Go for the Gold . . . and the speedo

I have suddenly become an Olympic addict.  I love tuning in and seeing what new lengths the athletes are pushing themselves to each day - unfortunately when I tune it, the sport is often something I find terribly uninteresting, like softball.

I have always been a fan of swimming.  Until this year that is.  Some weirdo has deemed that full body suits are more ergonomically speedy.  I say phooey to that.  The whole point of watching swimming is to watch the speedos!  Technically, I frown on speedos in society - unless they are worn strictly in competition.  ie.  The Olympics.  They do not belong on a chubby Dutch man on a Thai beach accompanied with a bum bag.  They do belong on the long, lean, muscular body of a swimmer.  Mmmmm, Michael Phelps anyone?  It's okay to talk like this, even the Engineer has a man-crush on the guy.

I have also discovered the kayak event.  Not one to usually like watching that sort of thing, I couldn't help but notice the Canuck cutey, Adam van Koeverden.  What's not to like?  Men powerfully paddling, the sun glinting off their tanned, strong man arms.  Drool.

Okay okay, I know the Olympics are more than eye candy.  They are amazing feats in human determination and dreams being realized.  Blah blah blah.  

I was especially glued last night to the pole vaulting in which the Russian lady, Isenbayeva, broke her own world record.  This woman is a rock.  She ran with her big pole and not one bit of her shook!  Even in slow motion as she arched over the pole, her abs, butt and thighs stayed firmly in place.  Bitch.

And it was really exciting when she finally made it on her third try with only 10 seconds to go.  I jumped out of the  . . . .  couch.  And spilled my ice cream dish.  Nothing makes you feel fatter than the non-shaking, toned Olympians.  

I think that is what the Olympics are about (not the feeling fat bit):  cheering for people who are pushing themselves further and further.  Total inspiration.  It doesn't matter what country you are from (even though my heart does swell when I hear our national anthem), what matters is watching dreams come true.  Pure joy on the faces of those who work hard to get on that podium (or just to the games for crying out loud!).   I cheer for those who don't even qualify past primaries - I mean heck, they're there right?

Today I discovered a new sport in which we won silver:  the trampoline!  Ummm, hello?  Sign me up!  I could totally be that person!

Who am I kidding?  I would be so distracted by the swimmers that I would probably miss my own event . . . .