U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A...

I can't believe next week is August already. It feels like May was just a week or two ago. In 12 days, something else happens that I've been looking forward to, The Summer Olympics in Beijing.

I'm pretty much an Olympics junkie. I watch everything. B likes the "primetime" coverage of diving, swimming, and gymnastics. (She likes the wrestling too!) I actually prefer the "lesser known" sports like equestrian, archery and (*GASP!!*) rhythmic gymnastics. (Hey, it's pretty much like Cirque du Soleil!)

Oh, and I will say I'm not a fan of 1) women's beach volleyball, 2) most soccer ---zzzzz 3) water polo--more zzzz,unless you're in the pool AND 4) Ego-inflated USA Men's basketball--though they've got some good (humble) guys on the team this year (like Chris Paul), plus all the UNC fans have to watch Coach K (hee, hee!) so the jury is still out for me on them.

One cool thing I got to do this past April was volunteer at the canoe and kayaking Olympic trials at the US Whitewater Center. It was neat to see the Olympic athletic world from the "inside". My job during the trials was "Score sheet runner". Basically there's 20-odd gates that each judge and their team of spotters mark for each competitor. If they touch or skip a gate , there's a penalty that's taken off of their time at the end (the times are also scored electronically-but the manual scoresheets are stored in the "dispute tent", in case a coach has a problem). I would pick up the sheets from the judge and get take them to the scoring area. It was a lot of walking and I got pretty sunburned!

I also, (during breaks in the competition) got to talk with some of the Olympic judges, most of whom have been involved in the sport since the 70's. The athlete's are mostly 14-18 year old boys and girls--it felt strange thinking that my skibums could be old enough to compete in the Olympics! The weekend event was also part of the PanAmerican games so there were about 15 different countries represented from North and South America, each having their own requirements for making their country's Olympic team--the better they did, the better their chances. I was there all day Friday. That Sunday, several countries would be finalizing who was going to Beijing.

One funny thing I noticed was, regardless of their ethnicity, each country would cheer their athlete down the course by yelling. "bup-bup-bup-bup-bup..." as loud as they could while running after them down the sidewalk next to the course. I guess you can hear that over the roar of the water and there's obviously no language issue since it's a nonsense word.

I took some pictures including the Olympic cheer presentation trailer from BofA. Their logo was everywhere. I was proud to be there.

On 8/8/08 (did I mention I LOVE watching the Opening and Closing ceremonies?), I'll be in front of the TV cheering everyone on for sure! "Bup-bup-bup-bup..."