Olympic fever

It began last week (of course!) when the greatest show on earth took center stage in Beijing, China with an amazing light and firework display (coupled with incredible wirework) that held the entire world enthralled. Indeed, everyone I know was glued to their television screens and the lucky few I knew who were actually there were hard-pressed to find words to convey the experience. It’s not surprising. Every four years the Olympics captures the imagination of the world as athletes from all over congregate in a series of games and competitions to bring glory to both them and their countries. If you think about it, it actually has all the makings of an addictive television show that has viewers always coming back for more.

I have always been a fan of the Olympics. Being an athlete I have always been amazed by those disciplined and hard-trained individuals who had the honor of wearing their country’s colors and representing the nation in the Olympic Games. When I was younger I even had dreams of becoming an Olympian either as a gymnast or a track and field competitor. Neither of those happened, obviously, but the thought that they could usually made me train that much harder or work that much more.

Indeed, that’s the main allure of the Olympics for athletes. The very thought of being able to represent your country alongside athletes from all over the world is enough to push anyone to do better than their best. It’s hard for me to even imagine how it must feel to win a medal in your sport. What must the feeling be to know that you are one of the best athletes in your sport in the world? Even just making it to the prestigious roster of athletes chosen to represent the country is honor enough. I actually have had the pleasure of knowing several athletes that made it to the Olympics and even won medals and they all agree: there are no words to describe the experience. The only way to truly understand it is to live it.

So, being the huge fan that I am, it’s no wonder I was really looking forward to watching the Olympic Games. Both Nino and I had been cheering non-stop for our athletes and following their progress on television. We were both clapping for JB Walsh when he recently won his first heat in the 200-meter butterfly stroke against several other swimmers and we had our fingers crossed for our other hopefuls as well, especially our trap-shooter who had a really good shot at the gold.

Another aspect of the Olympics we are both watching closely is the Men’s Basketball Division. Being big fans of the NBA, PBA, PBL and UAAP and NCAA it’s only natural that we (along with several million other basketball fans) stay glued to the screen to see if the U.S.A. Dream Team can bring back the gold or if other favorites like returning champ Argentina, Spain, or Greece can wrestle the medal from them. As for me, I’m a huge fan of Team U.S.A.; as much as I don’t like the Lakers, I’ll cheer for Kobe Bryant who gives the US an amazing edge in the games. My personal favorites are Lebron James, Dwayne Wade (who is so back!), and Dwight Howard (Superman!) who are always awesome to watch on the court. Not to mention budding point guard Chris Paul who wears my absolute favorite’s (Nash) number — 13 — on his US jersey.

As a matter of fact, we were both so excited to see the opening U.S.A. game vs. China that Nino and I along Eddie, Brian, Barni, and Howard all trooped straight from the beach (with chlorine still fresh in my hair) to attend Nike’s exhibit launch (“The Commitment”) at Bonifacio High Street and to watch the opening game on the big screen. Even though I was tired and sore and kind of sleepy, it was totally worth it.

For those of you who love basketball I highly recommend you check the exhibit out. It will be up during the entire month of August and the room (they built a special room in the parking lot — you can’t miss it!) will be open to watch US and other basketball games during the duration of the Olympics. However much I like watching games at home I especially love watching and cheering with a lot of other people. Plus while you are there you can look through the very interesting exhibit Nike has put together of this Dream Team’s road to the Olympics as well as photos and memorabilia of US teams past including the very famous amazing team which had Magic Johnson, Carl Malone, Larry Bird, and of course his Royal Airness Michael Jordan. It was nice to be able to see the history and appreciate how rich it is.

You can also see the current team’s commitment (hence the name) to bringing back the gold — or “The Road to Redemption” as it has been called. You can browse through photos of Lebron, Kobe, Howard and Wade alongside their teammates Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, and Carlos Boozer to name a few. This year is proving to be very exciting too, because you have the international players returning to their home teams. Players like (my fave import) Manu Ginobelli who will once again lead Argentina with Scola and Oberto who will be joining him, you have Juan Carlos Navarro, Jose Calderon, and the Gasol brothers back in Spain, not to mention the giant Yao Ming, a crowd favorite home in China. It’s amazing how much the sport of basketball has grown over the years.

So these days I’ve been enjoying my fill of amazing athleticism, sportsmanship, teamwork and goodwill. The Olympics comes once every four years and I plan on being there for every moment!