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Highlands Today

Goodbye, Farewell, Gaw Bie

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By Norm Cukras | Highlands Today

Published: August 30, 2008

The 2008 Olympics are over. And they were memorable. And the closing ceremonies were as impressive as I though they were going to be.

After my column was composed last week I got to see two events that were absolutely beautiful: the synchronized swimming and the rhythmic gymnastics. I find it difficult to understand how those ladies can hold their breath so long underwater. And in the gymnastics I watched in awe as the gals performed what I call vertical splits as they did their routines with each of the four apparatus. Wow.

My main complaint with the broadcast of the games was the selection. I mean, there are those of us who are not all that interested in watching, in its entirety, a basketball game, a volleyball match or water polo; especially not when there are so many other contests going on. The table tennis was so short I only saw the ping and not the pong; in the equestrian I saw two jumpers – one made it the other one didn't; in fencing I saw but one fleche and possibly a couple of Ballista lunges, but little else; in skeet shooting I saw a puff of smoke and before it dissipated we were back on some court again. Sadly, there is no reason to believe it'll be any different next time because producers always respond, "We give the viewers what they want." I wonder who these viewers are anyway?

Final Awards
My final three special awards, and I chose not to rank them, 'cause I'm not sure how, go to gymnast Shawn Johnson for her captivating smile; to NBC commentator Mary Carillo who gave us that collection of intriguing features about everyday life in China; and to NBC personality Al Roker and his playful antics, which included his interpretation of rhythmic gymnastics.

And an honorable mention goes to the "I'm not Michael Phelps" guy. A British visitor who looks enough like Phelps that he was hounded for his autograph.

And speaking of Phelps, his performance reinforces two basic principles: teamwork and trying to coast through life. The swimmer would never have won eight gold medals had three other guys not performed at their best in the two relays. And in the cliffhanger race that he won by .01 sec. The replay shows the French swimmer sort of coasting to the finish line while Phelps was driving – hard. In distance, by the way, that .01 sec. translates into about ¼ inch.

With the extinguishing of my Olympic flame I offer a tribute to all of the athletes who didn't medal in these games and I'm confident that decathlete Brian Clay, the world's greatest athlete, will get his wish and appear on the front of the Wheaties box.

And so we say "Gaw Bie," Chinese for farewell

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