Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Hi, my name is Dan and I'm addicted to the Olympics (Hi Dan!)


I apologize for not having posted in a while. My spare moments in the evening have been spent enthralled as I've watched mere mortals performing inhuman acts.

Is Michael Phelps a mere mortal? I read an article last week that discussed how swimming world records were no longer relevant because they're getting broken in every race. That's not exactly true, i.e. breaking a record in every race, unless we're talking about final events that Michael Phelps has participated in. In that case it's true. Does breaking a record in every final make it any less significant?

I say no! Human bodies haven't evolved much in the last 100 years. Swimming races in the Olympics have been around for a long time. The molecular construction of water hasn't changed drastically, that I'm aware of. It's not like Michael Phelps is racing downhill or anything like that. He doesn't have the wind at his back, making his swims easier. He is simply dominating the sport in a fashion that hasn't been seen since Mark Spitz. In fact, if he keeps it up, he will earn more gold medals in one Olympics than Mark Spitz. That's a daunting task.



I have loved watching all of the events. I'm not exactly sure if those 68 pound female Chinese gymnasts are actually 16 years old, like they claim, but they are amazing to watch.



I love the Chinese names, like Guo Jingjing. They're just fun to say. I've been tempted to turn Chinese myself, just so I can have a cool name. However, I think that if I do, I'll have to take up diving, and if you look at my picture on this blog, you'll quickly realize that I might be able to specialize in cannonballs, but probably not much else.

Anyway, I'll try to post now and then over the next two weeks if I can pull myself away from the T.V. long enough to do so.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you seen how bad our star swimmer Laure Manaudou did?
The story of her failure is a teaching story, though. I hope that she will get back on track.

Dan Olsen said...

Hi Backandthen.

I did hear about your swimmer and her relationship with the Italian swimmers. It might be wrong of me to say so, but I was glad to see the Italian swimmer come in last place after the story about her and your swimmer Manaudou.

Olsen Family said...

we r addicted too!!! when r u coming to visit us?

Dan Olsen said...

Hey Christina,

I don't see myself going to Southern California any time soon. Did you guys get everything set up/moved in? When do classes start for Justin?

Love,
Uncle Bum