We vividly recall all the
old time Olympians – Jonny Mosley, Dan Jansen, Scott Hamilton, Apolo Anton Ohno
– who are now the color commentators for the current Winter Olympics in Sochi , Russia U.S.A. are familiar names
My family loves the
Olympics! When either the Summer or Winter Olympics come around, there is a two
week period that finds us glued to the TV, trying to avoid hearing results all
day in order to be surprised by the evening telecast. My son, Darrin, & I
are the worst. We stay up late every night texting each other when something
great (or lousy) happens.
Every four years we are
suddenly enthralled with slopestyle snowboarding, speed skating, biathalon,
mogul skiing, figure skating, luge, bobsledding & of course, curling! Last
Olympics Darrin looked up the rules for curling & once we knew the basics
along with the object of the game, it became almost mesmerizing to watch the
players send the “rock” down the lane as their teammates furiously sweep the
ice to change its speed.
My daughter-in-law, Allison,
has dubbed us “Olympic Junkies” – a perfect description of the affliction that
takes hold of us every other year. It’s appropriate, too, because when the
closing ceremonies are over, there really is a sort of physical withdrawal that
takes place inside us when there are no longer hours of competition in obscure
sports to fill our days & evenings.
From the time Darrin was a
teenager (he will be 38 next month – yikes!), we have shared 2 – 3 hour fast
food lunches together. We are never at a loss for words & I am convinced
that we could solve all the world’s problems if people would only listen to us!
Now, that he is a husband & father our lunches have become less frequent.
BUT yesterday he invited me to lunch at McDonalds “to talk Olympics” – don’t
have to ask me twice, I’ll be there with bells on!
For two hours we analyzed
present performances & events, rehashed some of the older Olympic moments
& reminisced about Darrin’s aspirations of winter sports competition over
Chicken McNuggets (with Sweet Chili & Habanero Ranch dipping sauce made
specially for the Winter Games). I do believe we have started a new tradition
for mother & son.
When Darrin was really young
our family was inspired to try ice skating after watching the figure skating at
Lake Placid in 1980. Our four year old
announced that he was “going to do a sit spin” like he saw the skaters perform
on TV. Alas, there were no sit spins of any consequence but we did have fun!
We took up cross-country
skiing after seeing it in the Winter Games. Of course, we started off trying to
go really fast like the Olympians, but soon learned to slow down & enjoy
the scenery. Over the years Darrin has wanted to be a short-track speed skater,
a slider (luge) & just four years ago was tempted to take up curling when
he learned there is a curling club in San
Jose
When he was 16, Darrin tried
out for the U.S. Junior Luge Team on their recruiting trip to California Lake Placid for a month of training to see if he was good
enough to compete. Unfortunately, it was during the school year & at our
expense. Plus he was taking flying lessons & ultimately chose to continue
that pursuit instead.
On vacation in Calgary
