The Olympic Dream!!!

With the Olympics well on their way, and Michael Phelps winning Gold Medals like they are candy, I believe that this has been one of the most exciting, devastating, controversial and memorable Olympics that I can remember (except of course the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with the original "Dream Team").

From the start the US team has been battling closely with the Chinese for Medal contention. As of right now the Chinese lead us 35 to 34 total medals, while they are completely embarrassing every nation with the gold medal count of 22, with the US in a distant 2nd with only 10 (Michael Phelps having 5 of those around his neck). The US also has golds in Shooting, Cycling and Fencing. Surprisingly the US woman swept all the medals in Fencing.

It has also been an amazing Olympic event not only for countries like the US and China who demolish everyone and are expected to be contenders for every event, but also for the "no-name" countries that people don't even know exist. For the first time in Modern Olympic history that anyone from the country of Togo has won a medal. Togo is a small country in Africa where the kayaker, Benjamin Boukpeti, came from and won the Bronze. Once the realization came to him that he has won the medal, he raised his oar above his head and with great enthusiasm and utter amazement he cracked it over the front of his kayak. It is moments like this one that make people want to be an athlete for their country.

People do not want to see cocky countries who are disappointed with a silver or a bronze (cough Sweden cough cough), who believe that they were robbed out of a Gold. Deal with it man! You bitched 4 years ago in Athens when you got Silver, now you are bitching about a Bronze. Here's an idea.....stop being a whiny bitch and work harder than your opponents. Mr. "I Will Never Wrestle Again".

This Olympic is also not without its injuries. Unfortunately these things happen, especially when you are trying to stand out against the best in the world. During the weightlifting event a Hungarian, by the name of Janos Baranyai, was trying to snatch 326.3 lbs above his head, just as he lost control of the bar and gravity took over. Janos quickly grabbed his right shoulder as he hit the ground. The weight of the bar had completely dislocated his elbow. With pain and tears in his eyes you cannot help but wonder if they were for the dislocated elbow he just sustained or for the years and years of training that were meant for this one disappointing moment.

The one thing that I can't stand about the Olympics is the fact that even though events are being broad casted on several stations they all show the same damn thing! Plus, it is all the events that we constantly see, such as tennis, basketball, baseball, etc, etc. I want to see things that I never see...like kayaking, judo, diving, shooting and so on!

Also, I know that we kick ass in the pool and that Michael Phelps has become a house home name, but I don't want to hear the same news over and over about him. I don't want to know that he eats 12,000 calories a day, and that he swims 5 hrs a day. I don't care! And stop taking away from the rest of the events.

What is even worse than that is the fact that we might have the worst commentators EVER on NBC. Tiki Barber should stick to football, and the rest of them are just completely killing me. We couldn't find former Olympic medal winners to speak on NBC? No, we had to find the worst people ever. This is a global event, don't you think that we should have great newscasters!?

Well, I wish the US the best of luck with the remaining Olympics and I really look forward to watching the Track & Field. I will have to wait and see if they show any Discus.

For full coverage on all the events check out NBC's web page at http://www.nbcolympics.com/

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the trampoline event starting on Saturday!

It Smells Like Camping!!!

This weekend was the perfect weekend for camping. The heat had subsided (which meant most of the bugs were gone by the time the sun was down), the friendships were strong, the hilarity was constant and the alcoholic beverages were numerous!

After everyone got out of work on Friday (I am still unemployed) a couple of us met up at Laura's house to embark on our weekend camping adventure. Some of us packed as if for a night (myself, Krystle and Katie) and some of us (Laura) packed as if for an epic adventure. I think that I probably could have looked out my back window if it wasn't for her "body bag" sized duffel. Haha!

We arrived at Camp Taylor, in Blairstown, NJ, a stone throws away from the Delaware Water Gap just around sun down. We sign in quickly, get some wood for the camp fire and we head to our designated campsites! With excitement in the air I head off to one of the pits to start a fire. The girls began to erect their tent as the blaze of the fire starts and I get a face full of smoke!

Once the fire is blazing Laura and I head over to put up our tent before it gets too dark. With a couple frustrating areas of solid rock, I am finally able to hammer down the stakes to keep the tent in one spot. Finally with everything in the tents and the beds made for later, we all surround the fire and relax. Beers and mixed drinks in hand and stories being recollected I start to make the stereo-typical campfire snack......s'mores! YUMMY! Roasted marshmallows, melted chocolate and graham crackers. I want to kiss who ever invented it.

As the night went on, one of Katie's friends (who was also camping at the same place just by coincidence) decided to come up and join us with her friends. As Laura and I hung out at our campsite we hear screaming and laughter coming from the lake, which is only about 50 yds away from our tents. With flashlights in our hands we head down to see what the commotion is all about. We quickly find our two camping mates soaking wet from the waist down. Apparently they tried to hit 7 people in a 2 person paddle-boat! Last time I checked that does not really work out too well! haha.

The next morning, hoping to sleep in somewhat, we are woken bright and early by the "most annoying children in the world" pushing the Tonka Trucks throughout the campsite next to us. I have never not wanted children more than at that moment at 7:30 in the morning. With disgust in our voices, because quiet hours are supposed to be until 9:00, we try to get as much more sleep as we can. We wake up a little later and decide to have some breakfast. Of course, the breakfast of champions!......Pop-tarts, Applejacks and Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches!

After breakfast, and bitching about parents who don't know how to keep their children quiet, Krystle and Katie head back to sleep and Laura and I decide to head to the lake to enjoy the sun and water. With several pictures taken, several tequila sunrises and franzia drank (yes, boxed wine!....they are classy girls, haha), we head back for some lunch.

After some lunch we head to the main building in order to use the facilities. Since we are covered in ick and grime from the lake we use the coin-operated showers! As we head back to camp, we grab some more wood for the fire, and some extra ice to keep the food and beverages cool.

Next, we head up to the Wolf Preserve that they have located at the camping grounds. There are 2 different times during the day that you can head up there to get a tour of the preserve, but since we headed up later in the day the gates were closed and we could only see the first couple dozen yards of the pens. As soon as we reach the gates a wolf strolls right up to the other side of the fence, no farther than 1o yds from us. We also see several little foxes running around the grounds. As we turn and begin to head back one of the wolves begins to howl. One by one each wolf joins in, just as if it is a primitive orchestra of wolf opera singers. Even though it was completely amazing, it was spine-tingling at the same time.

We reach the campsites just as the sun is sneaking behind the trees. We light the fire and start cooking some dinner. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and corn. Laura and I, since we didn't get to take a nap in the morning, decide to lay down around 10ish for only 20 minutes. Next thing we know we wake up, pitch black, no noise. I check my phone and it says 2:30. I poke my head out of the tent....no one is there....everything is away....and the fire is out. So much for the 20 minute nap!

Sunday morning, we wake with even more annoying children being loud and obnoxious! With a little chill on the wind, we light a fire for breakfast to keep us warm. After breakfast we start to pack up the tents, get everything into the car and head out around mid-day.

With such a great weekend it is so hard to head back into the week day. Luckily for me, I am still unemployed, so I can sit here and blog about what I have done. Too bad for the rest of them who are off at their different jobs.

Definite plans for another trip back to the camp grounds. Definitely recommend Camp Taylor. Very nice, quiet (as long as you are not stuck next to stupid children) and a lot to do.