Ready! Set! ...

 Go?

 Here we are, about 12 or so hours from the Opening Ceremonies of what promises to be the MOST.  BIZARRE. OLYMPICS.  EVER.

 OK, so maybe the 1980 Olympics in Moscow with no Americans and the Soviet Union winning everything that didn't have a British dude named Sebastian in it was bizarre, but I'm not sure it will match this year.  Are they going to have spectators at the Opening Ceremonies?  Who are the athletes going to be waving to?  Who will they be filming?  Will they do a crowd shot?  Are they currently in the midst of making 70,000 cardboard cutouts to fill the seats? Will they still go to commercial just before the Latvians enter the stadium?  Will all the athletes be wearing masks?  So many questions and I have done nothing to answer any of them.  I am just looking forward to a massive surprise tomorrow morning.

Yes, tomorrow morning.  NBC is hyping the morning Opening Ceremonies.  Because who doesn't want to wake up and watch the Opening Ceremonies.  I, honestly, purposely have left tomorrow morning free for the Opening Ceremonies, so I'm good.  (Uhhh...to those of you I am coaching tomorrow, there is this cool invention called a DVR.  I will be coaching and we will be there the whole time.  This is not an excuse to skip practice.)  But there may be people who have to do things like, I don't know, go to work.  The Wife comes to mind.  She already missed the soccer debacle on Wednesday because, hello, 4:30 am?  Is it possible the US team was still on US time?  I hope so.

NBC is also hyping how excited the Japanese are for the Tokyo Games.  I'm not saying they are lying, but this seems kind of like one of those late night shows where they ask someone who the President is and the answer is "Uhhh...George Bush?"  I think they found the 17 people in Japan who are excited for the Olympics and interviewed them.  They skipped the vast majority who see it as a COVID breeding ground in a country with less than 20% vaccinated.

I, for one, am excited.  As is Bob.  Bob told me he was so excited he even watched softball on Tuesday night.  For Bob, that is excitement.  For those of you who don't know Bob, let's just say you are missing out.

My excitement was not tempered by the Wednesday morning that will not be spoken of.  (See, soccer, US, 3-0 loss.)  OK, it was tempered briefly.  But now that I am a mere half day away from learning if they will go to commercial just before Latvia enters the stadium, again.  My excitement is right back where it belongs.  I'm even beyond watching softball excitement.  I'd be willing to watch at least 2 minutes of trampoline.  And we all know after one minute, you realize you are watching trampoline and you quietly change the channel and pretend nothing happened.  I'd go to 2.  Maybe 3.  That is how ready I am.  It has been 5 years since the Summer Olympics happened and over three since Jessie Diggins wowed us with her historic finish and gold medal. (I see you Kikkan Randall and I know you were right there winning that medal with her.)  Why shouldn't I be excited?  Let's get ready to do this!

Over the next three weeks we have the pleasure of watching some of the best athletes in the world compete at the highest level.  We also get to watch a bunch of other athletes, who are not the best in the world, compete to be the best they can be.  And we get to see this in a bunch of different sports, most of which we don't get to see, or don't bother watching, any other time.  The Olympics are a big money-sucking, corrupt mess of whatever, usually protested by someone, definitely showcasing athletes using illegal substances, and with a lot of warts.  But at its most pure, it is entertainment of the highest order.  People with amazing talent putting their hearts, minds, bodies and emotions on the line, in front of the world, with the goal of being the best they can be, or the best in the world, or the best ever.  Why shouldn't I be excited, indeed?

I am ready.  I am set.  And I am about to go.  In the next few days, the swimming will be the highlights of the Olympics and my life (not just in Tokyo, but also in Franklin Glen on Saturday and hopefully at CSL All Stars in 9 days.)But, as always, I will find some nuggets outside of the pool to share with you, my 6 loyal readers.  We will start tomorrow with the rules of watching the Olympics.  Those of you who have been with me for the last 8 years know that NOW is the time for physical intimacy with, well, whoever you get physically intimate with, because starting tomorrow, your focus, energy and time awake must be directed towards your Olympic experience, not your.. "other" experiences.  That is, has always been, and will always be, Rule #1.  We will review the rest of the rules and share them with you tomorrow.  Then, we are literally off to the races.  And the jumps.  And the shots.  And the twists.  And the hits.  And...and...and...

I.  Can't.  Wait!