**Blogger won't let me upload pictures ..... don't know why**
As I sit here watching the closing ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics …. I admit ……. I’m exhausted. Getting up at 3 every morning … sometimes 4 to catch events as they happened was both necessary cause I need to see stuff live but also made for very long days at work. As with Tokyo …. I got a little insane during these 17 days (July 26th – Aug. 11th) and if I wasn’t watching the games live, or repeats of events at night, I was looking at athlete social media and thinking about what I’d be watching next.
I found a fantastic app that allowed me to add games to my calendar…. I didn’t realize it was adding it to my work calendar but I wasn’t mad at that either. That ap has now been flipped over to the Paralympic games which are as inspiring and special to me as these games. The drama the stories, the athletes, watching them do the impossible and make it look so simple is just an extension of these games.
Thank goodness for Peacock. I really hope they keep the momentum going for the Paralympic games cause their coverage was fantastic. Being able to click live events as they were happening or search by a specific day or search by a specific sport in order to plan your day. I also loved that the times on Peacock were for my specific time zone which was instrumental in my planning process.
So what did I watch ……
Gymnastics, all kinds … Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline …. I love the drama of it. The athleticism and how there is very little to no room for error, you go up, do your routine and there is no do over. The Women blew me away as I expected them to and the Men had a rough start but a strong finish and finally got back to the podium. Volleyball is my other love and to watch it on an Olympic stage is just the best. While Beach Volleyball ended up breaking my heart it was a fun ride while it lasted and the rally’s these teams played on the beach in the sand that was burning their feet, in the heat, and sometimes at night with the Eiffel Tower glittering in the background was just a spectacle to be seen. Well played Paris .. well played. Diving …. From all heights … the US struggled hard but it was still fun to watch… another sport that is one and done … like one bad dive and it’s kind of over cause at that point you are counting on another to have a bad dive. These are the best in the world and bad days rarely happen at that level. Artistic Swimming – AKA Synchronized Swimming – which finally got some TV love this year due to the US having a team that made it to the podium. Indoor Volleyball ended up being satisfying after watching all the other Volleyball teams fall early. The power and speed that this sport is played at gives me chills. Literal chills. 3X3 Basketball – it feels like backyard ball and I’m here for it every single time. Archery – it’s sooooooo dramatic for very little reason …. Like that dramatic pause I guess to steady themselves before letting it rip is important but is it really ? Asking for a friend .. who is me. Now this sport with the Paralympians … that deserves all the drama but they just let it rip. Badminton – I mean …. Who hasn’t played this sport with family in the backyard or at a BBQ and thought they could do this until they watch and are like wait did the shuttlecock even move before the point ends? Basketball – I watched this one more cause of my nephew he loves this sport and it gives us something to talk about plus it was fun to see the new version of the “dream team” take the court and play as a unit. They almost fumbled hard but they pulled it off. The women however never lost control of it and just sailed to that Gold medal. Breaking - I still have no idea what was going on or how it was scored and yall I tried. I’ve read more about this “sport” that I’ve ever read about any other sport and I just can’t figure it out…. I don’t know if it will stay in the Olympics or not but it was interesting it just wasn’t explained very well for those of us that had not participated in a competition before. The announcers were …. Well I’m gonna be nice but I think they were making that shit up as they went along. Cycling … BMX … Track …. All fascinate me too cause the speed that they move and the closeness of each of the participants makes you think they are gonna die. I liken it to Snowboarding during the Winter Games it’s fun to watch but like Breaking I don’t quite know what’s going on but can at least tell a good run vs a not so good run. In breaking I couldn’t even attempt it. Routines that I thought were good and entertaining got no points … routines I thought were lousy got all the points. Like what the hell … but I digress. Equestrian …. I watched more of these events than I’ve likely watched in previous years…but I can’t really tell you why. Football … aka … Soccer … mostly cause my boss is obsessed with it and it gives us something to talk about. Rugby – this sport fascinates me but the Paralympic version of it, known as Murder Ball makes it look tame. Swimming ….. I mean how do you not watch it’s on for like 6 days straight and they have like 5,203,476,304,967 events each night. Table Tennis – see previous note about Badminton. Tennis – I mean … we said goodbye to Nadal who left it all on the court, got to see Djokovic not shock anyone by taking the tournament by storm. The real championship was between Nadal and Djokovic, after that it was all downhill from there. I’m gonna give the ladies a break cause well that was kind of painful to watch. Water Polo - which fascinates me, cause like how do they jump like that without touching the bottom of the pool? Weightlifting - cause I wanna be watching when they throw down those weights and destroy the floor..it’s gonna happen …. You just wait. I even got into some of the Track and Field events which I usually watch but with like one eyeball while I look for something else to watch.
I do admit there were sports that I didn’t get to watch … not as a boycott but more cause I just didn’t get to it or there just weren’t enough hours in the day …. Canoe Sprint (which I usually watch but didn’t this year for some reason), Fencing, Golf, Handball, Field Hockey (that blue field just was too much), Judo, Marathon Swimming, Modern Pentathlon (tho I did watch some of the events that make it up just not enough to say I watched it), Rowing, Sailing, Shooting (I mean honestly who came up with that?), Skateboarding, Sport Climbing (cause why really … what is the point ?), Surfing (again I saw pieces of it but not enough to say I watched it), Taekwondo, and wrestling.
Yall at one point my phone gave me a middle finger and said no more please …. It shut down and I was like oh goodness I guess we are done for the day. Like I couldn’t get it to come back on…. Couldn’t get it to charge… I really thought I was going to need a new phone but I guess it overheated or something cause she seems good now. Which is good cause like is said there is a rest then the Paralympic games get going. I will be watching but I will also be at Dragon Con so I’m gonna have to divide my two loves and catch what I can when I can. So Phone you are going to have to get it together and cause it’s going to be a long week again.
As I watch the Closing Ceremonies I’m struck by how colorful and exciting the Opening Ceremonies was vs this darker less celebratory version of a send off to these games.
Marcy @beaslma
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