OLYMPIC MOMENTS

Every other year after two & a half weeks of Olympic viewing, I experience Olympic withdrawal when it all ends. What do you mean there isn't any skiing, snowboarding or skating on TV? Why is Mike Tirico not giving me the schedule for this evening? What do you mean it's over? What am I going to watch today? Fortunately, sometimes, like tonight, there are NBA basketball games featuring my favorite teams to take my mind off the empty feeling of no more Olympics for two years.

My family has always been big sports fans. We all get way into the games of our favorites - the Kings & Warriors, the Giants & the Forty-Niners. And every two years we hunker down in front of the TV watching every minute of the Winter or Summer Olympics that we can. We all stay up too late devouring every event. I'm the worst culprit when it comes to not putting sleep before sports.

I was delighted to see that there were two openly gay athletes competing this year. Both figure skater Adam Rippon & freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy were greatly pleased to be able to participate as their true selves. I sincerely hope they are the first of many & that in future Olympics an athlete's sexual preference won't even merit mentioning.

This year there were three stand out moments of victory for me. Number one has to be the United States men taking the gold medal in curling! Coming into the games they were maybe a long shot for the bronze medal. After losing their first few games most people thought they were out of contention. But the guys sucked it up & turned it around in spectacular fashion winning the first gold medal ever for the U.S. in curling.

I watched most of their matches in their entirety since they were on during the day - & I am retired! About three Olympics ago, Darrin & I were intrigued by the sport that only surfaces during the Winter Games. He looked up the rules & terminology which we studied as we watched. Now that I know the format & scoring of a match, this year my attention was on the strategy.

It sounds a bit stupid but it was electrifying to watch our guys - John, Tyler, Matt & Lanz - play spectacularly as they beat first Canada to get to the gold medal game where they beat Sweden for the win! I was up until 2 AM anxiously watching every move & cheering each great shot all by myself. These are regular guys with families & real jobs (one works at Dick's Sporting Goods & another in a liquor store) who did something magical!

Another special moment was when Jessie Diggins, an American cross-country skier, dug down deep to move from third place in the four woman relay to win gold!  Watching the end of the race, it was apparent that something inside of her snapped & she was NOT going to lose. She wanted that first gold for the U.S. in her sport & kicked it into another gear that no one even knew existed!

And, of course, our women's hockey team beating the powerhouse Canadians in an overtime shootout to take the top prize was agonizing to watch. But the ultimate reward of gold was worth all the torture. Every Olympics has stories that touch us & amaze us.

The beauty of sports is that old opening line of ABC's Wide World of Sports - the thrill of victory & the agony of defeat! Every sport has both - always. I have been upset by all the stories & social media posts criticizing the U.S. athletes for not winning more medals. The projections were for 25 - 39 medals & we only won 23. What the hell? It isn't about a medal count in my opinion. It is about athletes training hard & doing their best. Not everyone will win gold, silver or bronze but the fact that they compete at the Olympic level is an incredible accomplishment.

Occasionally, we find an amazing athlete like Eric Heiden or Carl Lewis or Apolo Ono or Michael Phelps & we cheer them on as they win multiple gold medals in multiple Olympics. Our hockey teams & curling teams & many others win unexpected gold medals. Sometimes our favorites fall short, sometimes they just fall & sometimes they just aren't good enough to beat the competition. But every one of them is trying their best not knowing the ultimate outcome. That is what intrigues me & keeps me coming back for more. Stop worrying about how many medals our team won & enjoy the beautiful stories of all the competitors.

SLIDERS

No, I don't mean the little hamburgers or the baseball pitch or the patio door. With the Winter Olympics in full swing, I was reminiscing about our brief time as "sliders". A slider is the term used to describe people who lay flat on their back on a sled & hurtle themselves down a steep, twisting, turning ice track at speeds up to 90 miles per hour!

The luge event is often referred to as "The Fastest Sport on Ice". Most people call the men & women who participate in this crazy endeavor "lugers" which is okay, but technically they are called "sliders". Or crazy people with no sense!

My son, Darrin, has always had an interest in Winter Olympic sports starting when he was 4 years old. After watching the 1980 games in Lake Placid, he announced that he wanted to go ice skating & do a sit spin. We did go to the ice rink for a family outing but, alas, no sit spins were performed by anyone.

A recent Olympic favorite of his is curling. Once you know the rules & scoring, it really is quite exciting to watch. A few years ago Darrin took curling lessons at a local ice arena in Roseville. He even participated in several of their matches. He was pretty good at it & they wanted him to join their team permanently but he just didn't have the time to devote to it. Hell, he could have made the Olympic team & we could be in South Korea watching him right now!

Anyway, during his teen years he developed a real affinity for the luge event which fascinated him. One summer we saw a notice in the newspaper that the U. S. Junior Luge Association was holding tryouts in our area. I'm sure you're thinking, it doesn't snow in the California Bay Area & certainly not in the summer. True! They had luge sleds with wheels on them & temporarily closed one of the cloverleaf freeway ramps for the tryouts.

Of course, Darrin, who was 16 & driving, insisted on heading over there by himself. After some brief training the participants made several runs down the ramp under the tutelage of the luge instructors. Low & behold, a month or two later he received a letter inviting him to a tryout camp the following winter at Lake Placid.

Unfortunately, he would have to miss six weeks of school & it was all at our expense. After much discussion we decided it just wasn't feasible. Darrin wasn't too disappointed since even our most successful U.S. sliders didn't make any money or win medals back then. Plus he was just starting his flying lessons & income was limited.

Fast forward to about 1995. Darrin was 19 & we were on a family vacation in Canada. One of our stops was at the Olympic Park in Calgary. We took a tour of the facilities, looked down the ski jump ramp & saw the bobsled track. Amazingly, we discovered that you could experience sliding on the bottom third of the Olympic luge track! The cost was only $9 USD per run. Of course, we HAD to do it!

Darrin & his dad did two runs each & I did one. We were given a heavy jumpsuit & a helmet to wear. The instructions were to relax & not do anything, just go with the flow & the sled would get you to the bottom. We would reach speeds of 25-30 MPH, far less than the Olympic sliders but I'll tell you what, it sure felt like I was going 90 miles an hour! They stressed that keeping your head back, feet up & relaxing was essential. Otherwise you would have a good chance of wiping out.

Okay, got it! The ride would take less than a minute. As I started off, I thought this isn't too bad but as the sled picked up speed my natural inclination was to tense up & try to "steer" the thing. I went up one side of the track, back down & up the other side. Every expletive I knew (& a few I made up on the spot) ran through my head as I told myself do what they said or you will be upside down careening down this track!

Sure enough, I put my head back & forced myself to semi-relax. The sled instantly straightened out & I thought, "I'll be damned, they're right." It was a fun, scary, exhilarating & crazy ass ride! I made it safely to the bottom & decided I was glad I did it, but once was enough! I can't even imagine what 80 or 90 MPH would be like & quite honestly, I don't feel the need to ever find out. Enjoy the Winter Olympics from the comfort of your couch!

COMEDY OF ERRORS

My son gets credit for this title. I drove into the Bay Area to deliver a larger suitcase (Darrin only has a roller carry on size) so he could take my Valentine's gift bag & all the Monster High Ghouls to New Mexico next week when he goes to spend a week with Charley. I know it sounds crazy, but, hey, that's what I do. Moving Heaven & Earth isn't an issue where my son & granddaughter are concerned so driving 200 miles to deliver a few things is a piece of cake.

We coordinated the visit so my sister, Karen (AKA Zizi), could stop by before her massage in Castro Valley & see Darrin's new-ish duplex that he rented a few months ago. She lives about 100 miles away, also. Both Karen & I lived the huge majority of our lives in the Bay Area & still have many ties to the area, such as Karen's long time massage therapist. The three of us had planned to have lunch before going our separate ways. I'm not sure if we have EVER had lunch with just the three of us.           

Sounded like a simple enough plan, right? At 12:15 PM we left Darrin's for the 10 minute drive to Don Jose's Mexican Restaurant where we had all eaten several times years ago. Oddly enough, we had to take three cars since we were all heading in different directions. The City of Castro Valley decided to pick this day to do road construction work. Given the horrendous traffic in the Bay Area anyway, closing a lane made it totally nuts.

We all arrived a half an hour later at Don Jose's. As we walked to the door talking away, Darrin pulled on one of the double doors. Wouldn't open so he pulled the other, same result. Then we noticed the sign on the door. "We are closed today to give our wonderful employees a day off for all their hard work." Well, hell, now what?

Karen said there was another Mexican taqueria a couple blocks away so we all piled into Darrin's car. There were cracker crumbs all over the back seat by Charley's car seat. Darrin said, "Every time I see them, I don't want to clean them up because it reminds me of Charley there eating her crackers." I totally get it. Things in my house that she has changed remain for weeks or months after her visit.

We spot the taqueria with the sign saying "Parking in Back". Castro Valley Boulevard has tons of shops & restaurants but almost no street parking. Turning down the side street we are met with several tractors & dump trucks blocking the parking in back as they were repaving the lot. Damn, no where to park! And Gaga is pretty limited in how far she can walk with this hip shit.

Continuing down the street, Darrin suggested the Ice Creamery where we have eaten several times. They have sandwiches & burgers, too. By now we had abandoned our desire for Mexican food in favor of somewhere to eat before we all had to head out.  As we drove the few blocks to the Ice Creamery we were met with orange netting blocking the driveway to their parking in back. "What the fuck?" I exclaimed, "Are they repaving the entire city?"

We continued down the main street in Castro Valley when Karen saw a coffee shop that she remembered eating at several times. We managed to find a parking space in the parking lot that was still accessible & had a nice lunch together. It turned out that we did still have an hour or so to visit & enjoy each other's company. Finally!

As an added bonus, Darrin said he was planning to Facetime with Charley when she got out of school. Our lunch had dragged on enough that we should be able to all say "hi" for a bit before we went on our way. Of course, the phone connection didn't work as we sat there staring at the phone & lining up so she could see us all. After several tries Darrin gave up & said he would head home to call her on his Wi-Fi.

My sister went into Ross for a few minutes while I started my car to drive home in time for the King's game we had tickets to this evening. Suddenly Darrin rapped on my window saying he got through. The connection was crappy but I managed to talk to Charley for a few minutes. She was totally excited about finding out there are Monster High Beach Ghouls & shared that with me! Gaga has already bought one for her. You didn't doubt that, did you?

After saying good-bye, blowing kisses, sharing virtual hugs & saying "I love you" ten times, I backed out of the parking space. Then I saw Darrin heading into the Ross Store with his phone. After momentary confusion, I smiled knowing that he had told Charley that Zizi was there for lunch, too. I knew she wanted to say "hi" to Zizi. Darrin said I was right & he found Zizi in the store to chat with Charley. Our lunch date was indeed a "Comedy of Errors" but it was still wonderful.