Olympic Fever!

I'll admit it, I'm an "Olympics Junkie." I love watching the Olympics - summer or winter, I don't care. I'll watch as much as I can whenever I can. And the Vancouver 2010 games have been no exception. And since I've been fighting a nasty cold since the day of the opening ceremonies, this has given me even more opportunites to tune in while I've been at home resting.

It may sound silly, but I actually got a bit emotional as the opening ceremonies were starting. In the opening shot they had a snowboarder boarding down from a mountain peak and as he was getting closer to the bottom, they were naming all the years and cities of previous winter games. And as they started getting closer to "2002 Salt Lake City" I started to get teary-eyed remembering how amazing it was to have such an awesome event hosted by my own home city. I just wish that I would have taken better advantage of having the Olympics right there in my own backyard and would have made a better effort to attend more of the events.

I think there's something awe inspiring and almost magical about the Olympics. I love watching these athletes from all over the world come together and compete for a chance at a gold medal not only for themselves, but for their beloved country also. It's not like watching the overpaid professional athletes you see all too often. These are hard working individuals who have sacrificed so much and trained so hard to get to this level of competition; each with their own inspirational story of how they got there. I love seeing the athletes' expressions of pure joy and elation as they realize that their dream of gold has come true. And I feel bad for them when they realize their hopes are crushed in just a fraction of a second. I'm exacted to watch even more incredible footage and see more memorable moments made as the Olympics continue for the next week and a half.