OLYMPICS PARIS 2024

**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 26^th – Aug. 11^th) 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. 

 Medal Count ... cause that's all anyone cares about (which is sad) ends with US on top of the pike for MOST MEDALS at 126 .... GOLD   40   SILVER 44    BRONZE 42 .... so we had a good O    Olympics for sure. China was behind us with 91 total (also 40 Gold), Japan with 45 total, Australia with 53 adn France rounding out the top 5 with 64 total medals as they hosted the biggest sporting party of all time. In 4 years we get to do this again on US soil once again. I’ve really given a lot of thought to Los Angels … but I know me I’ll talk myself out of it. However …. It’s always a possibility … I have 4 years to make up my mind after all.

Marcy @beaslma

Original Fiction --YIPPIE!!!

Ok…. So today while working on my Halloween TV calendar, I had volleyball on in the background. I can’t remember the two teams playing (AKA it wasn’t Auburn) but it got me thinking about a story I wrote while at that wonderful university. I’ve spent the day sending inspirational/positive notes to a friend of mine on Twitter who is at a cross roads in her life. I told her she deserves to take a chance on herself. It’s funny to me that I can see that for other people but not for myself. So while it’s original fiction it’s not a story I just wrote the other day, that one still isn’t done and is starting to make me mad. In the meantime I’m sharing this one, I’m super proud of it and it often reminds me that at some point I did have talent. I just have to find it again, much like Mrs. Erika! :D So ...here goes...

“Friendship”

In love and life, nothing is certain. I learned that the hard way. I was 22 years old, and instead of getting ready for class, I drove to see my best friend for the last time. As I got off I-10, towards West Mobile, our relationship replayed in my brain, from the day we met until our last conversation, only a few days ago. We met in middle school, he sat behind me in home-room, but it wasn’t until high school that our friendship grew into something more than just acquaintances.

I was a senior and on the volleyball team. Steven was a recruit from our coach to help with the equipment. He was around all the time anyway, so she put him to work. We rode to school together in my dad’s Volkswagen convertible, so it was either wait for me, or walk home from school. I think he would have stayed anyway. His job was to keep the balls inflated, get linesmen for the games, and put up the net before practices and the games since we shared the court with the basketball team. There was plenty for him to do. Plus he was able to hang out with twelve girls every afternoon, so he didn’t mind the work.

During my senior year, I was thinking about college and he was getting ready to enter the work place something that, to this day, I hate. He was a smart guy and deserved college but the money just wasn’t there. It was hard for me to think about going to school without him sitting in the car next to me, something that we talked about only once.

“Why don’t you get a job in Tuscaloosa, then we can still be together?” I asked with a slight smile on my face, knowing he couldn’t do it.

             “Because,” he informed me between bites of his breakfast, a Snickers bar and a Pepsi, “that would make coming for a visit a lot less interesting.”
             “No, really,” I said, as I stole his drink. “How can I step on the court without you being there in my cheering section?”
             “Section? No offense my friend, but one person and your mom does not constitute a section. You’re going to do great. Just remember when you dive use your knee pads.” He started to laugh and I was happy when he started to choke on his ‘breakfast of champions.’

It was the one thing that I constantly had problems with on the court. My kneepads were always too low, or too high, usually ending my practices early.

             “Just stop diving,” Steven told me one day after an encounter with the floor.

My face was in a grimace as we walked back to the locker room to get my knee iced up. “It’s not like I go out there with the intention, to break my knee,” I told him.  I was determined not to cry as he started to wrap my knee. “Ow! That’s too tight. Damn, Steven, are you trying to kill me?”

             “Sorry. Should I go get coach? It seems to be really bad this time.” He never stopped wrapping my knee as he rolled his eyes at me.
             “No, and you have to swear that you won’t tell her. I’ll be ok. If she thinks I’m hurt then she’ll pull me out of the game Friday. That can’t happen. The scout from Florida is coming to look at me, and it’s my only ticket away from Alabama.”
             “So, I shouldn’t sign the lease on that apartment in ‘loosa, just yet, huh?”

 He gave me a tight smile and blinked several times; it was ok. I was blinking, too. The difference was if I started to cry I could blame it on my knee. He had no excuse. He left before the blinking no longer worked to stop his tears.

It didn’t matter because the scout from Florida wasn’t impressed. I barely made it through warm-ups and after the third service game my volleyball career was over. Sitting in the locker room crying while my team played on was the lowest point; I felt like I had let my team down, but more importantly I’d let myself down. There would be no scholarship, and no volleyball in college.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was hurt?” Coach Davis yelled at him.

             “Because she really wanted to play. I thought if she was really hurt she would tell you.”
             “Oh, please. You know her better than that.”

They both turned their attention to me and helped me out to my mother’s car. Truth be told Steven knew how bad I wanted that scholarship, and how bad that I wanted to play in college, so even if he knew my knee was broken he wouldn’t have told anyone.

I still went to the practices and games; after all, I was still on the team even if I couldn’t play. Now, I was the one sitting around waiting on Steven. He would get his stuff done, steal a ball away from the team, and we would set it back and forth until the coach needed him. He still believed that I could play in college; it was at a local park that he would learn the truth. We had gone to the park to study for mid-terms, but never opened a book.

            “So, when do you get your brace off? I’m tired of having to help you walk around school.”

            “Soon, I hope. I’m tired of you being everywhere I go.”
            “Think you’ll get to play in the final game?”
            “Steven, I’m not going to be playing volleyball this year or in college.”
            “Sure you will. It will just take a while to get back to speed, but you’ll play again. Stop being so dramatic.”
            “I’m not being dramatic. The doctor told me that one more hard hit, and surgery is the only option left. You know how I feel about surgery, and doctors. So I won’t be playing anymore.”
            “Damn, you’re serious aren’t you? That sucks. Are you ok?”
            “I have no choice but to be ok with it.”

I started to cry, and that’s why we never opened a book. He moved over so I could cry on his shoulder. It was the moment when I knew I didn’t want to leave him behind. I told him that and he laughed at me until he realized I was serious.

“So I guess your choices for schools have again changed. I wish you would make up your mind. I’m tired of having to buy you a new sweatshirt for each different school.” He opened his book bag and pulled out three sweatshirts-one for each school that I had considered.

I ended up going away to school as planned, with no major even thought about. I had two years to decide, which ended up being three years because as soon as I chose a major, it changed. I am now a semester away from graduation, and two weeks from finals, but all that is on the back burner as I pull up to the church. My black dress and heels would have had him dying with laughter. It just wasn’t me. He had only seen me in a dress once and it was at graduation: an event that we both spent the day laughing at because it was easier to laugh than it was to cry. He hadn’t wanted me to go away, but he didn’t want me to stay either. He knew how badly I wanted -no- needed to get away from this town. It was four years of e-mails, long distance phone calls, and snail mail letters, now all ending. Steven was no longer going to be with me, in the car or in my cheering section. I couldn’t decide if I was angry with him or just angry. I wanted him to be ok. I wanted to go back to a few days earlier, when he was driving home from work and that guy ran that red light. I wanted that guy to step on the brake and for Steven to be laughing at my dress.

After the funeral, which several of our friends from high school attended, his mother walked over to me. Her hair was messy, and she looked tired, but I guess so did I. She hugged me. The ring that Steven’s dad had given her when he was born dug into my back. She gave me an envelope and said, “He really loved you. You know that, don’t you?” I nodded, because the words didn’t come. I was glad that I’d decided to not wear makeup. I’m sure the mascara would have been running down my face, like the filling inside an Oreo on a hot day.

I walked to my car, no longer the convertible Volkswagen of all those years before, and got in. The envelope had pictures of the two of us from high school and those summer visits home, one from when we went to get our driver’s licenses. He was wearing that damn hat, the one with the New Orleans Saint’s logo. It was so old. It looked like it had been under a house for years, with rats living in it. His mother would wash it but it never came clean; the hat was white, but no one could tell. He wore it everywhere; I started to cry because I wanted to see him in that hat again. For all the times it use to make me mad, this time I would have been glad to see it. He brought it to our high school graduation but didn’t wear it, just wanted to make me smile. He could always do that; make me smile.

There was a CD in the envelope as well; I pulled it out and popped it into the CD player. It was a bunch of songs about friends doing things.

The Jacket cover of the CD was so him. The names of the titles were all over the place, with little phrases under them about the song. “You can’t have a friend Cd without this song,” was under You’ve Got a Friend by James Taylor. Other songs included One, Two I Love You by Clay Walker, a song about two people who are friends since they were children; Let’s Get Together by the Young Bloods; and a song from a Winnie The Pooh CD called, Friends Forever. My mom bought us that CD when we graduated and told us it was because that one song was just us. The chorus of the song is that “Some things are just meant to be and that’s you and me.” The last song on the CD was Jimmy Buffett’s version of Brown Eyed Girl, because as Steven told me on so many occasions, “Every CD had to have a Jimmy Buffett song.”

I pulled out of the parking lot heading back to school, listening to it and thinking of him when his voice came out of my speakers, causing me to choke on my Snickers bar. In the background as he talked was Garth Brooks, singing A Friend to me: “Well you and I, we’re buddies, and we’ve been since we first met.” Garth faded out and Steven faded in. 

“Hey girl! I know I talked to you on the phone last night, but you sounded down so I wanted you to have a CD that would make you think of all the good things we have done and know I’ll always be there with you. If for one second you get sad, throw it out the window, but make sure the police aren’t watching, cause I’m not helping you pay the fine. I just wanted you to know that I do miss you and can’t wait until we are together again just hanging out. I miss you and well... I’ll deny ever saying this if you ask me in the future, but… I love you.”

I had to pull off the road as Garth Brooks finished singing “Yes, you’ve always been a friend to me.” It was as if he were telling me it was all ok. I never knew how he always knew what to say to me just when I needed it said, but I’m glad at least someone did. I wasn’t sure how I was going to go on knowing that he was gone, but this CD was going to help. I silently thanked him as I started up the car and drove back to school, finals, and a life without my best friend.

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So there it is …. drop me a line…. Hit me up on twitter @beaslma or leave a comment below…. Should I keep  going?!

--Marcy