Goin' For Gold

I don't know why, but I sure do get sucked into watching the Olympics. I know I'm from the United States, but I find myself cheering on great athletic performances, rather than the country the athletes represent. I was watching downhill skiing last night, and the difference in time between the first place finisher and the third place finisher was nine hundredths of a second. That is about two blinks of an eye. The second place finisher was literally one blink away, four hundredths of a second. We've all seen photo finishes in all types of sports, but to grasp the ability it takes to even finish the course, let alone come within the blink of an eye to win it all, is quite amazing. These athletes are well tuned machines, and the difference between first and second place, could have been the placement of their ski in a certain turn, or possibly the angle of their crouch on a downhill straightaway, and maybe breathing in when they should have exhaled, who knows. It's quite impressive what the human body is capable of. Of course, it takes years of training the muscles, the breathing, and the mind to accomplish such feats. I also caught some snowboarding competition. Snowboarders are a different breed. Most athletes are concerned about wind resistance, and usually wear clothing that is form fitting to cut the drag from the wind. Not snowboarders! I'm not sure the reasoning, but they appear to be wearing more clothes than when I leave for work in the morning during the month of February. Trust me, I'm not very aerodynamic. It takes a lot of energy to make it throughout my day with the extra clothing. Getting in and out of the truck, trudging through snow on frozen ground, with ruts formed from trucks and heavy equipment, carrying job materials and tools that are not equally balanced, having to maneuver hallways and stair wells, and perhaps carrying them in such a way that twists your torso, that, by the time you're finished, a chiropractic visit may be in the near future. Geez, I made that sound like an Olympic event. Maybe those athletes aren't so special after all. Maybe I could start up a 'special' type of Olympics for those of us who didn't make the team. Wait, that may have already been done.