Years of Poems and Spirits

 Beijing Olympics is over today. I think many people I know are letting out a sigh of relief. Given so many misfortunes and unrests happened earlier this year, the summer Olympics once felt like a giant bubble ready to pop. Now it is over, all of a sudden, it dawned on me that 2008 was the best Olympics in my life time. 

Not that I wish it happens again any time soon. Like the Pyramids, and many other human spectacles in history, the success of Olympics is built on the sacrifices and sufferings of counterless unnamed. If Acropolis is a reminder of Athenian democracy, and the Great Wall determined national defense, what is being immortalized by the statdiums? Prosperity? At $2000 per capita, that is a stretch.

Here are some of the good and the bad as I saw them:

The Good:

The competitions! Really a treat for a sports fan. In the States, I missed watching volleyball, handball and track/field. Bu now I have them all together. Badminton is always fun (watching the top players play gives me a sensation of watching human pin-balls). The marathon run around the city and the road bike race to the Great Wall were very photogenic. Although I don’t care for diving or gymnastics, they are surprisingly competitive even to my layman’s eye.

The soccer match between the Nigeria and Belgium is one of the most memorable in my life time. Had there not been so much Michael Phelps (over) coverage, I would have enjoyed swimming even more.

Track is perhaps the most exciting. I played so many ball games in my life, but I don’t always feel an adrenaline surge before every match. Track is different. I can always recall how hard my heart pumped every time I stood behind the starting line. The sensation of turning the last curve and seeing the finish line at the end of the track is beyond words. It is fair to say I play balls for fun but run for the adrenaline.

Yesterday, watched the marathon live on NBC. When the Kenyan runner (he was just so graceful) entered the stadium, the first shot was from his back with the bright light at the end of the tunnel in front of him. Immediately, the view switched to another camera that panned in half the stadium. When the dimunitive runner figure emerged from the tunnel, I could see the stadium erupted in cheers. I trembled. Good God.

The Bad:

I will save it for another day.

Pick up rowing at Carrie P’s recommendation. Really enjoyed the sport and the Lake Union Crew.

Monday was the first good day on water. I started to get a sense of how to row. The hardest part was to unlearn what I had been used to. And always pay attention to the rhythm! From breathing to rowing, I have to control and constrain in order to go fast and go far.

Also, now I can attest why it is an ultimate team sport. In our very first session on water, the boat was too tippy as people were not in sync and didn’t know how to set it even. At times, lifting the oar out of the water was a true test of patience.

The instructor said that rowers can pull a water skier. I didn’t believe it until I saw this video on YouTube - .

I know I should have worked on school works, finding a job or event catching up with blogs … but not. I spent much of the weekend fixated in front of TV (very bad behavior, I know).

But this weekend’s NFL playoff games were really good, really entertaining. If Sat. day was all about worthiness and the display of power, today (Sun.) is about redemption and will. First the Chargers upset a listless Colts team with a group of subs, then the Giants spilled their guts to beat the Cowboys.

After the game, the Giants defensive guys said they were so tired they could barely left the locker room. And I believe that. Seeing the front group chasing Romo like a chicken in the second half, I wondered how long they could last.

The most memorable moment came in the final 50 seconds of the game when Romo marched the Boys down to the 25 yard line. The crowd was getting restless and anxious. Then there was an injury timeout. I could see the Giants players standing on the field as if ready to collapse at any moment.

As the game was about to resume, the stadium started to blast music–forgot what it was but sounded like the theme song in “Chariot of Fire”: it was the kind of uplifting and pumping piece. I saw the Cowboys getting ready, but the Giants guys were still standing there motionless! Their hands on waists and heads on chests. It was really a weird scene. I thought they would be done for for sure. But somehow they willed themself into a victory.

Awesome games!