Drops, Steps, and Falls Oh My

So just like everyone else in the world, I have been watching the Olympics as if that is the most important thing. And there are a couple of observations that I've noticed that I have to discuss. First off I just want to say finally this redeem team is doing something...... maybe they might even go for the gold.

Second of all I find it extremely hilarious that both U.S. teams dropped the baton in the 4x100m. Aside from being the supposed best country at these Olympics both teams do something so simple yet so ridiculous as to let the baton drop and not just drop but one that is just unforgivable. With all that money that we pour into athleticism and all that pressure as to put sports on a higher echelon than education; one would think that they wouldn't make such a basic mistake. But I am so fed up with the U.S. team that I will delve into that subject a little later. One thing though. I was rooting for my girl Lolo Jones. I mean she had the gold literally around her neck and with one misstep it was all over. And to be on the second to last hurdle made it even worse. If it was one of the hurdles in the beginning then there either would have been two outcomes depending. One would be that she would mess up so bad that there was no way that she would be able to finish the race and the other would be that she would at least have time to adjust to actually win a medal. Now the fact that she hit the second to last hurdle really hurt her chance at winning the gold because there would have been no way for her to possibly even try to bounce back from that.

I feel her pain.

Now on to the reason as to why I am starting to really dislike the Americans. I realized that the whole entire Olympics is politics. Watching it on NBC of course they are slanted towards the U.S...... that was a given. But to the point where another country wins and instead of interviewing the athlete from that country they go to the athlete from the U.S. who lost big time and ask them for their thoughts. Honestly I couldn't care less what their thoughts are; I want to know how the WINNER was able to pull off such a feat and what were he/she's tactics. Now the main reason why I'm ready to have complete disrespect for them is the whole 200m business. I will go on record to say that Churandy Martina did step on the line but still TWO hours after the race and after medals were handed out you want to call that just because one of your runners stepped out first? This is a true conspiracy. I think there should be some type of bylaw that states that after medals are given out there can be no challenges. For those that don't know: in the 200m final Wallace Spearman was instantly disqualified because he stepped on the line. After two hours the U.S. decides to protest to say that Churandy Martina stepped on the line too and that he should be disqualified. Now I am not saying that they shouldn't have disqualified him but at the same time is it really that serious that you are willing to sacrifice your dignity just so you can destroy someone else's dream? That is a really low blow. By the way this catapulted Shawn Crawford into the silver and Walter Dix to bronze as if they did something significant. And then they want to go after Usain Bolt on and say that he should be more respectful to the other runners. Oh please oh please!!!!!!!!! There is a reason why they call him lightening bolt. It's because the man can shatter records without even trying. He has every right to be cocky. No one can touch him. I bet you if Michael Phelps was like that they would have nothing but good thoughts for him. And it's not like the U.S. needed more medals. As of this post the U.S. has a 103 medals total to China's 92. Why not let us have one. It's all about showing hoe much more powerful we are and how we can beat communist China. Well at least China is killing them in gold medals which I am rooting that they actually murder them in that.

Sidenote: For some reason or the other I feel that I am starting to fall back into my old self and I am hating it. I'm not sure whether it has to do with people coming back or other reasons but as I mentioned before I AM NEVER GOING BACK to where I was. I'm guessing that since it was the summer and nothing much was really going on, I had a lot of time to find who I am and what I want to become. Now I am not fully there yet but I am on my way to becoming a healthier, happier person and I guess that now will be the true test to see if I can overcome the madness that is starting to creep back into my life like a malignancy.

Peace, Axe

I Love my Mestre

I realize that I turned into a girl. Now I'm not talking about how I reverted from a woman to a girl but how I became a girly-girl: afraid to do anything. At class today Mestre was making us do all these different flips such macaco and au sem mao to name a few and I felt like I couldn't even do the easier ones. And what made matters worse Mestre was letting a 9-year old show us how to do moves. It was bad enough that I felt completely scared of doing these moves, now some child is making me look like idiot. And you could definitely see that Mestre almost wanted us to feel like so much like dunce that it would make us try harder. But for me I started to revert back to my old days where I would instantly ball up and go into my zone and just feel like I can't do anything. And by the end of the night I was just feeling so pissed off at myself because I NEVER NEVER NEVER want to go back where I was.

Mestre said something to me afterwards that made me realize something. He said the most simple thing to me that is relevant right now. He said "Yoo gotch to believe in yoself my friend, I believee in yoo" (my best attempt at a Brazilian accent). Basically to me this was the first time someone in that position has shown deep sincerity in my success. Even though Mestre is not a coach...... to me I felt that I never had a coach who actually cared about me like that and it was the most beautiful thing. When I was leaving all I could was hug him as close as possible and when he told me he loved me I said it back with the most sincerity. Now being down here without my parents makes it hard because you don't have a little cheering section to tell you that you can do it. But to know that my teacher genuinely cares for me is something that I can never forget. I truly honestly appreciate it.

Sidenote: I will leave you with the words of Bob Marley "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery none but ourselves can free our minds" (Redemption Song). I feel in his own way Mestre was telling us this exact same quote. And I think this applies to all different situations today. We are the only ones holding ourselves back from greatness. (Damn I should write for Hallmark, lmao)

Anyways,
Peace, Axe

Addiction

I think it's funny when I say I have an addiction. When most people think of an addiction; it's mostly negative. But for me it's a positive vibe. My addictions right now are Capoeira, the Olympics, and Lucky Charms.

With Capoeira as I said before I'm there everyday and I plan my life around it. It's so serious, the other day my father thought that I belonged to a cult. But for me, it not only gets my body healthy but also my mind.

Damn damn damn these Olympics. Every time I want to say that I'm going to sleep early, I end up eating a bowl of Lucky Charms and watch the Olympics till five or six in the morning. And it's usually things that I usually don't have interest in like rowing and archery. And not only am I watching it, but I'm watching it like it's the best sport in the world. I also commentate like I know what I'm talking about.

It's too much but at the same time I'm glad I'm addicted to something like this instead of something serious such as drugs or alcohol.


Sidenote: I'm going back to school in two weeks and it's going to be hard to fit that into my normal rhythm.