Assorted Nuts

Hey all,

Just wanted to drop a few lines on several different topics today. First off I wanted to apologize for all the typographical errors in my last installment of Flash Fiction. I proof read it and still it was atrocious. Just terrible. I have gone through and edited it and I wanted to apologize. I know that I sometimes miss spelling or grammar, but I switched perspective in the story and there is no excuse for that. It is fixed and ready to go now, but I am sorry.

Second is my continued love of the Olympics. It is just incredible how every four years this spectacle really inspires me. It has been great watching Michael Phelps just CRUSH the competition. Every event a gold, every event a new world record. Amazing. The gymnastics have also been really fun to watch. Tonight is the woman's all around and I am really liking America's shot at the gold with hopefuls Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. It doesn't even matter the event, I am just behind this wave of patriotism and the spirit of competition that these games have brought about.

I will say something about these games that will probably get me flamed, or at least ridiculed. I think that everyone who is calling Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time is wrong. What he is doing is the peak of dominance, he is by FAR the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, but the greatest Olympian of all time? I don't feel confident saying that. There are so many swimming events, so many medals in what is essentially the same sport that it is easier for him to get more medals. Not that I want to take away from what he does, because he IS the greatest swimmer of all time undoubtedly, but other great Olympiads did things to further not only their sport, but impact the world. Please take what I am saying with the understanding that I know what Phelps is doing right now is a feat we may never see repeated. Just think about some of these other Olympiads.

What about Carl Lewis, a man who medaled 10 times in Track and Field events (arguably harder and more varied than swimming) over the course of 4 Olympic Games (1984, '88,'92, and '96). He even missed a 5th Olympics from the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow games. How about Nadia Comăneci, the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10 and score 9 medals in only 2 games? What about Jessie Owens? A black man in the 1936 Olympic games in the middle of Nazi Germany. Achieving a gold medal and spiting Hitler's Aryan dominance theory is surely a feat of greatness.

There are a ton of Olympiads I know I am leaving out. Just remember, the most medals isn't always the best. Sometimes the greatest champion is the ones that faced loss and dealt with it. Sometimes the greatest athlete isn't the one playing for himself or his country, but for the betterment of the world.

Anyway, if your not watching these games you are missing greatness. Despite what I said about Phelps, watching him dominate these games is a special moment and I am glad to see it.

Enough rambling, thanks for reading. I will be back tomorrow with some more Flash Fiction. Stay golden ponyboy!

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Gerrad!