Fireballs, Lightning Bolts and Hell Storms

The Olympics in Athens

When I was a boy growing up, I dreamed about becoming a famous sports star. My first great dream was that I wanted to play basketball for John Wooden at UCLA. However Coach Wooden retired in 1975, so at the tender age of 9 I found myself having to change my career plans.

My next dream was that I wanted to become a world class distance runner. I had been inspired by Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers when I was a teen, even as I played the more popular sports. I sometimes wonder whether I should have started running. I could really kick a football and a soccer ball when I was 12 - 14 years old. Had I stayed with football, it is quite possible that I could have been a professional field goal kicker or punter. Running killed my legs and it turned out that I didn't have the speed or talent to become really good in the sport.

These thoughts well up inside of me when I see the Olympics. Considering my love of history, the classical world, and the Olympics, it should have been a no brainer for me to have planned a trip to the Athens Olympics, but I was concentrating on buying property and other such issues. It really makes me sad because over the past few days, stories have been cropping up in the newspapers saying that a lot of venues for various events have been only half full.

On a whim, last weekend I spent several hours trying to arrange a flight to Athens. I found one path which would have put me through Frankfurt Germany, then through to Athens, but it cost $1,800. Even if I had taken that flight, I would have been faced with the problem of trying to arrange a hotel room. I know nobody in Greece and hotel rooms would have probably started at $250 per day. Even for a one week trip, it would have come out to a good $4,000+. If I had only thought of this a year ago... Sigh.

A new thought came into my head. The Olympics are in Beijing in 2008. Start making those travel plans now! I could go see Zhouxian again and see how it's changed!

I watched the opening ceremonies on the 14th. I absolutely got choked up. I loved the Greek drum that mimicked the heartbeat of a human who was exercising. The pagentry was unbelieveable.

And so it is. My Oracle (yes, I'll do one this month!) will be on how many medals the United States will win in these Olympics.

Posted by The Mighty Wizard at August 17, 2004 09:21 PM