Shock and Awe

It's the weekend and I am beat. I have been staying up late to watch the Olympics every night this past week (despite being able to see most events upon awaking recorded on www.nbcolympics.com). By the way those who don't know me well may not know that I never (underline that) never watch television. Except during the Olympics. This one has certainly provided me with more than enough substance to far outweigh the repetitive and often annoying ads.

If you remember the old ABC Wide World of Sports tag line "the human drama of athletic competition" you will certainly find it in these Olympics. Say whatever you like about the obsession it takes for someone like Michael Phelps to become synonymous with world record -watching people strive to be the best they can be, fail at it and embrace their fellow competitor is awe-inspiring. The range of emotions I am host to as a slug on the couch at 11PM, has astounded even me! Sometimes I just don't know what to feel; these games being set in the belly of China, a country that tried its best to blot out its record of human rights issues with an ostentatious display of over-the-top technology combined with precision to the 2008th power! When I add to that watching the effort put out by every athlete, the joy of Burundi or Serbia winning their country's first ever medal, the dedication of Dara Torres at 41 in her fifth Olympics, or the electricity as our local Home Depot literally came to a halt while they watched their own "girl from checkout" compete for and win a bronze in judo, I frequently well up.

There will be accusations of drug use or performance enhancement of course; and no doubt some will be guilty - competition does that. But for two short weeks, I will forget my politics, I will believe in the human spirit, and I will go with too little sleep - and dream that I am somehow a part of all that is happening a half a world away. Sorry, I am an idealist.