Olympic Fever

Man, you have no idea how much I loved the Olympics when I was a kid. I used to go the library and check out "History Of The Olympics" type books and read about Jesse Owens and Peggy Fleming and count up how many medals Canada had won over the years (that didn't take too long). I don't think too many other young boys of my time considered Percy Williams a personal hero.

I haven't really felt the excitement over the Olympics in quite a while. I mean, I'll watch. But it's hard not to get jaded in this day and age of information overload. But this week, with just a couple weeks remaining until the Vancouver Winter Olympics get under way, I officially caught Olympic Fever. I'm pumped!

It all happened last Wednesday. Rachel had been chosen to be a torch bearer as the Olympic Flame relayed its way through Kamloops, so we headed up there with Henry and Rachel's sister Katy. My sister and her kids came up too. I expected it to be cool, but honestly, it was fucking awesome! Basically the whole city came out and lined the streets (and then the football stadium where they lit the cauldron in a big ceremony at the end of the day, with bands and celebs and whatnot). It really was an electric environment. When it was Rachel's turn I completely forgot myself. I ran across the police line keeping people on the sidewalk so I could get pictures of her from the other side. I almost got run over by some kind of Olympic vehicle, and when I looked behind me my nine year-old niece Bethany was almost suffering a similar fate. So I grabbed her and we ran the rest of Rachel's stretch hand-in-hand while trying to snap pictures. So I'm the fun uncle, not the responsible one. I can live with that. I hate to use the word "magical" in the same paragraph I use the word "electric", and I promise this type of behavior will not occur regularly in this spot. But sorry. It was magical.

I've also been getting pumped just by the transformation happening in this city. You can't walk anywhere down town or around the sea wall without beginning to realize just how big a deal this is going to be. I live right in the middle of it, in a 16th floor condo. I can look out my den/poker office and see Hamilton Street, which will be closed off to only pedestrians for the length of the games. It's gonna be a zoo, and I really couldn't be more excited.