ourselves on the edge of winning any kind of championship, ever.  When the Cavs made it to the NBA Finals several years ago, I knew nothing about the team other than LeBron James was a player and he was very good.  By the time they beat Detroit to play the Spurs in the finals, I knew the entire team and most of the guys they were playing.  It's bizarre, but I guess I just enjoy the excitement of that level of competition.

While I like the winter and summer Olympics, my favorite is the summer games.  The first time I remember really getting into it was during the Atlanta games in 1996.  I was 12, which was in itself practically a requirement to be gymnastics-crazed.  When Kerri Strug vaulted the womens' team to gold, I couldn't get enough.  I even saved the newspaper article from the Plain Dealer the next day (and I still have it, tucked away safely in my cedar chest).  I saved my money and bought a huge book all about "The Magnificent 7", as they'd been nicknamed, and saved even more money to go downtown to see them perform in a live show.  Bless my dad, who took me and a friend down there and suffered through 2.5 hours of gymnastics routines and bought us programs to take home.  That had to take some serious stamina, which I did not fully appreciate at the time.

Source: kndoty.wordpress.com

From there my interest in has only grown and has expanded into other events.  I was pretty much plastered to my TV at the 2008 Beijing games during all of Michael Phelps' events.  Remember Phelps' miracle finish in the 100M butterfly, where he swung his arm out and managed to touch the finish line a mere blink before the guy next to him to win gold?  That was intense.  And awesome.  I hope something like that happens during this Olympics.

Source: si.com

I've downloaded all my Olympics apps, brushed up on the athletes of Team USA, and read the Olympic Preview issue of Sports Illustrated (the only issue of said magazine I read, which means I pick up a copy of SI once every two years).  I think I'm ready.

I'm especially excited about the Olympics this year because of their location: London.  Chad and I went to London in the fall of 2008 and thought it was an amazing place.  The history there is unmatched by anything we have in the U.S. and it was just a wonderful experience.  It didn't hurt that we were there to literally watch history being made:  Barack Obama was elected President during our stay.  It was fascinating to see that from the perspective of another country.  I'm curious to see what the games are like--and where they plan to fit all those events and athletes.

So, at 7:30 tomorrow and from 8pm-midnight for the next 17 days, you can find me glued to my couch, obsessively soaking in every moment I can until the closing ceremonies tell me I can stop.  Thankfully Chad and my brother and sister-in-law share my extreme interest in the Olympics and are coming over to celebrate the start of the games with a bunch of delicious food and desserts.  Because what better way to admire elite athletes than by stuffing our faces with appetizers and cookies?

~Stacy