i am completely speechless from the closing ceremonies. how could you not be entranced by the choreography of hundreds of people not only to utilize their movement but also their costumes and the structures built in a matter of hours. then there's another component of choreography that only the chinese could do this well. from the countdown with simple bottle rockets to incredibly timed showering mortars, there is little that can be said. i'm going to completely ignore the "theme" of this olympics, "beijing, beijing, oh i love beijing," catchy... kinda but how about the wide array of drummers? the beginning had 6 or 7 year old stick handlers (don't try to verify their age with the chinese government...) and then a couple chic 20 somethings going at it. and ... jackie chan!!!! i'm going to agree with nbc's chris collinsworth and say that it will be a long time until we see another host nation that takes so much pride in their athletes, venues, and performances as china did. well done china.
all and all a wonderful, rather controversy free olympics (ignoring the whole age thing). china dominated the golds, the u.s. won the total medal count, and jamaica defined themselves as the premier sprinting nation. and now, what's next? well since there was a david beckham kick and london's mayor waving a flag, i guess that means we will be doing this in the uk this time 4 years from now. will they have the guards in hats dancing. correct answer: yes.
in london, i look forward to the records being broken, parents crying for the success of the children, the chills of unfolding stories and the passion of patriotism that comes from host countries and the athletes that play for their nations. as for this glorious event that will be back quicker than we say, "how many medals did phelps win?" we close this fairy tale and say goodbye. thank you to all the athletes, coaches, volunteers, referees, anounchers, and fans. cheers.
In light of the 4th of July, which I spent on the Mall in DC with my parents, I've been thinking about what it means to be patriotic. The word patriotism is one that is thrown around all too much, especially when talking about the Presidential campaign and the two leading candidates. The suggestion that either candidate is not patriotic has got to be one of the most absurd things that I have ever heard in my life.
