Strangechord

This past week I’ve been watching the Olympics, which I don’t think I’ve watched in over 10 years. Every evening I catch a little on NBC (and hold my nose and press the mute button through the commercials - damn, am I not used to watching network TV!). My favorite events are gymnastics, diving, running, and some of the swimming. I’m really not a fan of watching team sports, Olympic or pro…never have been. Of course, I root more for the person who touches me than for any particular country. It’s annoying that all NBC ever shows are those competitions where Americans have a shot at gold.

Anyway, all of this Olympic viewing reminds me of when I was 11 and watching the 1988 Calgary Winter Games. I had the biggest crush on Brian Boitano, the U.S. figure skater who won the gold that year.I thought he was gorgeous and I loved how emotional he was on the ice and when he won. I bought the only issue of Sports Illustrated I’ve ever bought when Boitano graced the cover that winter. The photos from the magazine covered one of my bedroom walls for a few months. At least I never wrote bad Boitano poetry, though…cripes.

My mother poked endless fun at me, mimicking Boitano talking about his “boyhood dream” in a high-pitched lisp. When you’re 11, you don’t care if the cute man is likely gay, you know? (Although his sexual preference is apparently still a big question mark.) Two years later, it was my mom who had the pleasure of watching him skate with Katarina Witt at Madison Square Garden while I was back in Iowa in a foster home.

Are you watching the Olympics? If so, what’s your favorite event?