I'm one of those people that will sit down and watch pretty much any type of sport on the TV, possibly with the exception of cricket. Imagine, therefore, what I have been doing for the last two days. That's right, you got it in one, I've been watching the Olympics for the whole time. To be exact, I watched about 12 hours yesterday and I've been watching it on and off today since about 9am until now. I've taken time out of my busy schedule to write this post in fact - you lucky people! The "Olympic Dream" that titles this post is nothing to do with medals or 'taking part' but instead it is the dream that is the Olympic fortnight for sports fans such as myself. The 24 HD channels that the BBC have dedicated to the Olympics have been used to their full effect - and then some.
So what have I actually been watching then? Well yesterday morning started off with the beach volleyball which was very entertaining. It was one of the Russian teams against the Chinese and it was an exciting match. No doubt you're thinking that I was only watching because of the lack of clothes that the girls wear but that was a mere bonus alongside the great sport that was being played. Don't believe me? Watch some of it for yourself and you'll see.
After the early morning excitement at Horse Guards Parade, I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the swimming heats, badminton, judo (for about 2 hours - it's quite entertaining), the road race and some archery before the swimming finals of the day came on. It was night before I knew where I was and it certainly made me wonder whether I can do this for another two weeks - knowing me, probably.
Today started with swimming again before I watched the mens volleyball, judo, canoe slalom, basketball (the mens USA team is incredible), archery, the woman's road race and then latterly the football before I decided to take a break. Apart from the football, these are all things that I never watch unless they are in the Olympics which is the beauty of the thing because I get to see so many great competitors doing things that I've never even heard of before. The last two days have taught me a lot about all of these sports and that, I think, is one of my favourite things about the Olympic games.
The only disappointment for me so far as been that Great Britain have started slowly with our first two major hopes not even coming close. I'll support everyone that is competing with a Union Flag on them but it would be nice if they started to give the country something back. Everyone said that the home crowd element would help them along but I think it is making them more nervous. Hopefully that will be flipped on its head tonight with Adlington in the pool and then for the Althletics next week. I also think that they shouldn't have been built up quite as much as they have been but that's done now, just get on with it.
I don't feel like my writing is flowing this evening and I have a rough idea why. I feel like I'm stuck in a rut at the moment and the Olympics, as much as I'm enjoying them, aren't going to help. I need to get out and do something constructive to lift my mood and my spirit which are both pretty low at the moment. I said that the Olympics are my dream because they provide such entertainment but I hope that they give me some inspiration to go and do something myself rather than just sitting watching - that should really be my dream.
Thanks for reading and I'll try and write more often in the next couple of weeks!
Martin
