And no it’s not about politics.

So, Arizona State - usually a football powerhouse - has had major football suckage this season. And University of Arizona - our rivals - have been doing fairly well. Of course, as long as ASU beats UA it’s a successful season in my book. ;)

Now comes word that ASU not only has been picked 15th nationally in a preseason basketball poll (UA not ranked), but they are expected to finish 2nd in the Pac-10 and UA 5th. UA - the team that won 4(?) national titles. (I’m sure my UA friends will correct me on that if I’m wrong.)

ASU suckage in football and looking good (pre-season wise at least - reality remains to be seen) in basketball. UA the opposite (okay, I don’t know that they’re ranked in football, but they have a winning record at least).

Definite signs of the apocalypse.

I freely admit that I’m an Olympics nerd. I cry when they light the torch. I cry when they play the national anthem for every gold medal. I cry when people win who aren’t supposed to. I cry when people win that are supposed to. I cry over pretty much every human interest story. And I cry when the torch goes out. So yeah, there’s a lot of crying packed into the two weeks. But it’s good crying.

The first Olympics that I can vividly remember was the Winter Olympics of 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria when I was all of 9 years old. I don’t remember the colors because we only had black and white televisions back then, but I remember that I was so very excited. My parents didn’t make as huge a deal out of it as I did with LG this time, so I think she might be able to remember the Olympics when she was 3 1/2.

So many of my greatest sports memories are of the Olympics. So many names imprinted in my mind…Dorothy Hamill, Nadia Comaneci, Carl Lewis, Florence Griffith Joyner, Bruce Jenner, Eric Heiden, Dan Jansen, Mary Lou Retton, Kerry Strug, Alberto Tomba, Ian Thorpe, Janet Evans, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Scott Hamilton…the list goes on and on and on.

I’ve never been an athlete, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating those who push their bodies and minds to the limit, who achieve things that most of us could never even dream of, who dream big dreams and make them come true, and those who dream only about participating and think that just doing even that much really is good enough. I admire their sacrifice and their drive and their belief in themselves. I cry when they fail and I rejoice when they succeed. I am inspired and amazed by them all.

My mom passed on her love of sports to me and I hope that I can in turn pass it on to my little girl. My mom was an avid sports fan, and so am I. My dad not so much, but he did take me to basketball games and football games and put up with me watching sports all weekend long. Oh, how I miss you Jim McKay and your Wild World of Sports. It’s kind of funny that Mike is not really an avid fan, but he is a fan, and he enjoys watching with me and with LG.

This Olympics gives me plenty of names to add to that list I mentioned above, including Dara Torres, Nastia Luikin, Natalie Coughlin, Shawn Johnson, Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, and of course, the name that will start LG’s own list: Michael Phelps.

I like to think that one day she’ll be watching the Olympics with her own little one and reminiscing on the first Olympics she remembers. And I kind of think it will be 2008 - Beijing. Or maybe she’ll walk in with her country and compete and remember where her dreams began. Who knows what the future holds, but whatever it is, I think she has become a sports fan, just like her mom and her grandmother before her. She even cried when the torch went out. And I cried right along with her. In 18 months, we’ll do it all over again. Oh, how I love you Olympics. I really need some sleep, though. See you in Vancouver.

The Awesome:

• Michael Phelps.  Athletes are hyped all the time.  Most of them don’t live up to the hype.  But Michael just won his 7th gold medal in this Olympic games.  Only one other person has done that.  Ever.  So I’d say he’s lived up to the hype.  And the end of the race?  I was screaming my head off. He literally won by a fingernail.  Un.be.liev.a.ble.  If you don’t believe this is meant to be by now, I don’t know what else to say to you.  One more race tomorrow.
• And my personal hero, 41 year old Dara Torres, swam her beautiful and ripped self into the 50m Freestyle final.  Oh, how I want her to win that gold medal! (And what a sportswoman she is, too!  She made sure the race didn’t start without the Swedish racer whose suit had ripped.  Dara, you rock!)

Yesterday, LG and I made Olympic medals for her to wear and an Olympic torch. Today, we made Olympic flags and had Panda Express (Chinese food - idea totally stolen from Marlene) for dinner. Now, we’re going to hunker down and watch the Opening Ceremony tonight. I’m going to let her stay up as long as she can. I remember how awesome I thought the Olympics was when I was a kid and my parents actually let me stay up for the opening ceremonies, too. I don’t know how late she’ll make it, but I can always show her anything she misses tomorrow since I’m recording it on the DVR. I’m really excited about having live rewind and pause during the Olympics. How cool is that?

Anyway, the ceremony starts in about half an hour. Her dad has to get her in and out of the tub and I’m going to download the pictures that I took of our crafts and then upload them to flickr. And then I’m going to attempt to live blog the Opening Ceremony. We’ll see how it goes. It may not be much and it may not last, but check this space now and then and you might get to see what I’m thinking as it happens (Arizona time).

6:30 pm Here we go! Beautiful shots of the country that we haven’t been able to see a lot of. Beautiful shots of amazing athletes.

6:44 A great piece by Tom Brokaw on the politics and humanity of China. I miss seeing that guy on TV on a regular basis!

6:48 Bob Costas and Matt Lauer are in the house! I used to have a hard time imagining the Olympics without the late great Jim McKay. Now I have a hard time imagining them without the great Bob Costas. No one does sports like he does.

LOVE what I have seen of the USA’s uniforms. They look so classy!

6:57 Dignataries being seated, including President Bush, the first sitting president to attend a non-American Olympics.

7:00 Here we go!
2008 drummers. How cool is that? With lights. Awesome. And a countdown followed by really cool fireworks.

7:05 I’m in awe of how much they must have had to rehearse to get those drummers in sync. Mike, of course, notices they have earpieces, but with 2008 drummers, you pretty much have to. Simply amazing and beautiful.

7:15 56 children representing the 56 ethnic groups of China carrying the Chinese flag while an absolutely adorable little girl sings “A Hymn to My Country”. How proud those little ones must be! And there is no denying that those are some beautiful children.

7:18 Chinese National Anthem (March of the Volunteers)

7:21 A journey through time in Chinese culture. One of the things I love most about the Olympics, and especially the Opening Ceremony, is that it allows us a glimpse into another culture that we might never otherwise get. This is gorgeous - the dancers are painting on the canvas as they dance. So beautiful. “There is no distinction between the artist and the work of art.”

7:31 Bob Costas says,”massive scope, minute precision” as we watch the “dance” the of the Chinese printing blocks. And then we find out that those printing blocks were not controlled by computer, but by people. Wow.

7:45 Those costumes! Stunning!

7:52 Lighted dancers - psychedelic - whoa!

7:59 A Tai Chi demonstration. LG was familiar with this from one of the characters on her favorite show, so she got a kick out of it. And it is beautiful and graceful and much more interesting than Yoga. And that screen at the top (and all the way around) the stadium? So cool. All stadiums need one of those!

8:11 The dancers running around the sphere - sideways. Wow. I am at a loss for superlatives tonight, so “wow” will probably be repeated a lot.

8:19 And now, the athletes! Yay!
Greece comes first, as always.
They usually march in alphabetically, but this time it’s by the number of strokes in the characters that represent their country’s name. I think. Whatever the case, it pretty much has no rhyme or reason in our alphabet.

8:39 Love the Danish guy nonchalantly carrying the flag with one hand.

8:44 The painting that the dancers started during the entertainment portion is now being added to by the footprints of the athletes. They walk through some kind of paint and walk across the canvas and they march in. The painting will tour China. Now that is cool.

9:09 I’ll just mention here that LG made me go get her “Nited States flag” at the beginning of the parade of nations and she is having a good time waving it.

9:37 Here they are!!! USA! USA! Not much fills me with more pride than seeing our athletes march.

10:07 I love the parade of nations, but it does get a bit long. LG is falling asleep on me, and I really want her to see the lighting of the cauldron. Oh well, that’s what the DVR is for, right?

10:22 The home team makes its entrance. Having watched Olympics in the USA, there’s nothing quite like it. Walking next to flag bearer (ad NBA star) Yao Ming was a 9 year old boy who survived the earthquake in May. A very special little boy who after freeing himself from the rubble, went back to help his classmates. What a moment for him. And let’s not forget that China hasn’t always been a part of these games, but that they helped keep the Los Angeles games in 1984 from being a bust because they participated for the first time.

10:40 The Olympic Flag is raised.

10:42 The Olympic Flame enters the stadium! This part always gives me goosebumps. Eight torch bearers within the stadium - eight being a very important number in China. And wow, the final torch bearer is lifted on ropes to the screen at the top of the stadium where he “runs” along the screen all the way around the stadium. Pretty spectacular. I don’t know why, but when the cauldron is lit, I always get teary-eyed. There’s just something so majestic and breathtaking and poignant about it.

I don’t know that any Opening Ceremony will ever top this one. And maybe that’s fitting. What a coming out party for an ancient and proud people.

I just want to point out (since it may never happen again in our lifetime) that the Arizona State University men’s basketball team is ranked in the top 25 in the nation in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls (for the first time in 13 years) and that other team that lives down in the south part of the state is NOT. And also that we actually BEAT that other team that lives down in the south part of the state last week. And I only point that out because in the last 26 games they have played against each other, Arizona State has won a total of 2. Including the one last week. So you see, it’s kind of a big deal.

To be fair, I should also point out that the team that lives in the south part of the state was without their leading scorer. But still a win is win and one game does not put you in the rankings nor take you out. So I will enjoy it while it lasts. ;)

LG is in that delightful stage when she makes up gibberish words trying to sound like she’s speaking another language. I absolutely remember doing that when I was little as well. And Mike and I do it right back to her, having our own complex conversations in a totally nonsensical language that none of us understand, save for the tone of the voice and facial expression.

I think it’s really a great exercise in communication skills, because you can do a lot with the tone of your voice and the expressions on your face. You really can communicate with people even when you don’t speak the same language if you just take the time to look and listen.

Mike thinks we should turn on the Spanish language channel and let her listen to it, but I told him we could only do that if it was a soccer game. I’m not exactly sure why, but I love watching soccer in Spanish. Watching anything else in Spanish gives me a headache because they talk too quickly for me to translate and it frustrates me. But soccer? I love it. I don’t care if I can’t understand anything they say. I just love when someone scores and the announcer yells “goalgoalgoalgoalgoalgoalGOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLL!” On the other hand, watching soccer in English tends to be pretty boring to me.

How about you? Do you talk gibberish with your kids? And do you like watching soccer in Spanish? Or is it just me?

If you know me really well, you know that I graduated from Arizona State University. And I’m darn proud of it. And I, therefore, bleed maroon and gold. And if you know anything about interstate college rivalry, you know that our biggest rival is that school down in the southern part of the state. And you know that I don’t really like to see them win (especially in football).

However, tonight they are playing Oregon, with whom ASU is tied in the Pac-10 standings. Oregon - the only team to beat my beloved Sun Devils this year. Oregon - who must lose one more game for the Devils to get back into 1st place in the standings and back on the inside track to the Rose Bowl, and a tiny eensy weensy chance at the National Championship Game. Of course, ASU still has to win out to do that, but they have some control of their destiny there. Oregon HAS to lose at least one more game for them go be the winner of the conference and they have NO control over that.

While it is true that if Oregon wins out, they might go to the National Championship Game and ASU will still go to the Rose Bowl, I don’t really want them to back into that bowl berth.

And I know that even though that team down south would be happy to upset the #2 team in the nation, it’s got to really irk them that it would help ASU. So both schools will have to suffer a little tonight for the good of the cause.

Therefore, it is with great pain and heartburn that I have to say, just for tonight, just this once….

Ouch. May Danny White forgive me.

Updated to add: The Wildcats upset #2 Oregon 34-24. And now I will be rooting for my Devils!!!!

So, Barry Bonds broke the home run record held by Hank Aaron for 33 years. And I’m not a bit happy about it.

It’s not because of the possibility of steroid use. Whatever whatever. I suspect Mark Maguire might have used steroids as well, but I enjoyed the race between he and Sammy Sosa to break the single-season home run record immensely. Steroids are not a good thing, but again, whatever.

I have another issue with Barry Bonds. And lest you think it’s just because he’s not a Diamondback or because he’s not on a team that I like, think again. Barry Bonds and I both went to Arizona State University. He played baseball for the Sun Devils and had a stellar career. (By the way, so did his godfather, Reggie Jackson.) In fact, Barry Bonds and I actually attended ASU at the same time. So maybe I passed him or had a class with him. Who knows? My point is that I don’t really have anything personal against him or any reason not to root for him.

Except. Except for the fact that I think he’s an egotistical jerk. Why do I think that? Well, have you ever watched him after he hits a home run? Most players (most good players anyway) hit the ball, put their heads down and run the bases. Barry Bonds, on the other hand, hits the ball, stands there and admires it, and then walks to first base. And that irritates the bejesus out of me. I think that is disrespectful, rude, condescending, arrogant, and several other adjectives. I cannot stand to watch him play baseball. Grrr.

I guess the good news is that now he’s broken the record, we won’t have to see every freaking home run he hits replayed ad nauseum on the news and we won’t have to hear about about it day in and day out. The record has been broken. The story is over. Stop showing his arrogant mug on the television for awhile.

When I was growing up, Muhammad Ali was a superstar. My father, though, always refused to call him by his adopted name and would only refer to him as Cassius Clay - his given name. So, in my house growing up, there wasn’t a lot of respect for him. They had issues with the fact that he changed religions. But those were different times. As for me, I was always entranced with Ali, his poetry, his boasting that he was the greatest (which he always backed up), his verbal sparring with Howard Cosell. He fascinated me.

In 1996, when Ali lit the torch at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, I sobbed. It was an electric moment, and even though I was only watching it on television, I will never forget it for as long as I live, because I have felt a little bit of what those people who were actually in the stadium must have felt.

Several years ago, my friend C managed to score tickets to a Phoenix Suns game. They were playing the hated Chicago Bulls that night, so the atmosphere was already pretty exciting, what with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the house. But, for some reason that I can’t remember, that night someone else was in the house as well. That someone was Muhammad Ali.

He was already showing the devastating effects of the Parkinson’s Disease that he has so valiantly fought these many years. He didn’t walk. He didn’t speak. He was driven around the court on a cart and just sat and waved to the crowd. But from the moment he entered the arena until the moment he left, the atmosphere was different. There was electricity in the air. The magnetism, the charm, the charisma that he exhibited his whole career were still strongly in evidence, even from the nosebleed seats where we sat. I got goosebumps, and I will never forget being in the same building as a legend.

Last night, he watched his daughter Laila, who is competing on Dancing with the Stars. The thing about Mr. Ali is that you can’t necessarily see emotion on his face because he can’t move very well due to the effects of Parkinson’s. But if you look into his eyes, you can see that the brilliant poet is still alive and well inside of him. And you can see how proud he was of his beautiful, talented daughter. And you could tell that the crowd in that building felt the same way as every crowd in every building must feel when he occupies it.

There are few who have ever been able to command attention and adulation just by being in the same room. Muhammad Ali is one of the few. A legend, a superstar, an icon. And I will never forget my small brush with his greatness.

I’m not the biggest football fan anymore. Haven’t been since Danny White retired. But next year, the Super Bowl will be right here in beautiful Arizona, and that’s gotta be exciting right?

They unveiled the logo today:

The odds that the hometown team will appear in the Super Bowl next year are slim to none, but I’m sure it will still be a spectacular event. And I’m also sure that by February 4, 2008, I’ll be sick of hearing about it.

There could not possibly be anything cuter than a two year old saying “Go Suns!” “Teve Nash!” and “Backetball!”

Go Suns!

Good thing number one: I went to our neighborhood Hallmark store to mail a package this morning and there were only two people in line in front of me. Apparently yesterday was crazy. I’m glad I waited until today since priority mail is supposed to still get it there by Christmas.

Good thing number two: The Phoenix Suns won their 15th game in a row breaking the record held by the 92-93 Suns who ended up going to the finals. That team included my very favorite player evah - Dan Majerle (which is where Majerle the dog got her name, by the way). Good stuff!

Today was definitely a productive day. Mike and I did a lot of cleaning in preparation for a little girl’s birthday party next Saturday and Mike also did a lot of organizing in the kitchen, and installed some drawer locks to keep little hands out of places they shouldn’t be.

After I finished my list of things to do, I worked on a quilt for the rest of the afternoon and got all the quilting done on quilt number three. I’ll (hopefully) be able to finish the edges tomorrow and then the last quilt starts on Monday. And that makes me right on schedule with a couple of weeks to spare just in case.

We have just begun discussing Christmas and all of that around here, because we don’t really start working on that until after LG’s birthday so that her birthday doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But I did get an early Christmas present today! (Sorry Marlene!)