I have always been enamored with the Olympics . In my opinion, no other grandiose athletic event, even the World Series, has the power to inspire like the Olympics do. Sports enthusiasts and couch potatoes alike plant their average behinds on the couch each night for two weeks to witness one of the most awe-inspiring, just-plain-freaking-rock-star events that THE WORLD comes together to produce. With the 2010 Winter Olympics just a few days away, it seems as though I am not the only one with that jittery, Christmas Eve kind of excitement. In magazine articles, on commercials, in ads, on the Today Show, Olympians are everywhere.
For this month’s issue of 303, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brendan Kiernan of Futuristic Films. Brendan, on the other hand, recently had the pleasure of following one of our country’s top Olympic hopefuls, and Colorado’s own, Lindsey Vonn, around the world while producing a web series about her which can be found at www.LindseyIsEpic.com .
Hearing about Brendan’s encounters with Lindsey only furthered my personal notion that being an Olympian really is a dream. To be able to devote your life to sport and perfecting it, while touring the world as a role model and representative of your country, it must be amazing. And, seriously, Vonn is gorgeous and tears the shizz out of the mountain every day of the week.
What is the point of all this? Well, I got to thinking about our society’s obsession with reality. It all comes down to the fact that we get something out of observing others, people with qualities perhaps similar or vastly different from our own. Maybe we’re inspired, maybe we’re disgusted, maybe we just need something to distract us from the banality of an everyday existence.
The Olympics give us hope and the notion that anyone can be great. Lindsey Vonn is a wonderful example of what the Olympics represent and how this hope, whether it be individual hope to reach a goal, or hope for our country, can bring people together. Forget Flava Flav, you can have Bret Michaels, and I certainly won’t miss The Bachelor (okay, maybe The Bachelor). I am looking forward to spending time on my couch, in front of a fire, watching the best reality television this world has to offer…and dreaming of being Lindsey Vonn when I grow up.