Back in the Saddle

The water temperature was perfect.  It was a little chilly upon entry, but not cold.  It never got too cold or too hot.

The weather was beautiful.  The sun was bright.  The sky was a pure, crisp blue.  The air was clean.

As I took my first few strokes, I was a swimmer again.  My arms felt long.  My legs felt strong.  I had a solid tempo.  My body position felt right.  My stroke felt perfect.

I took my first turn.  I executed a long streamline with 4 powerful dolphin kicks.  The world was right again.

Then, reality hit.  My arms started to hurt.  My legs just stopped.  I started gasping for air.  Both hands started to slip in the water.  At one point, about 75 meters into warm-up, my entire body shifted about 6 inches to the side for no apparent reason.  I was just swimming along and, whoops, I shifted to the left.  A little later, I was kicking backstroke with the lane rope just to my left.  Three seconds later I hit the lane rope on the right.  Three seconds to drift all the way across the lane.

I swam for the first time in almost exactly three months yesterday.  I was terrible.  It was fantastic.

For three months I have not been able to swim.  Pools have been closed.  I don't have easy access to open water, the proper equipment to swim in open water, or any great desire to swim in open water.  If I had the first two of these, I would have done it.  I didn't, so I didn't.

I did my best to exercise over the last 3 months.  I have actually exercised every day, or almost every day.  I ran for the first time in a few years.  I biked for the first time in even more years.  I started doing yoga on a somewhat regular basis.  I am probably in reasonably decent shape.  However, as any swimmer will tell you, being in shape, and being in swimming shape are very different things.

As I managed to get myself through about an hour swim practice, I realized, more than I think I ever knew, what I missed.  Most of all, I missed being in the water.  My whole life, I have loved being in the water.  I love floating and sinking and gliding and sprinting and splashing and just feeling the resistance the water gives as I sway my arms back and forth.  I miss the feeling of gliding through the water after a solid push off the wall.  I miss a strong dolphin kick.  I miss bubbles.  I even miss the pain, a little.  All of this really means I miss feeling like a swimmer.

I also miss my team.  I almost never swim with a group.  I see my team at competitions and social events.  It is far too rare that I get to spend time with my teammates, but I have missed those times for three months.  Yesterday, I swam with a group.  It was so nice to see teammates, new and old.  One of the great things about the way my team works is I almost always meet new teammates at every meet and social event.  Yesterday, I got to see old friends and meet new swimmers.

We were all thrilled to get in the pool.  At one point, another swimmer said that she never thought she would be able to swim with a group again.  Our leader for the day could not stop smiling and could not stop telling us that she could not stop smiling.  Everyone enjoyed themselves, even though almost all of us were not in swimming shape.  It was great to be in the water.  It was great to be with teammates.  It was great to be outside, using our bodies, on a perfect day.

There are a lot of things I have missed over the last three months.  There are a lot of things I have not missed.  I miss seeing Eldest on a soccer field.  I don't miss having three things schedule for one Saturday afternoon.  I miss seeing Middle decide that he is going to be the best defender on a basketball court.  I don't miss seeing Middle get frustrated when his shot isn't falling.  I miss seeing Youngest climb anything and everything he can.  I don't miss worrying that he will fall on his head.  I miss being with people.  I miss watching new swim meets, especially yesterday which was supposed to be summer swim time trials.  I don't miss traffic.  Sometimes I miss having a full schedule.  I miss post swim meet meals.  I don't miss seeing how much a post swim meet meal costs for a family of five.  I don't miss waking up at 4 am to drive Middle to swim practice.  I do miss watching my Boys swim.

As things are opening up, we will get some of this back.  However, unless I want to go to a gym (I don't), or get my hair cut (not yet) or eat at a restaurant (again, not yet), I don't think I am getting much back now.  There are still no games.  There are still no swim meets.  There is still no Ninja.  There will be no movies or hih school musicals in the next several months.  I did finally get the water back.  I streamlined, I sprinted, I splashed, I felt the soft resistance.  I swam.  I was in my element.  By the afternoon, I felt the typical soreness and the hanging head of an extremely tired old man.  I have been sore over the last three months.  I have been tired.  This is different.  It felt right.

Silver Lining

Last night, which was a lovely early spring evening, the Family went for a walk.  All five of us.  Outside.  There was a slight chill in the air and a fairly stiff breeze.  It was, however, sunny and springy and pretty.  It was a simple thing, but at least we were able to get out.  About a quarter of the way through the walk, the Wife says to me, "I saw on the calendar today you were supposed to swim the 1000 today."  (For those of you uninitiated in the world of swimming that is 1000 yards, 40 lengths of a standard swimming pool.  Yes.  One.  Thousand.  Yards.)

Silver Lining.

 I did not swim the 1000 last night.  I don't like swimming the 1000 (sorry, Rich).  I don't know how to swim the 1000 (sorry, again, Rich.)  I either start to fast, then spend the majority of the race wishing I could quit and get out and thinking there is no way I can swim 22 more lengths of this God-forsaken pool.  Or I start too slowly, feel great and finish strong.  And then Katie yells at me for staring too slowly.  I don't like when Katie is mad at me.  The 1000 is really a no win situation.  Except yesterday, I didn't have to swim the 1000.  Win for me.

Times are tough right now.  We have to find the silver lining.  This weekend is a weekend I work for most of the year (except the past year, when I really only worked for it for half the year.)  (Sorry, yet again, Rich.)  This weekend is the Masters swimming Colonies Zone Championship.  The big meet for me, and several other people I know and love, and a lot of people I don't know, but still feel some love for.  Like just about everything else, this meet was cancelled.

I got my money back - Silver Lining.

Today was supposed to be my hard day - 200 back, 500 free, 50 back, and most likely the 800 free relay.  That would make 1950 yards of racing in less than 24 hours. Instead, two weeks ago I said an indefinite good-bye to the swimming pool.

Honestly, I have to admit that the new normal has become normal to such an extent that I forgot what I was missing this weekend.  Not swimming the 1000 is a small win.  Not swimming this meet is not.  But this is the new normal, and we have to find the little victories, or the silver linings, in this unfortunate situation.

So I did not swim the 1000 last night - win!

I am not swimming the 400 IM tomorrow - win!  (For those of you uninitiated in the world of swimming, the 400 IM is somehow worse than the 1000.  It is kind of like being tarred and feathered, then run over by a truck, then thrown into a swimming pool.  After tat, you usually have about 5 lengths of the pool to go.)

The family has been taking many evening walks - Win!  No one in the family has killed anyone else - double win!

Today, we did a Family Movie - win!  We watched Deadpool.  Normally, watching Deadpool with a 10 year old, a 13 year old and a 15 year old would be frowned upon by many people.  If you haven't seen it, the movie is a hard R rating.  Not really appropriate for a 10 year old, or maybe even a 13 year old.  But today, we watched it together, in our house, without going anywhere.  Socially responsible.  Silver Lining.  Win!

The basement is painted - Win!

I started a puzzle of The Little Mermaid today - double Win!

My family is having an online get together today - Win!  In all seriousness, we would never do this but for the current circumstances.  At best, I would see my parents some time in the next two months, one of my brothers sometime in the next 6 months and the other by or on Christmas Eve.  As for my niece and nephew and my sisters-in-law?  Really not sure.  So this is a good thing.

Eldest has a birthday coming up - Win!  He is turning 16, but can't get his driver's license - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Win!  Win!  Win!  (We kid because we love.)

Middle bought Grand Theft Auto online for the PlayStation.  This is kind of like the Deadpool thing.  Not exactly appropriate.  But he did it from the house.  That is socially responsible.  So, Win!??

OK I'm reaching.

If I am honest, as I wrote about a week ago, this kind of sucks.  I am lucky.  I have a job (still).  The Wife has a job (still).  None of us are sick.  If we get sick, we have good health insurance.  I am confident my family will get through this.  I am hopeful everyone does, but I know that isn't the case.  I am looking for the positive, as is everyone else.  People are re-connecting with old friends.  There are some good things coming out of this.  But, it kind of sucks.  Everything has been cancelled.  We really fear for summer swimming (no word right now, but I am concerned.)  We don't know when this is going to end.  So we look for the Silver Lining.  The small Win!

Like I said, no 1000 last night.  No 400 IM tomorrow.

The Unintended Consequences of Stay in Place

Youngest, who is 10, is addicted to gambling.

Last night, the Wife wanted to have a "family game night".  We played Beat the Parents (they did), then Apples to Apples (with various results).  Eldest went to shower.  Middle wanted to do something else.  Youngest wanted to gamble.  Specifically, he wanted to play Texas Hold'em, but he said, "I want to gamble."

I have created a 10 year old gambling addict.

This all started a couple years ago at a graduation party.  The family was sitting at a table that had a deck of cards.  One of the Boys, I think it was Eldest, had recently played blackjack with some friends, so we all played some hands of blackjack.  I think we were betting Hershey's Kisses.  We all had fun.  A couple months later, we played some more while on vacation.  Until about a week ago, we hadn't played since.

Youngest has a tendency to become obsessed with, well, anything.  It varies from thing to thing, and usually doesn't last for too long.  Some of his obsessions come and go, like waves.  At various times the past few years, he has been obsessed with cubing (solving a Rubik's cube), speed-cubing (solving a Rubik's cube quickly), Fortnite, magic, cup-stacking, and several other things I can't remember now.  Sadly, cleaning, re-tiling the bathroom, re-roofing the house and power washing the deck have never been his obsession.  However, if we put a power washer in his hands and told him to have at the deck, I think that one would keep his interest.  He wouldn't do a great job with the deck, but that power washer would be shooting for a long time.

Sometime during this "stay in place" era of the 2020s, Youngest wanted to play blackjack.  I played a few hands with him that night ( I don't remember exactly when), then sent him off to bed.  The next night, he was like a cat chasing a mouse.  Focused, persistent, loud, and annoying.  I finally relented and played some more.  I also promised to get some M&Ms, so he had something real to bet.

The next night, he wanted to play with the M&Ms.  This time, the whole family played again.  After sharing and eating M&Ms for a while, it became apparent that these were not the best "chips" to use.  I thought I remembered that we bought a cheap box of poker chips about 20 years ago, and yes, we had.  So we played with the cheap chips.  Youngest cleaned up.  If he hit on a 15, he got a 5.  If he stayed with a 14, the dealer busted.  Every.  Time.

Eventually, I made the highly questionable decision to teach him how to play poker (the cheap box of chips was a "Texas Hold'em" kit that included a cloth with 5 diagrams for the community cards).  Youngest cleaned up again.  Four players, each started with a stack of about 20 chips (Middle had long ago decided he didn't like gambling.)  Fifteen minutes later I had no chips, Eldest and the Wife were exchanging about 10 chips between them and Youngest was "Goin' Sizzler."  I had to send him to bed again.

The next night, more poker and more winning.  For Youngest.  He is obsessed and on a hot streak the likes of which have never been seen in these parts.  Eventually, I got a break from losing gambling games to a 10 year old.  This has not stopped his obsession.  And make no mistake, it went from "I want to play blackjack" to "I want to play poker" to "I want to gamble."  At this point, I'm not sure whether to cut him off or fast forward eight years to when I can take him to a casino and get ready to retire.  I'd be Goin' Sizzler every night with this kid.

There are a lot of consequences of a stay in place order.  Many are expected.  Many are unexpected.  If you had asked me 2 weeks, I would not have predicted that one of those unexpected consequences would be starting Youngest on a path to being the next Doyle Brunson.

*If you want, you can follow this blog by clicking the "Follow" button above.  I have no idea what this will do, but it's there.  I currently have one follower and it is not me.  OK, that was a lie.  It is me.

It has Been a Long Year

I really don't even know where to start.  It has been a long day (it's 9:45 am).  It has been a long week (it's Wednesday).  It's been a long year (it's March.)

Almost eight years ago, I started this blog as a way to write about the 2012 Olympics.  I have about 6-8 loyal readers, who have given up harassing me to keep it up when the Olympics are not happening.  I have been gearing up for Tokyo 2020, which means over the past few months I have thought about posting.  I wish I had.  I wish I could find the time and motivation to do this on a more regular basis.  I haven't been able to.  But I was ready for Tokyo.  In the last month or two, I have watched all 8 of Michaels Phelps' gold medal swims from 2008.  I have watched Jessie Diggins.  I have watched Usain Bolt.  I have watched track and field events and swimming events.  I watched a little gymnastics.  Somehow I have missed volleyball, which is a failing on my part.  But I was getting ready.

All for naught.

I am sad.  And afraid.  I am sad that the Olympics won't happen.  I am sad that the Boys school year has come to an end.  I am sad that Eldest won't get to compete in Spring Track this spring.  I am sad Eldest won't get to play soccer this spring.  I am sad Middle didn't get to play in the Winter Basketball All Star Tournament.  I am sad Middle won't get to play basketball this spring.  I am sad Youngest's Ninja classes are on hold.  I am sad that swimming has stopped, for the boys and for me.  I am sad I will miss the Colonies Zone meet in two weeks.  I won't get to see my teammates.  I am just sad.

I am literally on the brink of tears as I think of all the things we will miss over the next...two weeks?  Two months?  Six months?  (I am sure the Wife is actually shedding a tear as she reads this.)

Really, I'm not a narcissist.  I realize this sounds like it is all about me.  It isn't.

I am also afraid.  I am afraid for my family.  I am afraid for my friends.  I am afraid for people I don't know.  I am afraid for jobs.  I am afraid for money.  I am afraid for the economy.  I am afraid for the world.

I am also sad for others.  I am sad for Nathan Adrian.  I am sad for Noah Lyles.  And all the other athletes who have to wait another year to try to reach their dreams.  I don't know how they are training through this.  Are pools open?  Mine isn't.  None of mine are.  Does Katie Ledecky have access to a pool?  She must, right?  I need to look into this.

Tokyo will happen.  I have to believe this.  Otherwise I simply can't go on living.  It will be different.  It will be a little weird.  The Olympics are not supposed to happen in odd years.  Only normal years.  (DAD JOKE!)  Some of the athletes who are expected to make the Olympics and win medals may  not make it.  We will have two Olympics in about 7 months (Tokyo 2021 and Beijing 2022.)  Silver Lining!  Although, that will make it difficult to watch every minute of available streaming and television coverage of Tokyo 2021 before Beijing 2022 starts.  Of course, we won't let that stop us.  You need to have goals in life.

Life will happen.  We will get through this.  I have to believe this.  The medical experts say we will get through this.  Economists say we will get through this.  I don't personally know anyone who has tested positive.  I have read what it is like and it is bad.  Really bad.  Right now, the numbers aren't good.  I pray for people to stay safe and healthy.  I pray for the world to get through this.  I pray none of my three boys will kill either of their brothers.

The most revealing article I have read in the last week was about the economy.  The article said the economy will be OK, but we have to believe that.  The economy is somewhat a self fulfilling prophecy.  If people believe it is going well, it is likely to go well.  I liked that.  I am sad and I am afraid.  But I believe it will go well.  The "it" in that last sentence is life, the world, us, me, my family, my friends, the economy, this fight against this virus, and, well, everything else.  I believe we will get through this.  I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  And you have to believe, too.  In a little over a year, we will be healthy, not shut in, and preparing for the Olympics.  With a lot less free time on our hands.  That's a good thing.

We have all read suggestions for what we can do during this time.  I'm not going to repeat the obvious ones (social distance, wash hands, clean surfaces, etc.).  Oh, wait.  Apparently I am going to repeat the obvious ones.  I will offer a few of my suggestions, though.  You have probably heard these, but I took the time to write today, so I will repeat them.

1.  Go outside.  Keep your distance from others, but it is OK to go outside.
2.  Look at your TV guide to see what is on TV.  I have enjoyed watching some old sports games on TV the last week, including the 2019 Women's World Cup Final, UVA's run to the 2019 NCAA Basketball title, and an old Miami Heat playoff win with Middle.  It is fun to watch these games, but almost more fun just to see how ESPN and FS1 and NBC Sports and CBS Sports and even the regular networks are filling their air time.
3.  Order some food.  Restaurants are being crushed right now.  If you can, make an order for pick up or delivery (they are all delivering for free right now) to try to keep things moving a little.
4.  Paint the basement.  Or something else.  We are doing the basement.
5.  Move.  Prior to the closure of almost everything I was swimming pretty well.  Then the pools all closed (where are you Katie Ledecky?).  I generally hate working out, but am getting up every day before work to exercise.  Do something.  Don't get into a habit of sitting around, working from home, watching streaming movies and shows, or YouTube.  Get up and move.  Move to the basement to paint it if that is your thing (hello, Wife.)
6.  Go to YouTube and watch old videos of great Olympic moments.  This is tons of fun.
7.  Got to YouTube and watch something stupid.  After you get up and move.  And paint the basement.
8.  Believe.  We will get through this.  You will get through this.  The world will get through this.  It won't be easy.  It will happen.
9.  Be happy some idiotic, amateur blogger is not telling you to follow Rule/Guideline No. 1 of his Guidelines for Watching the Olympics.

Until next time, which will be before Tokyo 2021.

That's a Wrap

As I look out the window on this lovely fall day, I wonder why it is supposed to be our second consecutive 90 degree day.  It isn't a lovely fall day, it is the middle of summer, in the middle of September.  But why, why I ask you, has summer ended, but summer heat lingers like leftovers in the back of the refrigerator.  Summer ended.  I know.  I watched it end several times.

Summer first ended when our summer swim team season ended.  That is always the first sign of the end of summer.  The 7 week thief of the freedom of summer takes over our lives with a routine of practices, meets, social events, lunches and aggravation.  We all love it.  The end of summer swim is as abrupt as a brick wall.  We see new and old friends on an almost daily basis, with little or no control over our lives, and then -BAM- it is over.  The first week after swim season ends is like withdrawal from an addiction.

The end of summer swim did not, however, come with the end of summer swim.  As I recovered from my withdrawal symptoms, I could look forward to the family summer vacation.  We spent a wonderful week in Myrtle Beach, highlighted by a sunset kayak tour and lowlighted by Youngest's face plant into a pile of shells, courtesy of a 5 foot wave.  We managed to squeeze in a lot of wave fighting (the waves were particularly strong that week), some mini-golf, an aquarium, a trip the Fort Sumpter and even a casual stroll on a World War II Air Craft Carrier (the USS Yorktown).  And with the end of that trip, summer was over.

Except it wasn't.  We had another week of summer break, lazy days, boredom and nothing until school started (well, at least the Boys did).  One more week for them after returning from Myrtle Beach to get themselves prepared for the end of summer and the beginning of school.  That week ended and so did summer.

Except it didn't.  They started school.  I started making lunches again.  The Wife started dealing with homework again.  Summer was definitely over.

Except it wasn't.  Four days after they started school, they had Friday off and we celebrated Labor Day weekend.  Labor Day is always the traditional end of summer.  We took care of some things around the house, went out for ice cream and grilled dinner multiple times.  On Monday, we went to the pool one last time.  Mother Nature decided to declare the end of summer with a strong thunderstorm, ending our day and closing the pool for good.  Summer had indeed come to an end.

Except, it kind of didn't.  We still hadn't started winter swim practice, we hadn't started Cub Scouts, we hadn't gone to church.  Many of the things we put on hold hadn't started and although school and soccer practices (plus all three Back to School Nights) made last week difficult, we hadn't really hit the end of summer.  This week, it hit us.  Swim practices, soccer practices, 5 days of school, church, homework, Ninja...  Just an avalanche of activities.

This was the real end of summer.  As a kid, summer is a wonderful time of nothing and boredom.  As a parent, it is a break from non-stop activities.  I enjoy not making lunch, not having to compare schedules with the Wife every morning and, this summer, not working out.  With the real end of summer, all that comes back.

As we started to get our groove back a little (and we were thankful the end of summer came in waves and not all at once), I started to realize that we shouldn't make New Year's Resolutions.  New Year's Day isn't a transition, at least not for a parent.  New Year's Day is a nice holiday and a rude end to the "holiday" season.  But I am doing the same things after New Year's Day that I was doing a week and a half before New Year's Day.

The end of summer is a transition.  I go from (relatively) free to a full schedule, and that is nothing compared to the awful change The Wife must deal with.  It is a new beginning.  A new swim season (for the boys and for me), a new school year, a new soccer season, a new Ninja schedule.  It is a great chance for a new outlook on things.  I took 2 months off from swimming over the summer.  It was great.  I got home at a reasonable hour, I wasn't the slowest moving person in the family, I didn't hurt ALL.  THE.  TIME.  But with the end of summer, I started up again.  I hurt again, I am slow again, I never see my family again.  But it was time.

The end of summer is time.  Time to start everything again, or for the first time.  As a parent of kids in school and sports, the end of summer is the beginning of everything else.  So I decided to look at it as my new beginning.  My chance to re-focus myself on trying to do things better.  Trying to parent better, do better at my job, workout better, maybe even eat better.  It just seemed like a better time to do this than while watching bowl games on TV (or not, since they no longer really have that many on New Year's Day).

So Summer, you're done.  We are back to everything.  Enough with the 90 degree days.

One Year More

In two days I will attend a high school production of Les Miserables.  Every time I think about that, I hear "One day more..." in my head.  Usually in the voice of Lin-Manuel Miranda from Carpool Karaoke.  So, yesterday, as I watched NBC excitedly announce, in every possible news program, that Tokyo 2020 begins in just one year, I repeatedly heard "One year more..." in my head.  From Lin-Manuel Miranda.  Which is both really weird and really stupid.  But what can I say, I am an amateur Olympic and youth sports blogger talking about a high school production of a Broadway musical.  It seems fairly obvious that I am going to say something stupid.  Plus, with a layoff of about a year and a half, I am bound to be out of practice.

With all the "One year more" going through my head, I have decided I need to get back into practice.  The Winter Olympics is fun, with sports I don't see a lot on cold, slick surfaces, people skiing and shooting, and a reasonable amount of coverage that one can almost keep up with if one focuses, ignores all family obligations and devoutly follows Guideline1 of the Guidelines for Watching the Olympics.  It is possible to keep up with the Winter Olympic and write about it.  The Summer Olympics is a DISASTER.  No one can keep up, regardless of how well he or she fends off the advances of their partner.  I know.  I have tried.  I have sacrificed, for you.  I have not just ignored my wife during the Summer Olympics, I have actively shunned her.  That is how dedicated I am.  Even with that, I can't keep up, and in the end I am nothing more than a blabbering idiot, huddled in the corner trying to figure out why Ryan Lochte can't just be honest about his drunken idiocy and the color of his hair.  If I don't properly prepare, real damage could be done to someone, or something, or everyone.

In addition to the reminders of one year more, the World Swimming Championships are currently on television.  To give you an idea of how nuts I am, I spent almost 8 hours at a swim meet last Saturday in 100 degree temperatures.  I'm not even exaggerating.  It was 100 degrees (or maybe 99).  I spent 3 days watching the weather people on the news tell me not to spend too much time outside on Saturday, then I spent 8 hours at a swim meet and 3 more at an outdoor swimming banquet.  Sunday morning I woke up and I...watched swimming.  Really.  I voluntarily watched swimming on TV the day after spending almost 8 hours at a swim meet.  I may have a problem.

To give you an idea of how much I have failed you, I didn't write about it.  I didn't tweet about it.  I posted nothing on Facebook or Instagram or any other social media site I have never heard of.  I kept it all to myself.  In non-Olympic years, I have become a me person.  Me-me-me-me-me.  Just like Beaker on the Muppets.  I watched Katie Ledecky lose and said nothing to no one.

Wait, you did WHAT!!!  YOU WATCHED WHAT!!!

I watched Katie Ledecky lose and...oh, my God!...Katie Ledecky lost?  I am not properly prepared for this and real damage is happening to everyone.  Katie Ledecky doesn't lose.  The sun rises in the East, you can't avoid taxes, and Katie Ledecky wins.  The only other sure thing in the world is...well, nothing.  There's Katie Ledecky and if we don't have her, we have nothing.  I find myself aimlessly walking in circles babbling "Here comes Diggins!" trying to re-find my Olympic equilibrium as I try, and fail, to comprehend those three words...Katie.  Ledecky.  Lost.

We love sports because - oh, shut up!  We don't love watching Katie Ledecky lose!  We love watching Katie Ledecky crush the hopes and dreams of distance swimming girls in all the lands.  We love to watch American swimmers win an incomprehensible number of medals.  This is wrong.  Just wrong.

However, I am finding my groove.  Despite the shock.  Despite the longful flashbacks to those dreamy days of Jesse Diggins.  Despite the slow acceptance that Michael Phelps will not return to make the world right.  Despite the small pieces of evidence that Katie Ledecky might in fact be human like the rest of us (OK, not like the rest of us, but human nonetheless).  Each night I am watching the World Swimming Championships.  Each night I am frightened a little more that the US Olympic dominance in the pool may be a little less than we are used to.  Each night I fall a little more in love with the sleeve-tattooed, blonde God named Caeleb Dressel.

I am only now realizing that yelling "Here Comes Diggins!" into my blog, dropping the mic and disappearing for 18 months is a disservice not only to my 6 loyal readers, but to myself.  I am not ready for Tokyo 2020.  Who is the Hungarian wonderkid that broke Michael Phelps's world record in the 200 IM?  How does the US not win, much less medal, in the Men's 100 back?  What do you mean Chase Kalisz didn't win the 200 IM?  How does Katie Ledecky lose?  When did swimmers start protesting during medal ceremonies?  What do you mean Lily King was disqualified?  Why are the finals on in the morning?  What is going on?  Where is Jesse Diggins?  WE NEED YOU!  WE NEED HERE COMES DIGGINS!

But Jesse Diggins is not coming, at least not for another 30 months.  We need to move on from Jesse Diggins.  We need to figure out this whole Olympics in Asia, blogger in America thing.  We need to recover from our Michael Phelps hangover and figure out how to become dominant again.  We need to rise from the ashes, like a phoenix and find new life!  WE NEED TO...

Yeah, that got a little too dramatic.

We need to get back on the bike and ride again.  And so, we climb on, we remember Jesse Diggins, but we leave her behind.  We find our voice and we speak again.  In short, we are back, getting ready for Tokyo 2020.  One year more.

But first, yeah, I have another swim meet on Saturday.

HERE COMES DIGGINS! HERE COMES DIGGINS!

As Jessie Diggins weaved her way between Maiken Caspersen Falla and Stina Nilsson, Chad Salmela screamed from my television, "Stina Nilsson leading Jessie Diggins into the final turn, can Diggins answer?!"  His broadcast partner, Steve Schlanger, obviously having prepared his words for the moment, set the scene, "As the roars rattle around the cross-country stadium in PyeongChang, Sweden, the U.S. and Norway come into the light!"  Salmela had no time for such poetry.


HERE COMES DIGGINS!!  HERE COMES DIGGINS!!


Moments later, Chad answered his own question in his own special way, "YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!  GOLD!"


And with that, Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall made history.


Sometimes history happens, sometimes history is made and sometimes history is seized..  Kikkan and Jessie seized history.  Before her first leg, Jessie had a smile on her face and appeared to be dancing.  I'm not sure I have ever seen an athlete so ready to do something that had never been done before.  I'm not sure I have ever seen an athlete as prepared to grab her destiny.  And grab it she did.  With each of her three legs of the race, Jessie took off like a rocket.  She had more determination than her competitors every time.


(Yes, I said each of her three legs.  I was reminded yesterday that the Team Sprint Free is essentially a method of torture.  Two teammates ski three different laps that last a little less than 3 minutes each.  So you go all out for about 3 minutes, then you get a 3 minute break, then you go again, then another break, then you go again.  This hurts just thinking about it.)


The commentary, which is receiving well deserved praise, added to the magic of the moment.  Jessie came speeding around the last turn in second place.  Shlanger was setting the stage and Chad was going crazy, as Chad does.  Schlanger had to have prepared his set up, there is no way Chad did.  Chad is pure emotion.  The two blended together like a mash-up.  The excitement was off the charts.  Jessie was once again showing a level of determination necessary to create history.


Chad:  They're all completely gassed!  They've given it everything on the klaebo bakken!  Stina Nilsson leading Jessie Diggins into the final turn, can Diggins Answer?!
Steve:  As the roars rattle around the cross-country stadium in PyeongChang, Sweden, the U.S. and Norway come into the light!
Chad:  HERE COMES DIGGINS!!  HERE COMES DIGGINS!!
Steve:  Diggins!  Making the play around Sweden!
Chad:  YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!!
Steve:  Jessie Diggins to the line!
Chad:  GOLD!
Steve:  And it is Jessie Diggins, delivering a landmark moment that will be etched in U.S. Olympic History!


All the while, Jessie Diggins, blonde pony tail bouncing behind her, surged into the lead and with one final ecstatic scream, stretched her left foot across the finish line, thrust one arm in the air and collapsed.  History made?  No.  History seized.


I thrust two arms into the air, screamed "YES!" and wept.  That's right, I wept.  I have declared my love and allegiance to our Women's Cross Country Skiing Team.  I remember my disappointment four years ago when Kikkan failed to earn the first U.S. Women's Cross Country medal in Sochi.  I was not disappointed in her, I was disappointed for her.  As the 2018 Winter Olympics began, I re-found my love for the Women's Cross Country Skiing Team and particularly for Jessie Diggins.  As I have stated before, with each near miss, I died a little.  5th in the Skiathlon, 5th in the 10K Free Ski, 6th in the Sprint,  and 5th in the Relay.  It reached the point that I started avoiding my beloved Jessie, because seeing her or even just hearing her name brought me pain.  She said all the right things, and I know that what she was accomplishing was incredible, but I wanted this for her as much as she wanted it for herself and her team.  It is possible I was taking this all a little too far.


Kikkan Randall ran out to embrace her teammate and fellow gold medalist.  Read that again.  Fellow gold medalist.  Glitter on their faces, color in their hair and gold medals around their necks.  This is my third favorite gold medal ever, behind only the gold medal won by someone I actually know and Jason Lezak's comeback in the 2008 400 Free Relay.  The combination of hard work, team work, fun people...and the glitter.  It gets me every time.


As for that call.  It may lack the poetry and political significance of "Do you believe in miracles?  Yes!" but what it lacks in poetry it more than makes up for with emotion.  In four years, when NBC is putting together a highlight package to promote the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, I expect to hear "HERE COMES DIGGINS!!  HERE COMES DIGGINS!!"  This truly was a call for the ages.


I have watched the end of that race about 20 times in less than 24 hours.  I can't see it enough.  Like Jason Lezak coming back to win the 400 Free Relay in 2008, this is a race I expect to see hundreds of times in my life.  I will never get tired of the blonde pony tail bouncing behind the glittered face, the frantic determined sprint, hearing "HERE COMES DIGGINS!!  HERE COMES DIGGINS!!, the scream as Jessie crosses the line, and the Gold Medal.  As I said yesterday , the most exciting thing to happen in 2018.  I don't mean in the 2018 Winter Olympics.  I mean in 2018.










Reflections on What We have Seen:


1.  I think I covered this above.


2.  The Gold Medal in Cross Country Skiing was really just the beginning of an incredible day.  The Women's Speed Skating Pursuit Team won bronze to end a two Olympic drought for medals in Speed Skating; the U.S. went 1-2 in Men's Ski Half Pipe; Michaela won her second medal of the Games; as did Jamie Anderson (both silver); and Women's Bobsled silver.


3.  GOLD!  For the U.S. Women's Hockey Team.  Shootouts are not the best way to end a game, but they do make things exciting.  The second time in 24 hours I was almost brought to tears by U.S women.


4.  Curling!  On to the gold medal match for the U.S. Men's Team!


What to Watch For:


1.  Women's Figure Skating.  Put the Short Program behind you, ladies and channel your inner Nathan Chen.


2.  Women's Ski Cross - always a fun ride.


3.  The end of the Women's Cross Country Team Free Ski.  Really.  Watch it again.  And again.  And again.  It's that good.


4.  Curling!