Monday, August 25, 2008

A List: The Olympics

My exposure to the Olympics has been fairly limited, but I've still caught a little here and there as I flip through the channels.

(1) If I had people cheering and yelling at me like the Olympic athletes do, I think I could have much better workouts.

(2) Do the marathoners not get to wear ipods? How in the world do you run for that long without music or conversation?

(3) I read this blog post and did not realize it was a joke until I was halfway through it. To sum it up, it says that China was to host the Special Olympics as well but was going to cancel it because the country could not find a team to represent it (as a result of the Chinese practice of aborting imperfect offspring). I realized the article was a joke when it referenced China feeding children lead-tainted toys to prepare them for the Special Olympics. I can be really dense sometimes, and given what I've read about China forcing women into having late-term abortions, aborting "imperfect" children did not seem like a stretch.

(4) I do not understand the Phelps' obsession and think the Sports Illustrated cover is sort of gross (it goes too low).

(5) I liked my 8th grade Olympics better than these. After all, I got to participate in almost every part of the competition and wasn't relegated to my couch.

(6) I thought it was interesting that the Chinese government asked its citizens to refrain from cooking dog during the Olympics.

(7) I hope that little girl who was told last minute that she couldn't sing her song isn't too messed up as a result of that experience.

(8) Time magazine and I have been wondering the same thing: how fast can humans run before they hit the end of their physical limits? (HT: Tim Challies There's more room for improvement with the longer distances, I would guess, but it seems like at some point with the shorter distances (100 meters, for example) we'll hit our fastest.

p.s. I'm grateful that a 30 day pass to a local gym made it possible for me to work out (1) for free and (2) at 10:30 last night.

11 comments:

TC said...

I was beyond obsessed with the Olympics this year. Seriously, I needed some help.

I haven't seen that SI cover yet, but now I'm curious O:)

I don't think I'd have caught that joke either. Considering a lot of the Chinese practices concerning children and women... I'd have found it very, very believable as well.

Aaron said...

Exactly how long did it take you to get to the gym last night? You weren't offline long? (I think you make a secret trip to Bruster's or something.) :P

Ally said...

Ha. I didn't sign out of chat--so you were still writing me even though I was gone; I got lost on the way to the gym so instead of taking 5 minutes to get there it took more like 15. Then I worked out for around 40 minutes if you must know:)

Thomas said...

I heard that the Chinese government has said, "Good night, thanks for coming, can you turn off the Internet on your way out?"

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Still just me said...

I think I am the only person in America who isn't watching the Olympics.

brandy said...

#7- I think about that too. I hope the damage isn't lasting. (I fear that would screw me up for a very long time).

boohoo said...

I loved the Olympics and miss it so much now :(

ella said...

I'm not sure what to do with myself now that the Olympics are over. Though I sort of lost interest after the swimming competitions were over. *sigh* Those boys and their washboard abs.

Seized by Hope said...

I agree with you on the Sports Illustrated cover...unnecessary was my feeling.

Lib said...

i feel forlorn now that the Olympics are over. it was so refreshing to be able to watch TV without feeling like my brain cells were dying at an exponential rate. i must admit that i am a part of the Phelps obsession and i am quite sad that i'm unable to tune in to NBC and see him every night. indeed, all good things must come to an end.

p.s. i'm grateful for the new Nike plus pedometer which plugs into my iPod nano and keeps track of my runs (distance, time, calories, etc) it's always nice to have a boost and new motivation to work out. i'm with you...i don't know how the marathoners do it without music.