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Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
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1:57a - Shark attacks
Well, the twentieth rendition of the Olympic Winter Games has come to a close. Across America, the big story is the sheer disappointment that this team showed us over the last two weeks. Bode Miller is a choke artist, Michelle Kwan never should have gone to Torino, etc., etc.
I am no less than baffled by all of this negative publicity, and I have laid out a seven-point argument against it. We all remember the summer a couple years back when the media was spreading the fear of shark attacks in the Atlantic Ocean. Surveys and studies have shown that the media in general gave deadly sharks about six times as much coverage as normal. Attacks themselves reached their lowest point in years, despite all of that hype. With that in mind, let's get down to business.
1) Of the twenty winter games that America has competed in, the Torino games yielded our second highest medal count in history at 29. Only the Salt Lake City games gave us more medals, where we earned 32. We also won 9 gold medals in Torino, which is not exactly an easy task (also the second highest count on record).
2) We finished second. Are you fucking kidding me? The United States finishes second in the overall medal count and we're calling our athletes a bunch of failures? What on earth is wrong with finishing second, out of all the countries that compete? I mean, really, it shouldn't even matter if we had finished dead last. I can't play hockey very well, nor can I ski down mountains at eighty miles per hour. The Olympics are about comraderie among all the nations; a peaceful way to compete and display sportsmanship. Besides, really, what's wrong with finishing second?
3) Leave Sasha Cohen alone. She won the Silver Medal. An Olympic Silver Medal for figure skating. I'm watching NBC's coverage of the games and Bob Costas is asking her how she feels about letting everyone down. For winning an Olympic Silver Medal? If a silver medal is not good enough, then what is a gold medal? Expected? That's ridiculous. I saw that Sasha fell two times in her long program routine, but only one legitimate competitor did not fall then. The Japanese skater whose name escapes me ended up winning gold for that reason. Obviously the ice was difficult to skate on if that many people had fallen. A silver medal is an awesome achievement and should be treated as such.
4) Leave Bode alone, too. Yeah, that's right... stop dissing Bode. It was not his duty to win medals for our country. He didn't have to become a talented skiier, and he certainly didn't do it just to entertain us. Anyone that doesn't think he gave his total effort is lying to themselves. Let's face it... it's just not that easy to win an olympic medal. He did that four years ago, but apparently none of that matters now. Just because all of the endorsements belonged to Bode, doesn't mean that he is the best. Just because Nike is using him to sell some shoes does not automatically make him the champ. How many of us can ski that well, and if we can then why weren't we in Torino winning gold medals?
5) The media needs to lighten up. A subtle difference of opinion between two speedskaters, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick, made headlines as a huge Team USA infight. Were we that eager to make news? All that happened is that Hedrick wished Davis would have competed in the relay event, and Davis believed he had a better chance of winning in his individual race. Lo and behold, Davis did win the gold in his race. He is the first black athlete to win a gold medal in the winter olympics, and if the media was looking for a real story they might have payed more attention to that.
6) Our snowboarders are the best in the world... again. I don't care if it's considered an American sport, snowboarding has become an olympic event. It's up to the olympic countries to suggest homegrown sports become part of the olympics anyway. Think about baseball during the summer games: it was invented in Cooperstown, New York. Does America always win the medals? No, and that's because we helped make the sport a worldwide game. And that's exactly what we're doing with snowboarding. Until someone knocks us off, we're the champs.
7) And lastly, shouldn't we be proud of our athletes no matter what? These men and women train long hours every day to become great at sports that the rest of us can only dream about. They compete against the best of the best from all across the world. Is it fair to expect a gold medal in every event? Does anything less constitute failure? I should hope not. The olympic games are about sportsmanship and good will to all of the world. They are certainly not about accepting nothing less than perfect.
Congratulations to all of our competitors for representing our country. Their memories and accomplishments will surely last them a lifetime and that's something that ought to be embraced.
In other news, the Atkins diet plan is going well in the early running. One day last week my grandmother made her famous pizza, and I had planned on starting the diet that day. But I can't resist Grandma Ann's pies, so I had to put it off one more day. Since then, the only carbohydrates I have eaten were at Quaker Steak when I had only a few Sweet BBQ wings. I have not had a single snack since I began the diet, and for me that's so astounding it's off the charts.
This diet is the first part of my plan toward getting in optimal shape for the police academy. This fall, I plan to be in the best shape of my life and have initiated a program that mixes diet and exercise to get there. The first component is to maintain this healthy diet. When the weather begins to break, I plan to gradually implement a workout routine. I plan to do more aerobic activity than not, because it's endurance that I need to work on instead of strength.
Everyone has been supportive. My parents have made special meals for me. Beth has been there to help me, too and that means a lot. Her mom made me a special meal tonight as well, and it was really good. Kielbasa, sauer krat, and sausage and peppers. I have eaten considerably more vegetables lately than normal.
I've noticed that after the first few days of dieting, I have more energy at my expense. With all diets, you have to try and maintain a decent amount of sleep each night.
That said, it's getting kind of late and I really should be sleeping. Thanks for taking the time to read my journal. I'll talk to you soon.
Goodnight and good luck.
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