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Raise a Glass to the Olympics
25 Plays3 months ago
Eric tries to warm Hunter's cold, cynical heart with his love for the Olympics and the stories we tell about it.
Derek Redmond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2G8KVzTwfw
Michael Phelps medals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F81cLjRY4to
Mikaela Shiffrin's Essay: https://signature.theplayerstribune.com/mikaela-shiffrin-olympics-team-usa-skiing/p/1
Ifixit: https://www.ifixit.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Olympic Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
um Hello, and welcome to Raise a Glass, the podcast where we talk about the stories and storytellers that shape us. but but My name is Hunter Danson. And my name is Eric Litzela. And you're listening to the August 2024 podcast about the 2024 Paris Olympics.
00:00:25
Speaker
Yay!
00:00:31
Speaker
horn things who's with us yeah that sounded like something out about the ah horard of of help hammer hand i was thinking in i was envisioning some holy fonts in the background oh yeah oh my goodness
Tribute to Uncle Andy with a Rum and Coke
00:00:59
Speaker
All right. and ah But before we get into into the Olympics,
00:01:10
Speaker
ah
00:01:13
Speaker
I have to know, Eric, what is in your glass? Hunter, I am honoring one of my uncles who recently passed away today in my glass. I have one of his favorite drinks. So he didn't drink beer. He only drank a little bit of wine, but he loved mixed drinks. And he would call them all kitties, which I guess is a word that used to just mean mixed drink. Kind of like you throw throw money in the kitty or throw cards in the kitty and you know, you throw drinks in the kitty.
00:01:45
Speaker
um And so this is a black heart spiced rum with Pepsi. So a version of a rum and coke. Interesting. um If you you know me, Hunter, I don't like coke at all. So this is going to be rum with a smallest the of splashes of coke coke for my Uncle Andy. This is for you.
00:02:13
Speaker
Not bad. Actually, let's add a little bit more coke to it. This is only the second Roman coke I've ever had.
00:02:25
Speaker
The first one was when I was on a family vacation and my brother and I, uh, sneaked rum into a bourbon, actually into a movie theater, which is probably the peak of me being a rebel. Um, and that happened in my mid.
00:02:44
Speaker
20s, maybe late 20s. We'll say mid 20s, early mid 20s. And then ah because the extra large cokes were just barely more expensive than the large ah small cokes, he decided to get an extra large one for us to pour into. Safe to say I drank very little of it, because it just tasted like coke. And I am not a fan. But this is
00:03:13
Speaker
Not bad. I like Ramen Coke. It smells like something sweet.
00:03:24
Speaker
Like soda? No. Well, maybe I don't ever drink soda. So this does all sort of smell sweet. Yeah. I mean, it's, there's a lot of, well in America, it's corn syrup. Dots reminds me of dots, not the dots that come on papers, but the gummy ones.
00:03:41
Speaker
Interesting. Nobody likes except me. They're like one of my favorite candies. Like you bite into them and they get... Try to get them out of your teeth. But that's me, Hunter. I've talked for too long. Hunter, what is in your glass today?
Comfort in Tea and Banana Bread
00:03:54
Speaker
Well, Eric, I have my, um, my Shutterfly family picture dad mug. Wow. That's what my wife did for me. It's amazing. I got some throat coat.
00:04:12
Speaker
tea. um I was thinking about having a beer but I've had quite a week and I wanted to stay somewhat present for the podcast and it's just kind of hard to do that when you when you drink alcohol but um
00:04:37
Speaker
ah That's not all I have. I also have a slice of just made today banana bread. Nice. That my wife made. um It's actually the like the first time that she's made banana bread because she doesn't really like bananas. Oh, really? um But it's really good. My wife is is an amazing baker.
00:04:59
Speaker
um
00:05:02
Speaker
As far as I remember, she never really ate any of the banana bread I made, but I think that's because she doesn't like bananas. Mm-hmm. Because the banana bread I made was pretty, pretty epic. I'm gonna stop talking about it. Mm. That looks delicious. It is.
00:05:21
Speaker
yeah
00:05:26
Speaker
Yeah, you've teased me before with with baked goods, so now I'm returning the favor. Well, you chose one that doesn't crunch, so I think that's a win for everybody, especially our listeners. That's true. Yeah. I've definitely crunched my way through a couple episodes. Those Nilla Wafers, the episode you had Nilla Wafers, it's like every 10 seconds I had to edit out. of
00:05:52
Speaker
Oh, my goodness. Anyway. That's what we're 20 minutes in. We've recorded five minutes of the episode. It's good. Yeah, we got to get better at that.
00:06:07
Speaker
But ah before we get there, quickly, if we can, or I should say succinctly, not quickly, and But um what are you raising and and pouring your rum and coke for this week? and So my family just went on a family vacation um versus just the four of us and then with my wife's family. And so we were gone for 10 days. And so I'm pouring one out and that we probably should have been gone for nine days, ah given nine or eight given when our children and
00:06:40
Speaker
Really, we're done with vacation. um Anybody who's a parent out there knows what I mean by that. If you're not, then just imagine going to the grocery store and some kid breaking down, screaming, crying like for no reason. And then multiply that by once an hour for no parent reason. And then they're not napping or sleeping well.
00:07:00
Speaker
um So that was a poor but it wasn't that bad of a making it sound worse than it was. It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful engagement blast you can hear about it a little bit in this episode. But what I'm going to raise one out razor glass for is my son. My son Caleb is just over two years old.
00:07:18
Speaker
Um, we were in Virginia, Shenandoah national park. We went on a three hour hike, one and a half miles up, one and a half miles down, 900 feet elevation change from bottom to top. So moderate hike, you know, not extreme, but not, it's not, not walking around a pond. Um, and so it took us three hours and kid, you not hunter. My son walked for all but 15 minutes of it.
00:07:45
Speaker
on the way up this this mountain I carried him for a total of five minutes and on the way down I carried him for 10 minutes he was incredible he just kept going it was Amazing. I was so proud of him. And it was just a wonderful moment with him because we had our family around us. um My wife and daughter stayed home, but we had our family around us. And I was just holding his hand, hiking up and then hiking down this mountain on this trail for three hours. And it was just like a really sweet bonding moment for me to just like literally I was holding like he was tripping multiple times and I was holding him up. Well, so he didn't fall, you know, and it's just yeah.
00:08:29
Speaker
I loved it. It's awesome to be a dad.
Struggles with Self-Consciousness
00:08:33
Speaker
Hunter, how about you? What are you raising and pouring one out for? Well, I'm pouring one out for just how self-conscious I've been lately. I've been pretty busy, generally good busy, you know house projects and meeting with friends. and stuff. But um um I'm introverted. And so doing social things like
00:09:08
Speaker
I get I get pretty self conscious. And I've noticed lately, I've just been like dropping things a lot. And just feeling really clumsy and tired. And I feel like I'm not doing anything. I'm doing a lot of things, but I'm not doing them well. um but Which, yeah, which my wife is like, No, you're you're really good at a lot of different things. And like, I just I feel awful. I feel awful. But um It's just been a struggle.
00:09:41
Speaker
um
00:09:43
Speaker
But i'm I'm happy to be here and be present with the Olympics, um which I love the Olympics too. So ah maybe not quite as much as you. I think we'll find out for the course of the episode, which of us loves the Olympics more.
00:10:05
Speaker
but um
00:10:08
Speaker
i you know I play a lot of sports, ah so so I really appreciate the athletes and and watching them perform and compete. um
00:10:20
Speaker
But um I'm going to raise a glass to iFixit, which is a company slash website where you can go to learn how to fix all your electronic stuff, fix anything. So I did a bunch of battery switches on some phones because they don't they don't make the batteries replaceable easily anymore. You have to, it's it's pretty complicated. You have to take off the screen and, you know,
00:10:50
Speaker
Unscrew a bunch of things and be pretty careful about it, but you can do it if you have the right tools and You can get batteries and tools from iFixit for like pretty fair prices and they have pretty detailed guides on there um And you reduce waste, you know because you're not throwing perfectly good phones away and um And, uh, you know, I, I did have, I replaced two different batteries and a screen and phones. And so i I'm, back on Android now because I was able to fix one of our old ones and not the one that actually broke, but, uh, an older one that's still perfectly serviceable. Um, I dislike Apple so much that I went back an extra five generations on my Android phone.
00:11:45
Speaker
ah Well, I mean the iPhone I was using is actually the same age as the Android phone that I fixed. so um
00:11:54
Speaker
but You know you still would have done that though. Yeah, I mean, a lot of the apps that I kind of rely on are actually not on iOS. They're not easy to use on there. Sorry, I'm preventing the succinctness of this. Yeah. We could do an episode about open source software somehow. We probably should figure it out. That is a story that you love talking about.
00:12:19
Speaker
I need to find stories about it because, anyway, that's a good segue into it because when I when i mentioned to my wife that we were doing the Olympics, she's like, how is the Olympics a story?
00:12:33
Speaker
So ah Eric, can you tell us, because the Olympics is is is a sporting event, there are stories told about it. So, so why are we doing the Olympics on a podcast about stories and storytellers that shape us?
Olympics: Stories of Personal Triumphs
00:12:54
Speaker
The Olympics this year, they're I think 10,500 Olympians competing across 329 events. That means that this single two, two and a half week long sporting event is the compilation of over 10,000 stories coming together in one dramatic retelling or new telling. It's a story, every event in itself.
00:13:27
Speaker
as we watch as viewers, as as the athletes experience it, as the um the judges rule um with it, as the announcers follow it and share it with us, is is an unfolding story. right We're seeing dramatic ups and downs. We're seeing times of joy and of of sorrow. We're seeing
00:13:55
Speaker
the story of lives, people of all nationalities, from every, almost every country imaginable, coming together in one chaotic, beautiful, organized, overwhelming narrative,
00:14:22
Speaker
and maybe even more so
00:14:28
Speaker
And even as I say it out loud, and um my mind goes back to out of the silent planet.
00:14:39
Speaker
to a part that I've talked about before. um One of the groups of beings are poets. And as they, as as the main characters, as humans talking with them about an event that happened, it's like, well, it's done. Will this poetic race response? No, even the telling of it and the retelling of it is a way of living the story. The story is still alive.
00:15:11
Speaker
and And I'll give you some really great examples. And and and maybe there's no better example of that, of a story still living than this particular clip that I'm going to have us watch. I promise you, Hunter, this is something that you have told stories about. And we'll come back.
00:15:44
Speaker
You see that that moment got me full body chills. listen
00:15:52
Speaker
Old metal nine. Here's 10. Crazy. That last bit still doesn't make sense to me. I still can't see it. I remember that.
00:16:12
Speaker
1 100. Here it is. Can he do it? Just got chills. Just got chills again. How about it? How about that? Oh, that takes me back. We're still telling that story. yeah do you mo Do you remember those moments? Yes, I do. I remember i remember watching the um moment where he He just edges out the guy in the butterfly by 1 1 hundredth. I remember them showing that replay over and over and over.
00:16:56
Speaker
Yeah. I remember like falling asleep, staying up late, watching it because they were in Beijing. Right. The time yeah was completely flipped. I remember the opening ceremonies for Beijing. Amazing. That was that was it was like.
00:17:14
Speaker
did you feel ah did you Did you think in your mind, I want to go to China? Do you think that led a little seed to you being a Chinese Mandarin major? It could have. I mean, that was that was a pretty big Olympics to watch growing up. um
00:17:33
Speaker
Maybe. So I'll say this, Hunter, I I'm from a family that loves the Olympics. I probably have taken it to the next level. I. I definitely watched watched every Olympics probably since I was born. But the first one that really sticks in my mind and has like laid up. It just impacted my life in in the next level. Is the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Mm hmm.
Inspiration from 2008 Beijing Olympics
00:18:03
Speaker
And I remember staying up late, just like you're talking about, sitting in front of our tube TV, big box tube TV, the thing with 150 pounds or hour much of weight and middle of the night, you know, 11 p.m., 12 a.m., you know, whatever it was, like volume down as low as possible because everybody else in my family was asleep.
00:18:25
Speaker
watching those moments. Right. I remember that piece that you're talking about with the butter with the butterfly. I also the one that sticks into my mind even more is the four by 100 when a different member of his team pulled out the last last stroke to win gold in that event. And but that's ultimately. Nobody will ever do that again.
00:18:56
Speaker
Let me say this a different way the best Showing that somebody could ever have at the Olympics will at its height tie What Michael Phelps did and that is not to Diminish individuals in their other sports. I'm thinking in terms of like quantity of wins. I'm thinking in terms of Accomplishing a feat that never has and probably never will never should be able to be replicated. Like for a lot of these Olympics, the U.S. swimming team had a total of eight golds. I think that's how many the U.S. Olympic team got in Paris, which is equivalent to what Michael Phelps almost single handedly, right? Three or five out of the eight. You know, he won by himself gold.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah. ah And and he's the most decorated Olympian of all time. Right. Twenty three gold medals. And he's not my favorite Olympian. You know, he's not. But but it's just awe. And that was a moment for me and just like the the spectacle of the opening ceremonies and just.
00:20:04
Speaker
the way that I'm not a big i'm not a fan of swimming. I mean, I've always swam, but I went gone to one swimming meet. One of my best friends was a swimmer. I saw him swim swim once. That's how that's the level of interest that I was. I think he started swimming when he was like. In middle school.
00:20:23
Speaker
By the time we graduated high school, I'd seen him swim once. um But like i i couldn't I couldn't help but watching every moment. and And I think that's what led to one of my big things that I love in life. And then I think I've talked about in this podcast before, and if not, I know you know it, Hunter, is I love watching somebody, the best in the world, or even just somebody who's really good at something, do it. I really don't care what what it is.
00:20:52
Speaker
As long as there's an announcer who helps me understand it, like I'll be honest, when I'm watching some of the esports, I'm like, I, I can't follow this, but, instance but I'm excited still. Like I'd watch people do an Excel, Excel off competitions. Oh yeah. In fact, I have. Those are intense. I have watched them. I've watched Tetris world championships and and the Olympics is that space where.
00:21:19
Speaker
And I think, I think NBC does pretty good job of this, but even where they fail, like there's each individuals coming with their own story. or NBC and through that peacock highlights a few of those stories, right? We hear the American stories or those who are, have some type of tide of the United States or with really compelling stories. Yeah. But every individual is coming at the Olympics with that space.
00:21:49
Speaker
And as as a viewer, I feel like I get to enter into it. I get to enter into their story for just the briefest of moments, every every four years, every two years, and and to celebrate with them, to to cry with them, to experience the thrill of excitement, the joy of the game.
00:22:15
Speaker
Do you generally prefer the summer or the Olympic or the winter games? I don't have a good answer to that. I i love watching whatever it is. um I love the swimming events and I love some of the crazy events in the Summer Olympics. So, for example, there's three new events this year in the Summer Olympics. um One of them is called Kayak Cross.
00:22:40
Speaker
have have you seen snow cross and ski cross in the winter olympics where you see four snowboarders or four skiers raced out of the mountain that's the same premise as kayak cross there's dumping three or four kayakers from like a eight to ten foot tall space into the water And they are racing down the rapids and they have to like do a barrel roll at one point underneath an obstacle. They need to pass out along the certain side of gates and then they need to do a couple where they go back and go back around the gate. It is insane. Kite surfing or windsurfing is another one. We're literally it's the fastest sport in Olympics and it's an individual like you or me holding a Paracel or like just a sail.
00:23:24
Speaker
on a surfboard or like a tall, like a version of a surfboard and going upwards of 30 miles per hour. Terrifying. And then the third one, which is just making its Olympic debut, I think today or tomorrow, it's breaking. Just break dancing.
00:23:44
Speaker
And I am so excited. Sports climbing started in the last Olympics. It's been so much fun to watch at skateboarding started in the last Olympics. ah Surfing started in like the skateboarding. Yeah. Did you see I was just watching it earlier today with with Caleb and and my daughter and like four, four of the top eight or five of the top eight um in the specific freestyle skate park one we were watching.
00:24:13
Speaker
They're teenagers. One of them was 14. Yeah, I remember in ah in Rio, I think there was a... 13 year old girl, 12 year old, one of bronze, I think. Yeah. Yup. Yup. And she's, she's back and she's also, she got injured. Um, otherwise she was planning on doing, she's doing skateboarding. She's injured. Like she had an easy surgery replacement, like six months ago. Um, she's 15. Let's talk about that. Um, but if she hadn't had that, she would be doing skateboarding and surfing in this Olympics. She's also a snowboarder. Uh,
00:24:51
Speaker
I mean, surfing has been so much fun to watch these Olympics that I hope by now everybody's seen the photo. um I can't remember who it is of the Olympic male surfer who finished riding away that he got a nine point nine out of ten or a nine point eight three out of ten. If you haven't type in Paris Olympics surfer picture, she will probably be one of the first pictures to come up.
00:25:17
Speaker
And it's of have you seen this picture? No, um I guess that's that's are you looking it up now? Mm hmm. Gabriel but Medina. Yeah.
00:25:33
Speaker
it' not a about found yeah It's not. You just finished serving about like a 40 foot wave. ahha at Teahupo in Tahiti, in Tahiti, which is like a very specific wave, only one of its kind in the world. And he zoomed up the the so the wave and flew into the air with one finger in the air and his surfboards like, like five feet away as far as his foot tether will allow it. And they're both like, looks like they're both standing upright on top of like on the ground.
00:26:12
Speaker
There's nothing underneath them. yeah since So you get those moments. and I'll let me share another one that that kind of sticks to me. and And I hope you're hearing my enthusiasm in this. And I hope you're just getting like I look forward to the Olympics more than almost anybody I know. It's something that I just talk about and I'm excited about. And I'll share a reason why I think in a minute. um But another moment that sticks out in my mind in terms of ways
00:26:44
Speaker
There are some things like like i idea pictures or videos or things that stick in our minds, right? Like you or you remember where you were when that happened. I have i remember where I was why not when I watched a movie that really wasn't that impressive a movie and probably shouldn't have been remembered by me. um And no, I'm not talking about Miracle, which is an incredible movie. I know it's shaped a lot of people. Highly, highly, highly recommend that that that movie. um Miracle on Ice. um But what I'm thinking about is a lesser known movie starring Taron Edgerton. What's his name? And Hugh Jackman.
00:27:34
Speaker
It's called Eddie the Eagle. have you Have you heard of or watched this movie? No. It's like a little feel good movie. It's based off this true story of this guy named Eddie who was just an average person. Straight up average. Not very athletic.
00:27:50
Speaker
But his entire goal was to be in the Olympics. And so he kept trying sport after sport after sport and failed and failed and failed until he took up ski jumping, like a huge one. And he was able he found a coach played by Hugh Jackman who was a retired got you know Olympian, got injur injured, alcoholic type, you know, that vibe of a person. I don't know if he was actually an alcoholic, but like.
00:28:16
Speaker
Yeah. That idea. No, I got it. um And he taught him how to ski jump and edit Eagle. That's what he's called. Made the Olympics. Nice. And experienced being Olympian.
00:28:29
Speaker
And ultimately after that, they after that, after that, after him, that's when the Olympics put in the like requirements of like a certain level of skill before you could to make the Olympics. Does that make sense? It's like now you need to qualify for specific standards. So like almost I think it's none or maybe one or two at most Americans qualified for race walking in the Olympics.
00:28:56
Speaker
because our racewalkers just aren't fast enough racewalkers to qualify for the Olympic Standard Time. It's a racewalker. Have you not seen racewalking? Is it literally just fast walking? Yes, it's where they they're moving their hips. Is that really a sport? It is really a sport.
00:29:14
Speaker
It is very interesting to watch for a few minutes, but like it's like the 10,000 kilometer or 10,000 meter and the 20,000 meter race walking. And the the thing is what makes it race walking is you have to move as fast as you can, but you always have to have at least one foot on the ground.
00:29:33
Speaker
that's what makes it walking versus running and so really we're not fat there's no new york city people who could race walk they're pedestrian by comparison oh ah okay let's see let's see let me me give a quick uh hold on um i'm not gonna make you watch a video in the 20k race the men's winner of race walking how fast do you think he averaged per mile
00:30:03
Speaker
Remember they're walking like average speed. Yeah. Like 20 miles. No, 10, 10 miles. They're race walking. They're not running. They're walking. Yeah. I'm going to say 10 miles an hour. Um, that's a, the average six minute, 22 second miles. So, which is about what you were saying.
00:30:32
Speaker
but he would Wait, he he ran under seven minute miles? He walked. Under six and a half minute. that The winning female also walked under seven minute miles. What?
00:30:45
Speaker
This is the thing. It's in the Olympics is incredible in those space because your mind is just blown. Like, how are people doing this? ah And and then you're hearing the stories, right? The the working through injuries, the the. but You can just see that the lived experience, like the emotions on people's faces. Like, take a look at the the face of of the Canadian man who won the hammer throw.
00:31:11
Speaker
and he threw He threw the hammer thing over 84 meters. Not feet, 84 meters. That's almost three football fields. Look at the defeat on the face of the the French 3x3 basketball team and the fans when the Netherlands team member, van, whatever,
00:31:42
Speaker
scored a ridiculous, like less than 10% shot, like three pointer, which counts for two points and three x three, like to win in overtime.
00:31:53
Speaker
Right before the shot clock, like these moments you can just see. And and then as if you were I experienced with them.
00:32:02
Speaker
the the pain of losing a gold versus winning a bronze medal, right? Sometimes that's what happens. You lose the gold and get a silver, and but you win the bronze medal. Or maybe, how about this? Let's think about this a different way, Hunter.
Sports Integrity and Olympic Values
00:32:17
Speaker
There are three countries this year that have won their first medals.
00:32:26
Speaker
Dominica, St. Lucia, and Guatemala all won their first medals. And like St. Lucia came in winning I think the 100 meter, 200 meter, like an incredible race. And the racer just ran right by.
00:32:45
Speaker
ah Richardson, and so many of the incredible Americans just like, wasn't even did it wasn't even close. um And the Guatemalan was in different some of the different shooting, I think three Guatemalans have won one medals in almost all on shooting events. um You can see the history of the Olympics and in winning medals and medal stands as protest. You also have in it like the the way in which the Olympics can bring together countries. ah Just think about our political moment right now. We're in such a tense, contentious political moment right in our um in American history. We all know this. You don't even need to live in the United States to know this. right It's so obvious. And yet for two weeks, two and a half weeks, America's behind Team USA.
00:33:44
Speaker
And like this Olympics has gotten back to the the joy of the Olympics that we've kind of lost for a few years because of COVID. And I think because of some of the locations, I don't think people were all that excited about going to Sochi, Russia. um You know, there's there's always pieces around some of the different Olympics that happen.
00:34:04
Speaker
um But you can just see the celebrities that are there, the excitement of the athletes and the fans and the families and their video calling people back home. And and all of this is is something that, yes, I'm a spectator, but I'm also part of Team USA.
00:34:26
Speaker
Thank you for sharing, Eric.
00:34:29
Speaker
it's ah it's It's good to um remember the things that we love and to enjoy them. um
00:34:43
Speaker
i I love the Olympics too. I have been watching as as much this year, just mainly because we've been so busy and also don't want to pay for peacock.
00:34:58
Speaker
um but
00:35:02
Speaker
I've been thinking I, I love the winter Olympics. I love all the Olympics. Um, but the winter Olympics is really special to me because I'm a ski racer. Um, so I love watching the skiing and all the winter sports. I think they're just magical, but, um, here they are you mentioned, you mentioned the Sochi Olympics and.
00:35:28
Speaker
I think one of the things that has happened to my love for sport over the years has been like kind of the ugly parts that come up around these massive yeah high pressure events. um I grew up um bike racing. I did a lot of road bike racing and of course Lance Armstrong was a big star. and his's his, you know, story.
00:36:03
Speaker
was the greatest, like, one of one of the greatest sports stories of all time. Yeah. Yes, it was. But it was a fraud. um And in the Sochi Olympics, there, according to the world anti doping association, there was like a state sponsored doping scandal, which is why you don't see Russian athletes competing for Russia.
00:36:32
Speaker
um in this Olympics. That's actually the previous Olympics. This one's different. Oh, the previous Olympics? thats This one has to do with the Russian war on Ukraine. Oh, yeah.
00:36:44
Speaker
Brush it, yeah. say Yes, please continue though. Yeah, and and um also in the in the previous ah Winter Olympics in China, was I was pretty excited to watch Michaela Shiffrin, and she did not have a good Olympics. She crashed, she fell, and it's part of ski racing, like so sometimes there's not much you can do.
00:37:09
Speaker
And she she wrote this essay. I'm going to put it in there. I'm not going to read too much of it, but just one line. It's like you train for four years for two minutes um because that's how long the average ski run is. And I think part of what is has bothered me and kind of sometimes it makes it hard for me to watch the sport um is is just how hungry the
00:37:41
Speaker
announcers and the reporters are to like, build a story around it, and try to force it into some kind of narrative. And, ye you know, hear that everyone was trying to make a narrative about Michaela. And she's like, yeah, I mean, if youve if you've played a sport, you know that like, you go out and try your best. And sometimes it goes well. And sometimes it doesn't. and That's just what happens. yeah You know, and and and yes, there are those like incredible moments. And I think that's what makes like sports so exciting to watch because anything can happen. Nothing's guaranteed. Even if you're the best in the world, even if you're a mechanical different, right? She's the best in the world. Period. Yeah. Yeah. So. Simone Biles still falls. Right. She gets the twisties, you know. Yeah.
00:38:31
Speaker
Um, and so I guess it's like, because I'm such a fan of Michaela Giffrin, I guess I, I got kind of jaded from how, you know, people most like online and reporters and things treat athletes, um, when they fail. So how do you as a, as a, as a lover of the sport of, of Olympics and everything, how do you yeah navigate that?
00:39:00
Speaker
The piece that makes me excited, at least at this point in my life, is not the number of gold medals or silver medals or bronze medals or total medals or podiums or whatever it might be that the United States has or that China has or that Russia had or whatever our biggest competitors are. Even though I love cheering for you at Team USA, I just love it. I love, I love cheering for Team USA.
00:39:28
Speaker
um
00:39:31
Speaker
What gets me so excited is this is the opportunity that I have to see people like Michaela Shiffrin. Because I don't know when skiing is happening, even though that's one of the few sports that actually get some air time. And it's very little, but it it exists.
00:39:52
Speaker
like it I'll stumble into it on a random Saturday in March or February. Yeah, that's only more recently that's happened. Yeah. It's been possible. like Because of Michaela Shiffrin most. Definitely. like i When do I ever watch windsurfing?
00:40:09
Speaker
You know, when am I ever going to watch race walking or bad curling curling? Yeah, I love curling. but We can talk about the commands curling team and this. Actually, I want to talk about fathers and the Olympics in a minute, but OK. And, you know, they've got a bunch of dad bots, so. Sorry, father figures.
00:40:30
Speaker
um
00:40:33
Speaker
I what gets me so excited is to see see them in their space. And I remember Michaela Shiffrin falling and and not having her best Olympics. And I remember we talked we talked about it. We were talking with you a lot about it. um And. And it doesn't change that she's the best of all time. Right. It doesn't change.
00:40:58
Speaker
um
00:41:00
Speaker
You know, really much to me. Um, I get sad because like, she's not having her best day. Like if, if a gymnast, like sometimes I feel like I'm cheering for gymnasts to fall so these team, you know, as they can win. But at the same point, I don't want anybody to fall. It's like when you're in a competition, you want to win when everybody's playing their best. Yeah. But that's not always how it happens. I don't know. Did you watch the women's bike, um, but cycling race in, in Paris? ah No, I didn't. did too Did you catch any bit? Did you hear anything about it?
00:41:29
Speaker
No. Was there a crash? There was a crash with, I don't know, 10 kilometers to go. So not an insignificant amount of time, but like, or five, but it's small enough that it was really going to be hard for anybody. Yeah. And one, one of the Americans, one of the American women was in it. Everybody was fine. Nobody was injured. um But one of the American women was ahead of it.
00:41:55
Speaker
And this this woman, and I cannot remember her name, I could look it up, but I'm not going to. She's been cycling for seven years, professional, like period, not even professionally. She grew up in Homer, Alaska, cycled at Harvard, not cycled, did crew at Harvard and then was biking around Central Park in New York City.
00:42:21
Speaker
and experienced a bike clinic and they went to a bike clinic hu and like became a cycler. I was like, I think I could do this. And she wasn't even supposed to be in this race. One of her teammates, like she, she came to the Olympics to do the indoor crazy cycling, like the one they do, like on the raised crazy platforms. Um, so that's what she came for. Um, but one of her teammates who was going to be doing that and also, um, qualified for this race gave her spot to this particular American. And so she said, you know what, I'll do it as long as I could possibly when, as soon as I'm out of the possibility of winning a medal, I will drop out because that of the race. Cause that's, you know, what I'm here for is this other indoor piece and I don't want to let the team down.
00:43:12
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Well, what do you know? She comes out of nowhere and wins the race Beating the best in the world who also had been ahead of the group Like on a flat-out sprint like with like less than a mile or two miles to go She just sprints past she sprinted past everybody and none of them had the energy to catch up to her Mm-hmm
00:43:41
Speaker
And yeah, maybe I don't know. I'm sure that it's like for all of those heartbreaking moments and the moments of like not having your best Olympics or just like we also get to see these other like gems come through and the the commenting helps. I think commentating is getting better at understanding the health and the mental health of athletes because of people like Simone Biles.
00:44:07
Speaker
who have occupied the top spot in the world and have spoken out about the importance of mental health in the sport. I think that's helped people do a better job of seeing athletes as people so versus as something else.
00:44:30
Speaker
But it's also like it's it's heartbreaking to see the sport you love
00:44:41
Speaker
it's It's heartbreaking to see cheating in the sport you love. To see it degraded, right? Yeah. Lance Armstrong is an example of that. i and and And this is what I'm going to use this as a point to lead me to why i think i was talking with a team member or a member of my team i'm part of my job um the other day and she also loves the olympics we're trying to figure okay why do we love the olympics so much what is it that she holds it holds us to it and
00:45:23
Speaker
Right on this podcast. We've made it pretty clear that we're people of faith, right? I mean your relationship with Jesus that matters deeply to us. That's in many ways Like the reason why it it is the reason we met each other and is yeah, I've been a cornerstone of our friendship for I Don't know 12 years now
Olympics as a Vision of Unity
00:45:44
Speaker
almost 12 years um And
00:45:54
Speaker
um System it sounds pretty crazy. I think the Olympics are the best human Proximation That's out of the church it's out of faith of what The kingdom of heaven could look like Let me let me lay this out for you I think they try to scratch an itch that every single person in the world feels. right What do they do? They gather people of every almost every tribe and nation around the world. This year, there were 206 flags that entered the Olympics. That's more than the number of countries that the unate that that are part of the United Nations.
00:46:47
Speaker
ah They gather people of every nation together for one common cause in what is supposed to be a time of peace where they think back to, was it the Tokyo Olympics where Israel and then Pakistan were following each other? And I know, like and just Palestine's not recognized as a a country and it's not part of the Olympics, but Like just seeing the countries that are at war or could be at war or seeing that contention, like walking in together. Um, entering the North Korea and South Korea competed under one Korea or walked into the stadium. When the, the Olympics were holding, held in Seoul, like under one banner.
00:47:43
Speaker
what? like um they And for two and a half weeks, they they hold the world together in this time of of peace. the The Olympic Village right is this idea of intermingling of peace, of friendship, relational building of every every country together. And all of it is ultimately meaningless. Right? We know this. And I don't say that lightly. It's it's ultimately meaningless. like I love the language of Scotty Scheffler. Scotty Scheffler is number one golfer in the world. He in the fourth round of the Olympics this year staged a comeback.
00:48:37
Speaker
where he shot, I think a 20. He shot the tied the course record for the lowest lewis us round to win the Olympics golf or men's by one stroke. It was insane.
00:48:53
Speaker
and yeah on the, on the podium, you can see him. He's like, he says, Hey, I'm a very emotional guy. Usually I got a little bit more time to like process before there's a trophy or whatever on the, on the Olympic podium, as the American national anthem's playing, he's just started crying.
00:49:12
Speaker
in a In an interview with him shortly before the Olympics, somebody was asking him about being the number one golfer in the world and what all this means and what he thinks about you know wanting trying to win the Olympic gold and all those things. He's like, man, we're all going to be forgotten.
00:49:29
Speaker
like Ultimately, the tide of history, I'm not going to be able to lead a legacy that's going to last. Like what matters to me, yeah I love what I do. I love golfing. It's something I love doing, but the things, the priorities in my life are um my wife, my kids, my faith, living purposefully each day.
00:49:52
Speaker
and And what is it that we, and and I'm so, at someday I want to meet him and I think we will meet him someday. um But I think one of the things that he knows and that we know is that there is a promised time in which every tribe, town, nation, people, and language are going to come together.
00:50:20
Speaker
we We know we can read how in Genesis language and cultures and tribes and nations were created through humanity's sinfulness.
00:50:35
Speaker
It's the Tower of Babel. um hit And we can see through the narrative of scripture, God working through the most inconsequential of nations. I had a professor in college and in grad school, not a Christian, but like he talked about that. like They were like the the pig herders that like got pushed to the side, like pushed out of the city, out of the country, like straight up booney dwellers, the nation of Israel. And then God is choosing through Israel and then ultimately like through his son, then spreading it to the nations.
00:51:17
Speaker
and then bringing in the course of scripture and the course and of narrative of history, bringing ultimately every nation, every tribe, every language, every people, not 206 flags, every single flag that has ever existed together before the throne of God, not to compete, not with a pretext of peace, but to worship God in a time of never-ending, relational relationship with each other, with God, but where peace isn't even a thing that you need to talk about. like we We read that there are walls in heaven and I'm like, oh, why are there walls? And it's part of it's the visual understanding of it. But even within that, it's like within the walls around this place, there are no gates.
00:52:15
Speaker
It is never night. There is never any worry about who's out during people are. And that's I think I think the the Olympics kind of give us like the almost right. like Star Trek is all about, you know, oh, in some point in the future, we're all going to come together and we're going to get it.
00:52:36
Speaker
You know, we're going to be together. We've talked about Star Trek on this show. We've talked about the, the, the, the falseness of that narrative. And even if that were to happen, like that's not the true joy that we have to look forward to. And it's not going to happen here on earth. Um, you know, we can talk about the United Nations and the goal of those, but I think the Olympics are the best proximity that we have. I think the vision of the Olympics. Yes.
00:53:03
Speaker
and And yet we know that they promise a greater Olympics. One that will never end. One that's not defined by our ability, but by God's love for us.
00:53:19
Speaker
i It might sound cheesy. It might sound so like be something that you're like, I don't know if I buy this. This just sounds like too much. Like this guy's going off in his own thing.
00:53:32
Speaker
But I hold to it.
00:53:44
Speaker
Amen. Have you ever thought about that before? Not really, no, I think I've. I think I've I've been very this has shown me how jaded I've come, really.
00:53:59
Speaker
um
00:54:02
Speaker
Because it's it's hard, you know, when you, you know, I ah had a coach who knew some people on the, who who knew some people who knew about Lance before the story broke. So I was, I sort of knew that there was doping and,
00:54:29
Speaker
um for a few years before it you know was Lance was on Oprah. but
00:54:42
Speaker
i don't think i really ever I never took it as like a huge blow because of that. I i was like, oh, I knew i knew what this about this. um
00:54:57
Speaker
But i think that I think I've underestimated how much that kind of affected my outlook of of like professional sports and um yeah things like the Olympics, big events. Because the Tour de France is the biggest cycling event. One of the biggest sporting events ever. Paris is the home of cycling. Yeah, right. and Paris is the home of cycling. and like you know it's I mean, there are other big tours, but the Tour de France is the one.
00:55:27
Speaker
and um
00:55:33
Speaker
So I guess I never really, I had that big barrier to kind of thinking about it in that way. And I've always loved it because I love ah love the athletes. And, you know, regardless of what country they're from, um you you know, even even Russian athletes who
00:55:53
Speaker
you know, let's face it, they're they're like caught in the politics. And I'm sure that there are maybe a couple of them who are willing to willingly want to cheat in that in that situation back in Sochi in the years before it. But I'm sure a lot of them want to compete fairly. And it was kind of similar with the people who are caught up in and and team US postal with Lance. It's like they didn't really Want to but otherwise they were kicked off the team. Yeah, and that was their dream and So, you know, it's it's very complicated and and I gave her I get very wrapped up in that I'm always always trying to look at the athletes
00:56:37
Speaker
what they're going through beyond just the ups and downs of the sport itself. But you know, what's it like to be there, to be caught up in all of that and just trying to play your sport that you love and do your best and um have to account for it with these reporters and on a world stage. I mean, it's it's so crazy. no The lights are as bright as they could possibly be.
00:57:06
Speaker
yeah Yeah, but you know I think I agree with with the vision of the Olympics, your thesis. yeah ah Not in actuality, because there's a lot of corruption, I think, that we don't that we don't see behind the scenes. you know Even in the Olympic Village, I remember there was a story about like all the partying that went on and oh yeah this is it's it's mankind's version of it it will be marred by sin right yeah coded in it yeah but right the number of people that are displaced you know who were experiencing homelessness
00:57:50
Speaker
You know, the amount of money that was spent to build things that could ultimately are never going to be cared for. And I think there's been some movement, some good movement with the French Olympics away from some of that. A lot of the way that Paris has approached this has been what are the things we are already going to be doing in the next 40 years? Well, let's do them in the next 10 years.
00:58:12
Speaker
like They've built 250 miles of bike lanes in Paris. They spent one and a half billion dollars to clean up the Seine River, or the Seine River. No idea how to say that. I think it's It's been 100 plus years of of pollution in it.
00:58:32
Speaker
you know And it's not fully clean yet, obviously, but but they've they've worked to make sure the entire Olympics is fueled by um were renewable energy. They only built two permanent stadiums. Almost all of what they built was also about re refurbishing old stadiums or spaces under bridges that weren't being used or some of these spaces that like, one thing I want to see Hunter in our lifetime,
00:59:01
Speaker
Olympics costs a lot of money. The only places that can host them are middle or high income countries. They they require a lot of previous infrastructure. They require the ability and the the economy to build more infrastructure. They require a level of peace.
00:59:21
Speaker
um They require a high um police presence. They were between 30 and 35,000 police officers at the opening ceremony throughout Paris, because there were over half a million people watching it. And the level of terrorism and the threat of terrorism is higher than it's ever been, or at least as high as it's ever been. yeah But one thing I want to see in our lifetime, Hunter, I'm honestly not sure if we'll be able to.
00:59:49
Speaker
is an Olympics held on the continent of Africa.
00:59:57
Speaker
And like I'm thinking North Africa or Sub-Saharan Africa, you know, spaces where it just wouldn't be possible today. um I would love to see one in South Africa or or in Egypt um as well. and and And I want to see that. That's a vision for for how the world can grow. um In my work, I work with refugees. you know I work with connecting churches and volunteers with refugees. um And I experience, and i get i get I read stories and I read stats and I hear about experiences with within different countries and and the challenges.
01:00:45
Speaker
But I heard about a brother in faith, right? Just today that has been persecuted or came out of Boko Haram in Africa. Um,
01:01:00
Speaker
but how cool would it be to see a full Olympic games hosted in Chad?
01:01:12
Speaker
you know, or Sudan or South Sudan or Mali, in a space that we might not even know much about. um But to see that growth. I think that'd be truly incredible. Yeah.
01:01:30
Speaker
Hunter, I shared earlier about father figures. And I'd be remiss if I didn't ah share a video of of an Olympic moment that maybe you haven't seen this particular one. you of and But you've seen something like it. Okay.
01:01:50
Speaker
um
01:01:53
Speaker
but i But I'd be remiss if I didn't share a video of what that Olympic vision can be when it's filled out, when it's lived out.
01:02:09
Speaker
Now there's many I could choose, but as I was doing my my little bit of searching, I landed on this one. I just think it's so beautiful and I'm excited to share it with you.
01:02:25
Speaker
Here we go.
01:02:30
Speaker
This is the story of Derek Redmond in the 1988 Olympics. Um, he's a runner. This is 1992. Right. And then 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Thank you. Um, and it's about, um, he's injured during this race and let's see what happens. Since you cannot see the video on a podcast, uh, this is a description of it from Olympics.com.
01:03:00
Speaker
Derek Redmond's running career was frustrated by injury. In 1988, Redmond was forced to withdraw from the opening heat of the Olympic 400-meter contest, only two minutes before the race was scheduled to begin. By the time of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he had undergone five operations, including one on his Achilles tendon less than four months before the games began.
01:03:26
Speaker
In Barcelona, everything seemed to be coming together for Redmond at last. He was running well, he recorded the fastest time of the first round, and he won his quarter-final heat. As he settled into the blocks for the start of his semi-final race, Redmond's thoughts turned to his father Jim and the support he had always given Derek.
01:03:46
Speaker
Derek got off to a clean start and was running smoothly when, about 150 meters into the race, his right hamstring muscle tore and he fell to the ground. When he saw the stretcher-bearers rushing toward him, he knew he had to finish the race. Redmond jumped up and began hobbling forward despite the pain he felt. His father ran out of the stands and joined him on the track. Hand in hand with Derek sobbing, they continued.
01:04:15
Speaker
Just before the finish, Jim let go of his son and Derek completed the course on his own as the crowd of 65,000 gave him a standing ovation.
01:04:29
Speaker
Man, that hits a lot harder when you're a dad. Doesn't it? I was watching that right when you gave her the call. That's why I was crying when you jumped on.
01:04:45
Speaker
I don't know if you noticed that, but... I think as a follow-up to this episode, there's a documentary series I would love to bring called The Losers. I don't know if I had mentioned it to you before, but it's...
01:05:16
Speaker
A series of stories, each episode is a story about a athlete, usually, or people surrounding our team. And they're, they're the losers of, you know, of, of the narrative, the typical sports narrative. I mean, yeah miracle is a great movie in those triumphant moments. And, but the kind of the, mo like one of the moments that you just shared with me with Derek Redmond is You know, he was a loser and yet yeah no one remembers those other runners. No, no, no, no. His story, his story is the one that was most important there.
01:06:05
Speaker
ah
01:06:08
Speaker
And that's kind of what that documentary series is, goes into a lot of those types of stories. I look forward to it. I'll make sure Hunter shares both these videos in the show notes so you can watch along the way. Both Michael Phelps and it's all Michael Phelps' greatest moments in the Olympics. And then this other video which is way more powerful than watching 23 gold medals and however many other medals won by Michael Phelps. The story of a dad literally ran out of the stands and like pushed away the security and the medical officer is like, no, my son, like he's go to finish it he wants to finish this race. i'm gonna I'm going to finish this race with him.
01:06:57
Speaker
And there are moments in the Olympics of of athletes doing that with each other Mm-hmm of going back like in the midst of the marathon and and helping somebody walk across the ah Finish line. There's you know, I experienced that once and I was running and literally running back home there wasn't racing but i I Physically could not move anymore and a neighbor who I'd never met was walking with his kid helped walk me home and like That will stick with me forever.
01:07:32
Speaker
I was just, I was just imagining a moment that hasn't happened, might never happen, but ah of that, that same thing of an injury and another athlete helping. I was just imagining that happening with.
01:07:50
Speaker
I'm going to use Israel and Palestine again, because I think it's a great example. I know it's contentious. I'm not trying to say anything about that, but of ah of ah either an Israeli or a Palestinian running and getting injured. I don't care which it is. But then one of the other, you know, whether it's Palestinian or Israeli comes or the Israeli or Palestinian comes and helps the person walk across the finish line. And I think that the response right now in our world to that would be very mixed. I think a lot of people would be very angry. I think it would just be incredibly angry and there'd be a lot of hate speech said about that. I think some people would say, wow, that's what cool like hope and possibility. When I share that, what I think about is the story of the Good Samaritan. The person on the side of the road experiencing a level of vulnerability that
01:08:52
Speaker
They never have before and hopefully never will that nobody should experience and people walking past or running past should help. And then the most unlikely of individuals choosing to help and love on them, not just a small kind, a small action, but a huge action.
01:09:15
Speaker
And that's what Jesus said. It looks like to love your neighbor. In fact, Jesus says, who's your neighbor? He's talking about who your neighbor is. That's what he talks about. And this is the third Summer Olympics where there's a refugee Olympic team.
01:09:42
Speaker
Hunter, I don't know if you know, um, but there are currently over 120 million displaced people in the world. That number is at least 20 million higher than it was when we did our episode, um, on at least 10 million, if not 20 million higher than when we did our episode on, um, after the last border. Um, and this year there are 37 refugee Olympians competing never won a medal.
01:10:13
Speaker
I just, they come in second. Now, after Greece enters, the refugee Olympians enter.
Significance of the Refugee Olympic Team
01:10:23
Speaker
And I'm just thinking about the experiences that these individuals have gone through. Some of them have, ah there's a, there's a documentary on Peacock and maybe other spaces as well called Dare to Dream. And it's directed by a refugee.
01:10:43
Speaker
who starts the documentary with her. Filming the day that she was forced to be a refugee in fli Syria and then follows a few different refugee athletes as they go through the process to be selected onto the refugee Olympic team and then in their competition. In in the Olympics. And it's just gutting. And it's so encouraging And and and in in in it, you're following athletes that ultimately don't win the medals. But they are winning so much more or they're experiencing so much the in the ability to canoe and kayak again. When you were forced to flee your home. And and had to walk across mountains. And and and this year, the very first refugee Olympian won a medal.
01:11:43
Speaker
and And the thing that makes me excited about that is in our world, medals push you to the Olympic, to push you to the international stage. Right? That's whose voice, that's whose stories gets to get told.
01:12:02
Speaker
which is a problem, but it's also something that we understand, right? So that's sinful nature in all of us. And there's also something great in it. Like it's not just a sinful thing, right? There's a part of us that longs for greatness and longs to celebrate and worship greatness. We're created to worship greatness, just not the greatness of this world. And tomorrow,
01:12:32
Speaker
Uh, is the first heat of the 10,000 meters where there's expectation that the current champion in it, not Olympic champion, but champion is, is a refugee athlete who's currently seeking asylum in a country, but doesn't have any citizenship. And so the stories of perseverance, one of the things that is talked about in the documentary is you're hearing the voice of the refugees talk to each other is like, nobody here has experienced what you've experienced.
01:13:03
Speaker
You being here is beyond incredible. ah Don't be taken down by not winning the medal, not finishing first. Celebrate the moment and the stage you're on.
01:13:25
Speaker
ah personal dedication the family that helped get you there what one of the stories is a woman who's like running and like it's had to leave her son in a refugee camp because she really truly believed this is what's best for her family so and for her son and in the midst of training and like getting to the Olympics she learns that her parents who she hasn't seen since she was like seven and are coming to the refugee camp where she's living. And she's now in her 20s, not 30s.
01:13:59
Speaker
And she's been wondering for years, decades, why they didn't follow her. And like so she's running the race. She doesn't meddle. She finishes. you know And that that's the celebration. But she's like, I just want to be home. I want to meet my parents. I was like, I have to sing about this, and I'm getting emotional. like it's just
01:14:23
Speaker
the The important thing about these sporting events is not the sport.
01:14:31
Speaker
It's the lives of the individuals that are part of it. In the way that sport can bring people together. And and give us the ability to get past our. Man made differences, you know, these tiny little things that we think are mountains.
01:14:54
Speaker
And ultimately you see a lot of these athletes celebrate together afterwards.
01:15:03
Speaker
Yeah. It, the Olympics is a story that's ever unfolding. we're We're filming this in the midst of the Paris Olympics. They haven't completed yet. There's already been so many incredible stories. And I've shared a few, there are so many more to share. I've shared about Michael Phelps and that story. I mean, we haven't even talked about Simone Biles really, who is another one of the greatest athletes of all time. Yeah, but you know,
01:15:34
Speaker
There's so many stories to tell. The great people get talked about enough. you know Not that they don't deserve you know their achievements, but you know I'm glad that you've highlighted know refugee athletes and and different types of stories that I don't think a lot of people who are, you know the the average viewer would not You know, like I wouldn't have known about it. I wouldn't have heard those stories. So so thank you. yeah Can I leave us on a light little fun little thing um or ah do you have something else you want to share before that? No, I didn't i don't know. i um I think about greatness a lot and how we, you know,
01:16:32
Speaker
we we think so we we put so much stake on it. um
01:16:41
Speaker
And I don't know if it's a coincidence that a lot of the American stories are about greatness, you know, having the greatest athletes of all time in a certain sport is like, well, I mean, it's really relative because, like,
01:16:59
Speaker
What if they were born in a different era? Would they still be the greatest of all time or have the most wins if they're competing against this person in their prime? and it's you know it's all That's what sport is. It's really a toss up. Not that like all of your hard work and things doesn't matter, but There's always chance and there's, and if, even if you watch the greatest athletes compete, you know, Michaela Shiffrin doesn't win every race. yeah She wins.
01:17:32
Speaker
She's more consistent, like she's more consistently winning than the other people, but she's not always dominating. She's not always the fastest because there's so much variation in sport and the movement. And that's why you can have these great like stories happen coming out of the Olympics where it's one event, you know, generally like.
01:17:58
Speaker
It's you know one ah one event for the gold medal. you know Whoever wins, winner take all. um
01:18:07
Speaker
so so Thank you for bringing those those stories um and for helping me realize how how truly how curmudgeonly I've become.
01:18:26
Speaker
But I don't think I'm the only one though. I i don't think I'm alone. I don't either. yeah I think a lot of people are jaded towards the Olympics. ah Jaded towards the cost of them. Jaded towards the idea of greatness. Jaded towards what unity looks like. Jaded towards the opening ceremonies, which were very weird this year. Jaded towards any number of things. Jaded towards the coverage. and We find some things to complain about and all these pieces.
01:18:55
Speaker
I think the vision though of it is is the best that humans can do without God.
Family Olympics: A Source of Joy
01:19:04
Speaker
And again, it still falls short. But there's beauty in it. And and I think there's beauty in it because of natural grace. Because God has created us to seek it. To seek unity with each other.
01:19:25
Speaker
through him.
01:19:31
Speaker
I want to close us with a ah fun little way in which the Olympics has has made its way into my family. Okay. So I love being a dad. It's been so much fun. And one of my favorite things about my son as as he's been seeing, he's starting to see some more TV in his life is
01:19:56
Speaker
He is not interested in cartoons. He is not interested in movies or TV shows. None of those are bad by any means. At some point, he will be watching Bluey. What he is about is sports. He loves watching sports. And in the Olympics, he's gotten really into diving. He really wants to watch the jumping.
01:20:21
Speaker
ah as they spend their time jumping and then he'll he'll jump. you know He wants to watch volleyball and then he'll grab his volleyball. He wants to watch basketball and then he'll grab his basketball. He wants to watch soccer and then he'll grab his soccer ball. He wants to watch golf and then he'll find his golf club, all of these pieces. And this year, um this family trip that we had, I have been planning out for months a family Olympics. We have a trophy that we've commissioned um because adults can commission trophies um for our Melanie's family um that is given out at different events and we're having we we're having it engraved for winners and it was it's the four family four four families within her larger family are competing for this ultimate trophy.
01:21:11
Speaker
But then we also bought 16 sets of gold, silver, and bronze metals that we gave out at different events. Here you can see, Hunter, I'll show you the, these are the different metals. They're not, they're not plastic either. They're like a legitimate thing. Like we had each family then create its own national anthem or have have its own national anthem for creating these events. And over the course of six or seven days, we did, I think about nine or 10 events.
01:21:41
Speaker
um Which ranged from one-time things like paper airplane competitions. We were rated based off of um the presentation. What does it look like? The distance is through and your accuracy. We were aiming at something. um We did pedometers every day and it was based off of what the chief pedometers we bought said.
01:22:02
Speaker
They're very easy to accidentally reset. oh And so like a couple of days I ended up with zero, even though it should have been in the thousands. We did one of those hungry, hungry hippos competitions where the dads were holding the feet of their kids and they were kids are trying to grab the balls on the ground. And we did a Euchre tournament. um We did a Mario Kart thing. We had a a quadrathalon. It was originally planned to be a pentathlon, but we were ran out of time.
01:22:32
Speaker
And it was it was so much fun. It was the perfect level. It wouldn't it went well enough that people want to do it again. It wasn't overwhelming. um i I created, yeah I'll show you Hunter, you can see ah for each of the specific events, I had a paper that I created that walked through the rules at the very bottom and kind of the name of the event and and a space for the scoring of it. well and We had an official medal count, we had family rules, like overall rules, and then we had like the the family,
01:23:10
Speaker
Guiding principles were family were ultimately one family freedom. Anybody has the ability to say yes or no to participating And fun if at any point somebody becomes no fun, we can stop doing it or we can cancel it all together We had a water balloon fight, you know, we we just or water balloon. Sorry throwing competence It was an accuracy based throwing contest. There was a water balloon fight at the end but um, it was just It was a way of incorporating the fun of the Olympics and the Olympic mindset into an event to gather and to celebrate the the unity of our family. And and I've been part of those before where they haven't gone as well um because we get into too competitive a mindset and I'm part of the problem in that.
01:23:58
Speaker
um But when they're done for the ah joy of being together, you know with a little bit of a competitive edge to ah win something, um but with the idea that we're here to be together, I think those types of things can just
01:24:20
Speaker
huge, like it just gives so much joy. SUNY Lee shared that her goal when she competes now, she's done a lot of work, got through a lot of injuries, it's come to this is to be average. I just want to be me. Now her average is beyond what either of us could ever imagine. ah Beyond like what 99% of yeah anyone could imagine.
01:24:46
Speaker
Yes, even if anybody, even if not, even about, you know, everybody in the world spent their entire life working in gymnastics, 99% would still not be able to know. um
01:24:57
Speaker
Like, I hope some of the different stories we've highlighted today can can point to that truth, that there is the fun, there's the great vision of it. And ultimately, like when we when we're talking about stories, we're talking about individuals
01:25:17
Speaker
We're talking about individuals made an image of God. Individuals with lives that have been experiencing ups and downs, twists and turns, but that all somehow brought them to the same space.
01:25:33
Speaker
At the same time, with a common purpose, and with the opportunity to build truly meaningful, truly lifelong relationships, both as athletes, as spectators, and as fans gathered in our homes, in our workplaces, and restaurants, and arenas around the world.
01:26:03
Speaker
Cheers.