All of the hoopla and folderol of the Olympics is fun to observe, but I’m doing it at a 
remove, the newspaper rather than the television.
Admit I am a tad jealous of Christine, who leaves for London Friday, event tickets in hand. “My son plays water polo and we’ve got tickets to water polo…and a coach he knows just got added to the team!”
In 1996 I was fortunate to go to Atlanta and watch some of the big-ticket events, among them diving and the gymnastics finals, including the US women win their first ever team gold medal…until today.
I always knew that 1996 was a one-time deal.
Back in the Pleistocene, 1976, I was a sophomore at UC Davis. After dinner at the dining commons and a little studying it was off to the student lounge to watch Jim McKay. We could hardly fit in the room. There was cheering. Seems to me that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Big bunch of people rooting for the home team.
These days it’s quiet around here, just Axel and me. Feels weird to watch a big spectacle that way. Axel isn’t much of a cheerer. Suppose I could invite myself over to Linda’s…she changed her vacation planning to make SURE she had her big home screen television from
Axel has no opinion on the Olympics.
the get-go.
When I read about especially cool events I can always look them up online…just looked up a Dorothy Hamill clip from 1976. And if I went over to Linda’s, Axel might get lonely.
