woo hoo! ladies' figure skating tonight!

My favorite night of the Winter Olympics is tonight: the Ladies Figure Skating Long Program. I'm excited that there are so many amazing athletes skating tonight...I love knowing there isn't one presumed winner.

I don't have one favorite, either. I like all of the top contenders for different reasons. Just a few hours to go!

olympics gene update...

Perhaps the gene isn't recessive, but just needed to be prodded a bit. Update:

Ilsa ADORES snowboarding, especially Snowboard Cross. She has already decided "that's what SHE'S going to do in the Olympics when SHE goes...." but she's going to wear a ballet tutu for her uniform. HA!

Ingrid has decided that she likes figure skating, but she thinks that it is strange that the "boys wear sparkly costumes". However, Ingrid really likes the tiara that Julia Mancuso wears. I'm excited for her to watch the Ladies figure skating this coming week.

the olympics obsession gene must be recessive...

As long as I can remember, I have adored the Olympics, especially the Winter Games. I can name every host back to Squaw Valley (and then I have to look them up). I remember my Mom waking me up in the middle of the night so that I could watch figure skating live from Sapporo, Japan in 1972 (I was 4). I used to draw pictures of the Olympic rings. I proudly sported a 1980 Lake Placid Olympics patch on the arm of my winter ski parka. Even though I was in mortal pain after a horrendously bad torn ACL in 1994 (skiing of course), I was thankful for the timing; I had to take a month off of work to recover from extensive ACL replacement surgery and watched every single hour of the Lillehammer Olympics coverage.

Now that the 2010 Vancouver Games are here, I had hoped I would have a blissful shared experience with my two girls. I imagined us cuddled up on the couch during the day (after school was done) watching speed skating, downhill, cross country and slalom. I could picture letting them stay up late to watch the prime-time figure skating. Certainly my adoration would've been passed onto them, right? NOPE. Mild interest? NONE. Disdain? PERHAPS. Not even figure skating can capture their fancy. Go figure.

The Olympics

Countdown: 6 days until the Olympics. I've been a fan since the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo Japan. My parents woke me up in the middle of the night so I could watch the women's figure skating finals. I still remember Janet Lynn skating. (Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Lynn).


The 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, NY (Scott Hamilton, Tai & Randy, downhill skiing), and the 1984 Summer Games in LA (gymnastics, swimming, in America!!!, Carl Lewis, the Evil Empire boycott) are tied as my favorite. 2002 Salt Lake games will always be special because we lived in Utah at the time, and we got to go to three events: Austria vs. Latvia men's hockey, curling, and the Men's figure skating final -- that was amazing, even though we were in the top balcony, 3rd row from the top and could really only watch via jumbotron. Sarajevo 1984 holds bittersweet memories - the Games were great, but the country crumbled afterwards. I watched the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France from a reclined position following my ACL replacement. I don't think I missed a minute; good timing! Clearly, I'm an Olympics nut.


So here comes Beijing on 8/8/08 (that was smart marketing guys). China has a horrible human rights record. The head of their "FDA" was executed after a series of food and drug safety scandals: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070900689_pf.html. Read more about China's execution policy here: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20082851236184. Amnesty International even charges China with tying execution policy to organ harvesting: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-death-van_x.htm. Forced abortion is still taking place: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9766870. Religion is "allowed", as long as one worships in a State-approved facility and manner. Voice of the Martyrs often has documented reports of persecution: http://www.persecution.com/.

While not on the par with their human rights record, China is in the process of damming up the beautiful Yangtze river (anyone remember "The Story About Ping"? Yep - that river. (photo credit: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ISBN=9780670672233&ourl=The%2DStory%2DAbout%2DPing%2FMarjorie%2DFlack) Villages and towns have been flooded, ruining livlihoods and homes, affecting millions of people. Read more: http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/china/three-gorges-dam.

And does anyone AT ALL remember Tienamen Square?

(Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989)

The New And Improved China unveils itself to the World: documentaries "From the Inside" on PBS and NatGeo channels. "We've changed!" "We love the West!" ("WE LOVE YOUR MONEY".)



I love the Olympics, and I'll watch...with one eye closed hating to admit that I'm watching them and loving them, and sharing the experience with my girls, because this will probably be Ingrid's first memory of the Olympics, and feeling horribly guilty for supporting them...and still loving them. Hopefully remembering that there are people who can't watch them from inside their prison cells because they spoke out about the horror of Tienamen Square and were bold enough to proclaim their love for Christ outside of the parameters of a State-approved venue.