 Winter Olympics - I Can Do That!Â
I am a Winter Olympic fan; I have been since my teens. My brother was on the US Ski Team, I attended games in Lake Placid and Vancouver and volunteered on the menâs course preparation crew for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. I love them. I love the athletes, enjoy the âfeel goodâ stories. Though have a growing distain for the media who seem to always be looking for an âangleâ to create controversy, hype, or breaking news to move their headline up. Regardless, beyond all that, the feats of athleticism are inspiring. Â
Last night I was watching the Olympic coverage of the men's figure skating short program, and found myself thinking, âI could do that!â (Not the quad or any of the flips, or the sow cowâs but possibly some sliding across the ice stuff), ok maybe not figure skating. But, the Womenâs Biathlon, cross country skiing and shooting a rifle at targets, I could do that. The ski jumping from the regular hill, I could do that, too! Snowboarding, WOW what fun to watch, ok, I know that I canât do that, I have tried. The alpine slope side, and Big Air competitions are breathtaking, the heights they are jumping and the flips they do... theyâre taking skiing to another level. I am a good skier â but with training, could I do that? Downhill ski racing, I know I can do that, just not as well or as fast as an Olympian. But I could do that! Â
Just wind the clock back some years (letâs not get specific on how many), upgrade my knees, add in some training and subtract a couple of concussions. I wouldnât want to get to the point of a doctor telling me that if I got one more concussion, I would be in trouble. Until I gain the superpower to turn back time, maybe I canât do that. So, I will sit back in my big chair with the pups on my lap, enjoy the coverage on TV and continue to imagine myself doing that. They make it all look so easy. I will be eternally grateful for all those athletes sharing their sports, efforts, failures, and accomplishments with the world. It is inspiring.
