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olympics as stepping stones across a life
Aug. 14th, 2004 03:30 am1964
My father was watching people swimming on tv. I wanted him to come do something else, but he said no. That this was something special. That once every 4 years people from all over the world had special games called Olympics. This stuff he was watching was happening on the far side of the world in Tokyo.
Since I was 4 that meant that the last time this had happened was the year I was born. Just like elections and leap years. More proof that 1960 was the ultimate choice of years to be born in :).
He left 2 months later. I watched the Bug leave with him as he moved out and the next time I saw him was in Japan.
1968
We had returned from Japan and moved to Portland. There was a lot of strange news I had trouble understanding that summer. While we were in Japan, somebody shot the brother of the president who had been shot, because they didn't want him to be president. There was a lot of ruckus about some convention for a guy with the hilariously ridiculous name of Humphrey Hubert, or Hubert Hump Free, or something like that. I just kept picturing him as half camel or something.
The most vivid image was of Russian tanks invading Czechoslovakia, which felt extra weird since we had just been in Russia.
By the time the Olympics happened again, in Mexico City, it was just more noisy news about angry protestors. It didn't sound like anything special and cool, just more fighting and ickiness.
The next month Nixon was elected, and the next day after that we moved again, this time to the Tri-Cities in WA.
1972
We were back in Berkeley and the Olympics were in Munich. They were fully cool and exciting. This was the first time I actually watched. I loved when they did profiles on different athletes. I thought Olga Korbut was amazing. Mark Spitz was unstoppable. Seven gold medals !?!
All the younger kids on my block were having swimming races in his honor. Nope, no swimming pools on this block. They did their swimming races running down the block waving their arms like different kinds of swimming strokes. It was very cute. My knees were already dislocating so I didn't run.
Then some assholes killed a bunch of Israeli's and the games abruptly ended.
1976
In Montreal, Olga Korbut was back, but now they were making a bigger fuss about Nadia Comaneci - her young age (14) and her unheard of perfect 10s. I had just graduated from high school, was uncertain what way to go from there, and was also recuperating from the effects of having tonsilitis for 3 months before noticing it. So I was an open sponge watching this one. I was very caught up in the thrill of it as an international event and fantasized finding some non-athletic way to be part of it.
When I had to select my classes for my first semester of College I signed up for Russian (and stuck with it for a year and a half). The deciding factor in my choice was that the 1980 games would be in Moscow and I figured if I took Russian and journalism I could go report on them. It seemed like the M cities were on a roll...
1980
No Olympics for the US. The Russians invaded Afghanistan. Major bummer.
1984
Los Angeles, so the US was there, but the Soviet Union and their buddies weren't. I was working in the Pub at San Jose State and they brought in a big screen tv for this. I caught some bits, but I didn't really follow it much. When the second game in a row is boycotted by one of the two major world super powers for political reasons, it falls way short of that international ideal that I thought was the point of the whole thing. Yes other countries boycotted in other years, and that is sad too, but this was a huger deal in that polarized world.
1988, 1992, 1996
I suppose one of these was in Atlanta. Where the others? Seoul? and ??? I watched bits here and there. Mostly gymnastics if I could catch it. It seemed like they were only interested in profiling American athletes any more and showing what Americans did. Professionals could start playing now too. Oh well. I had more interest in watching the winter games which oddly and disruptively had gotten bumped off course by two years.
2000
I had just broken my leg and couldn't put any weight on it. The vicodin and the healing took all my energy - physical and mental. Watching tv was about all I could do - so yes I watched most of the Sydney games. I didn't like that one girl gymnast lost her medal because her coach gave her sudafed for her cold.
2004
It's cool that the games are in Greece. One of my coworkers is there for it. I heard her telling someone she's some sort of 'volunteer' for them. Doing what I have no idea, I only just barely started working there when she left. I'll ask when she gets back. Sounds like a form of what I hoped to do 24 years ago. I didn't watch the opening ceremonies. I probably will watch some bits, tape them first so I can fast-forward through the commercials and other garbage.
[ okay I just looked it up... 1960 = Rome, 1988 = Seoul, 1992 = Barcelona, 1996 = Atlanta, 2008 - Beijing? ]
My father was watching people swimming on tv. I wanted him to come do something else, but he said no. That this was something special. That once every 4 years people from all over the world had special games called Olympics. This stuff he was watching was happening on the far side of the world in Tokyo.
Since I was 4 that meant that the last time this had happened was the year I was born. Just like elections and leap years. More proof that 1960 was the ultimate choice of years to be born in :).
He left 2 months later. I watched the Bug leave with him as he moved out and the next time I saw him was in Japan.
1968
We had returned from Japan and moved to Portland. There was a lot of strange news I had trouble understanding that summer. While we were in Japan, somebody shot the brother of the president who had been shot, because they didn't want him to be president. There was a lot of ruckus about some convention for a guy with the hilariously ridiculous name of Humphrey Hubert, or Hubert Hump Free, or something like that. I just kept picturing him as half camel or something.
The most vivid image was of Russian tanks invading Czechoslovakia, which felt extra weird since we had just been in Russia.
By the time the Olympics happened again, in Mexico City, it was just more noisy news about angry protestors. It didn't sound like anything special and cool, just more fighting and ickiness.
The next month Nixon was elected, and the next day after that we moved again, this time to the Tri-Cities in WA.
1972
We were back in Berkeley and the Olympics were in Munich. They were fully cool and exciting. This was the first time I actually watched. I loved when they did profiles on different athletes. I thought Olga Korbut was amazing. Mark Spitz was unstoppable. Seven gold medals !?!
All the younger kids on my block were having swimming races in his honor. Nope, no swimming pools on this block. They did their swimming races running down the block waving their arms like different kinds of swimming strokes. It was very cute. My knees were already dislocating so I didn't run.
Then some assholes killed a bunch of Israeli's and the games abruptly ended.
1976
In Montreal, Olga Korbut was back, but now they were making a bigger fuss about Nadia Comaneci - her young age (14) and her unheard of perfect 10s. I had just graduated from high school, was uncertain what way to go from there, and was also recuperating from the effects of having tonsilitis for 3 months before noticing it. So I was an open sponge watching this one. I was very caught up in the thrill of it as an international event and fantasized finding some non-athletic way to be part of it.
When I had to select my classes for my first semester of College I signed up for Russian (and stuck with it for a year and a half). The deciding factor in my choice was that the 1980 games would be in Moscow and I figured if I took Russian and journalism I could go report on them. It seemed like the M cities were on a roll...
1980
No Olympics for the US. The Russians invaded Afghanistan. Major bummer.
1984
Los Angeles, so the US was there, but the Soviet Union and their buddies weren't. I was working in the Pub at San Jose State and they brought in a big screen tv for this. I caught some bits, but I didn't really follow it much. When the second game in a row is boycotted by one of the two major world super powers for political reasons, it falls way short of that international ideal that I thought was the point of the whole thing. Yes other countries boycotted in other years, and that is sad too, but this was a huger deal in that polarized world.
1988, 1992, 1996
I suppose one of these was in Atlanta. Where the others? Seoul? and ??? I watched bits here and there. Mostly gymnastics if I could catch it. It seemed like they were only interested in profiling American athletes any more and showing what Americans did. Professionals could start playing now too. Oh well. I had more interest in watching the winter games which oddly and disruptively had gotten bumped off course by two years.
2000
I had just broken my leg and couldn't put any weight on it. The vicodin and the healing took all my energy - physical and mental. Watching tv was about all I could do - so yes I watched most of the Sydney games. I didn't like that one girl gymnast lost her medal because her coach gave her sudafed for her cold.
2004
It's cool that the games are in Greece. One of my coworkers is there for it. I heard her telling someone she's some sort of 'volunteer' for them. Doing what I have no idea, I only just barely started working there when she left. I'll ask when she gets back. Sounds like a form of what I hoped to do 24 years ago. I didn't watch the opening ceremonies. I probably will watch some bits, tape them first so I can fast-forward through the commercials and other garbage.
[ okay I just looked it up... 1960 = Rome, 1988 = Seoul, 1992 = Barcelona, 1996 = Atlanta, 2008 - Beijing? ]
