Go Team

I am doing my best to enjoy these Olympics despite the enormous obstacles the TV commentators and producers place in my path. Who chose the boxing announcers who keep bemoaning the fact that amateur boxing is not the same as professional? Thank god it isn't or we would be witnessing knockouts in 30 seconds, forty year old former champions fighting for tax payments, or boxers lying in the ring in a coma. I don't know how many times I was asked, as an apparent expert in these matters, to evaluate if all the Chinese female gymnasts were of legal age to compete. How the hell would I know? I am not even a parent. I do know, that whenever they gave me the opportunity, I was witnessing some incredible performances by the Chinese teams; women and men.

I don't know when I have enjoyed the highs and lows of a team sport more than when I watched the US men go from the giddy emotional height they experienced when in first place after several rounds, to the depths of despair after two performances on the pommel horse. Called by many "The Beast", the pommel horse is difficult because it requires an incredible amount of upper body strength. The third performance for the US started slow, but built to a crescendo; his legs scissoring, the athlete held himself inches above the apparatus, whirling at incredible speed. His team's enthusiasm followed suit, building to a peak as the realization set in that he was pulling off the performance of a lifetime. 

My brothers and I were separated by enough years that we don't have many shared memories from our youth. The ones that my brother Tom and I share revolve around sports. Tom was much younger, but fast, and fearless. He was fearless in sport and in life. He was the one who would buy a new basketball from Sears Roebuck for each pickup game. When we finished, he would return it for a refund: "It didn't bounce right". We remember the schoolyard where we played most of our games. One of the baskets was on the edge of a hill. Missed shots necessitated a frantic chase to catch up with the ball before it had rolled about a thousand yards. The road had enough traffic that you wanted to catch the ball, especially Tom, before it was flattened by a car. Tom had a financial incentive. Sears would never believe the ball exploded against the backboard during a layup. None of us were tall enough to claim we slammed it against the rim!

We had fun. Our baseball diamond was in a quarry. High piles of gravel defined the home run line. Our shirts were the bases. Today, if you listen to the voices and tones of the TV announcers, silver or bronze medals are disappointments. The swimmer Phelps receives over five million dollars a year in endorsements. He's paid to win. Our basketball players all earn more. These are not the athletes that are called at the end of every Olympic ceremony to get ready and prepare for the next in four years. It's a shame that we can't watch the rowers, the archers, the true Olympians. I want to watch people performing for pride, maybe even having some fun. I felt the joy of the guy from Togo who won in kayaking, the first medal for anyone from his country. I don't enjoy the NBA. It has less drama for me than the quarter finals of So You Think You Can Dance. I certainly don't want to watch more of the same during the Olympics.

I'm still digressing from my intended writing schedule. However, come back to this blog soon if you are planning to attend the next carnival in your area. I'll be writing about my experience helping to assemble the giant Ferris wheel at a carnival in Fort Hayes, Kansas.

You may enjoy reading: I can't help but wonder if any of the kids today get to have the fun that we did.

Also, may I recommend for your enjoyment: The rhythm of the drummers in the street.

The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first of a three-issue arc fans and historians call "The Galactus Trilogy".

Originally a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La, in order to save his home-world from destruction by a fearsome cosmic entity known as Galactus, Norrin Radd made a bargain with the being, pledging himself to serve as his herald. Imbued in return with a tiny portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic, Radd acquired great powers and a silvery appearance. Galactus also created for Radd a surfboard-like craft — modeled after a childhood fantasy of his — on which he would travel at speeds beyond that of light. Known from then on as the Silver Surfer, Radd began to roam the cosmos searching for new planets for Galactus to consume. When his travels finally took him to Earth, the Surfer came face-to-face with the Fantastic Four, a team of powerful superheroes that helped him to rediscover his nobility of spirit. Betraying Galactus, the Surfer saved Earth but was punished in return with everlasting exile there.

Stan Lee enjoyed the character and decided to feature him in his own individual title in 1968. John Buscema was penciller for the first 17 issues of the series, with Kirby returning for the eighteenth and final issue. The first seven issues, which included anthological "Tales of the Watcher" backup stories, were 72-page (with advertising), 25-cent "giants", as opposed to typical 36-page, 12-cent comics of the time. Thematically, the stories dealt with the Surfer's exile on Earth and the inhumanity of man as observed by this noble yet fallen hero. The Silver Surfer comic book series became known as one of Lee's most thoughtful and introspective works. Englehart writes that Buscema and Lee were "pouring their souls into the series".

Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.

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