Truly funny

Youtube has become a wasteland of really bad videos. With the inclusion of webcams built in to Macs and many PC laptops now, people make videos without even thinking. I occasionally do some research into what is out there in cyberspace looking for trends and new ideas. Most of the time I'm hard pressed to find anything really inspiring.

However, when I do find something, I'm always excited to pass it along to a friend or family member for them to enjoy. My own reaction gives me hope as a video producer myself. I know that if I can continue to come up with good ideas and then turn those ideas into a well made video, it will have a positive impact.

There is still something to be said for expertise and art involved in creating media. It's now easier than ever to create a picture slideshow to music or a video. That being said most of the finished products are painful to sit through.

A built in video camera on a laptop doesn't magically give someone a good sense of humor. For many people I didn't want to hear the story or comment in person, and I especially don't want to watch in on badly produced video.

Bus Fare

For those of you following my blog, you'll remember that several weeks ago I wrote of two teenage brothers that we were coming alongside to help with some transportation costs. Bus fare. Stacey and I are helping with bus fare. The brothers, 16 and 17, are going to classes to help them get their GED. They dropped out of high school several years ago because they didn't have a whole lot of support at home to tell them to go to school. Parents in and out of jail with drug convictions. Grandma taking care of multiple kids already. Aunts and Uncles in and out of jail with drug convictions. As you can imagine, not the most uplifting support system in place.

But God can redeem any situation when we're open to be a part of it.

Errol, Director of the mentoring program at Safehouse (where I work), found these guys when their grandmother called to get them mentors. Errol took a personal interest in their situation. Errol told their story to me one day while eating lunch. I shared the story with Stacey and we took action. Here is the update. The boys have made a 180. They are going to class consistently working towards taking their GED. They are showing up at SafeHouse volunteer opportunities ready to serve. They are showing up on their own.

This past Saturday Stacey and I had Errol and his wife Darlene, and the two brothers Joshua and DJ over for dinner. DJ has stated in the past his interest in one day going to culinary school. So we thought we would have them work with Stacey in the kitchen to bake some cookies for them to take home.

They all showed up, and DJ was dressed up in a shirt and tie. They came in, and were extremely polite. We had made my dad's crab dip for an appetizer. They both tried it and DJ loved it. Joshua stated he was not a fan of seafood, but tried it anyway. We Stacey had prepared a fantastic meal of baked ziti, salad, green beans, and garlic bread. We had a wonderful meal, with great conversation. We had put out cloth napkins. The boys had never used cloth napkins before.

After dinner they went to work in the kitchen and made chocolate chip cookies. They then took some with them. For that evening Stacey and I tried our best to make them the honored guests, serving them as if they were eating in a restaurant. In a way we wanted them to have a night to escape the reality they would go back to that evening. To show them that there are people who care about them and are rooting for them to succeed.

Errol sent me a text message later in the evening from the brothers. It said, thank you for making the best of our lives. We love you like parents. Errol and Darlene are walking alongside them and allowing Stacey and I to be a part of the journey.

Bus fare. Errol told me that was the magic key. That simply mentoring them wasn't enough it took freedom of transportation as the tipping point. Now they are actually contributing back to society in their own ways. Oh by the way, one of the brothers is currently on probation for drug possession. A little love, encouragement, and accountability goes a long way towards helping lives get turned around.

What is your bus fare going to be?

A Bad Idea

Its Christmas time. We all know that. With Christmas time comes radio stations that play nothing but Christmas music. I occasionally will indulge in one of these radio stations on my ride home. You know something to put me into the right mood for the season.

This Christmas our economy isn't great. A lot of people are struggling to cope very different financial circumstances. They can't do Christmas like they've done it in the past. Part of the reason is maybe they've lost their job or good ideas they had in the past that made them money isn't making them money now. The good ideas are still there, they just aren't generating any success.

Here now is my point. While listening to the Christmas radio station I heard the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song. You all know the song I'm talking about. Here's the irony. That song has made at least a few people a lot of money. Probably millions. That was a terrible idea. It was then and it still is now. Then somebody thought it would be a good idea to have them sing a bunch of pop hits. That made some more people more millions. Several bad ideas making people great money.

All I can do is shake my head. You could have the greatest idea in the world now and chances are you won't make anything off of it. The moral of the story is to put your faith for success in God, because a world giving the nod to chipmunks singing about hula hoops is no world to rest your hope in.

Different Kind of Bible Study

The journey to becoming a doctor update: Stacey interviewed with Emory on Tuesday and is interviewing with the University of Kentucky today and with Cincinnati Children's on Friday. Apparently it was snowing in Lexington this morning. She is growing a bit weary of the process, because of the intensity it requires of her to focus on answering questions and processing all the information being thrown at her. I'm anxious to hear what she thinks of the programs in the midwest.

In the meantime I attended a men's community bible study at our church last night. What is unique about this bible study is that is a gathering of congregation members and homeless men. Mostly its homeless men. I must say you gain new perspective reading scripture about the poor when reading that scripture with a homeless man.

The biggest benefit for me is its a chance to build new relationships with guys that have fascinating life experiences. Many of them are faithful Christians, who just haven't been able to overcome various obstacles in their lives. Sometimes thats a drug addiction, or lack of education, or a criminal history. Regardless of what it is, these guys practice being in the presence of God in their unique situations. It might be sitting in a park all day or it could be working a minimum wage job.

As someone who believes in helping find solutions for the problems that face our community, I get a chance to gain valuable insight into a world I am blessed not to live in, while also being able to hear interesting stories and study the Scriptures at the same time.

Thanksgiving

I never feel more blessed than after a good visit with family. My reason being that there are so many people I know who don't have pleasant family situations. Stacey and I were in NC spending time with my brother and and sister in law and my parents and it was so relaxing and enjoyable. We didn't do anything special, we just spent time together. Sure we Wii bowled a little and did a little shopping, but for the most part we just hung out.

I hang out with enough people now that don't enjoy their extended families or don't have the option to spend time their families that I vary rarely take my family for granted anymore. Spend enough time with homeless people who have been written off by their families, and you'll never take your own family for granted.

Being with family can create some extra stress and its not always smooth, but at the end of the day they will be there. Your family stays in touch even when you move apart. That doesn't always happen with friends. Hopefully you got to spend some time with family this Thanksgiving or maybe it will be over Christmas. Regardless, when you become annoyed or stressed with during the family time just keep in mind that you have family to be annoyed and stressed with, because many don't. And to that point if you know someone is is going to be alone during the Holidays consider welcoming them into your family. They will appreciate it.

Road Trips

I was driving to North Carolina the other night for Thanksgiving. I was driving by myself because Stacey was already in Durham conducting some residency interviews. Six hours is a long time to drive by yourself when you don't have to do that very often. It means you rely on the radio to keep you company. I learned a lot listening to the radio for that long. First I learned that Delilah the stronghold of evening soft rock provides a lot of people company every night. It was clear that people calling in were hanging on her every word of encouragement. The request of a song to show their love for their significant other was done thinking that was the greatest gesture they could make. Delilah fills a need for a lot of people in our country at night. Just goes to show how wired we are for relationship.

Second thing I learned is that hip hop radio stations along the southeast all promote the same types of events, with same types of advertisements, done with same voiceover guys. You'll hear the same thing in South Carolina as you do in North Carolina. And that message: Come to the hottest club in town on Saturday Night where we're going to get as many ladies in as possible to attract males looking for a range of things in order that they will drop tons of money on a drinks. Here's the brutal part. If everything works out for the people going, they'll make a mistake and spend a lot more money and stress on the consequences. The women and men are going for different reasons but the advertisement doesn't tell you that.

Third, I learned that classic rock stations across the trip have all received the same message: They are being listened to by people driving or working and they don't walk talk, they just want music. All of these stations advertised the least amount of commercial interruptions. The classic rock station demographic is traditionally middle class, blue collar, men. They aren't looking to radio DJs for sappy relationship advice. They want relationship advice they just need Lynard Skynard to deliver it.

Its amazing what you can learn about society from just observing our media. Our media tends to be reactive to want people want. Sometimes they get it wrong and the programming gets cancelled. But when they get it right like a longstanding Delilah program or the fact that radio stations continue to sponsor club night parties, you can learn where people in America are at. It also provides a great exercise for me to keep myself busy for six hours of driving.

The Gift Goes On

Friday Night I will be attending a big fundraising event called The Gift Goes On. My business partner Johnny is in charge of this event on behalf of the community outreach efforts of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. In years past the event has raised as much as $350,000. It does this through tickets purchased and then silent and live auctions. There are some great items that people will spend a good amount of money on to have. Things like Masters tickets, a week in a vacation home in Costa Rica, paintings, etc. There are things for $10 and things for $80,000. This year there is an autographed electric guitar signed by all the members of The Eagles. Pretty cool.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, Johnny and I worked together to create some new funny videos for each live auction item. Hopefully will be entertained during the live auction even if they have no plans to bid on anything. Whenever I get a chance to work on creative comedy, I love it. Its a place of passion for me. Second, with the economy being the way it is, there has been fear around the event failing this year. Nobody has money to give, we won't raise as much is all I hear. They may happen, but I think that people still have money to give, they just have to be more on board with the cause. Stacey and I are giving as much as we've given, but we're very focused and specific about who we give to.

The organizations that will survive this downturn are those that continue to inspire and engage with stories of change. What I am learning is that non-profits can't do what they've always done to raise money. Churches are in the same boat. We give our money to what perks our passion and what we consider relevant and truly impactful. We have plenty to give away because most of you reading this are very blessed. To quote John Ortberg, "At the end of the game it all goes back in the box."

I hate leaves pt 2

Last week I mentioned how we spent time in the yard raking leaves and how we need to celebrate the accomplishments. That thought is really being tested now, and my front yard has twice as many leaves as it did last time...and its been raining off and on for two days, so they are still too wet to blow. Its taking all of my imagination to celebrate the victory of last weeks raking. What's worse is the street vacuuming guys didn't come this week so last week's haul is still sitting at the edge of the yard. Its insult to injury.

Here is a cool story for you. I have become great friends with a guy at work named Errol. He runs the mentoring program. All the kids in the mentoring program are children of an incarcerated parent. So basically the odds are stacked against them becoming fully productive members of society. Mentoring is the surest way to help break the cycle. Its really difficult to get people to commit to be a mentor. Big brother, Big sister is always looking for more mentors. The program at SafeHouse (where I work) is so desperate for mentors that many times Errol ends of defacto mentoring several kids in need but unmatched with a mentor. He was telling me about these two brothers who are signed up to get mentors. 16 and 17. Here is the cool part. They are actually looking to go to school. They dropped out for two years, but they want to complete their GED because they for whatever reason have seen the big picture. How many kids in school see the big picture! Errol was telling me that he had found them a day program in the city to get their GED work done and then that program would help them get into Georgia State. The barrier (get this) was bus fare. They can't afford to get there. He paid for their first two weeks out of his oven pocket.

I went home to Stacey and said lets give these kids bus fare for a month. About 100 bucks for the two of them riding Marta (Atlanta's public transit) everyday. I went in the next day and gave Errol 100 bucks. He said "No way dude!" I said, "We believe in what you're doing working with these two boys and if bus fare is a barrier, well we can solve that issue!" Later in the afternoon he called the brothers to check in and told them that their transportation was taken care of for the next month. They couldn't believe it and asked how he was doing that. He told them to not worry about it and concentrate on school and keeping focused on not getting involved in the wrong things. I'm going to get involved on an unofficial basis with the two with Errol's help and I'll keep you posted on how this works out.

The moral of the story is always keep on the lookout for ways to be a part of the solution.

The Concert

Tuesday Night, after months of anxiously waiting, was the night Stacey and I finally got to see Coldplay perform in Atlanta. The concert was at the giant Philips Arena where the Atlanta Hawks and the Thrashers play. Seats over 20,000 people. The concert was sold out. It was a great show. Unbelievable show. Coldplay is band of made up of really talented and created individuals. They all played multiple instruments, they did a number of their songs in different styles than on the albums which is always a cool element in a live show. Stacey and I had a great time.

Yet, I was as intrigued by the fan base during the show, as I was by what was happening on stage. 20,000 people, for over two hours, stood and devoted their utmost attention and passion towards the stage. They clapped, danced and excitedly sang along for the entire length of the show. The entire crowd knew the lyrics to every song as well as the band! They each had paid from 50 to 400 bucks or more to be in attendance. What creates that kind of devotion?

Stacey and I were discussing this on the way home and she really helped me process that question. See, I'm a music guy and she's a lyrics girl. Combine the two and you have a great partnership. She informed me that most of Coldplay's best loved songs and lyrics have a message of hope. The crowd was embracing songs about fixing relationships, and embracing hope. Coldplay has been outspoken in the past about ending world poverty, and were even promoting a end poverty organization or movement at the end of the evening. These guys clearly are driven by hope for a better world as well.

So 20,000 people x all major U.S. and European cities equals a lot of people embracing a message of hope. The message of hope is the same one that the Christian faith contains, though a much more solid hope I believe in Jesus. So why is the church having so much trouble creating that kind of devotion? Simple, a while ago we forgot how to tell the story of hope. The church has gotten lost trying to tell you the reasons you're not going to find hope. Let's first get the message of hope in a relationship with Jesus down and then get at the underlying issues. People want to hear it, they just aren't listening to the church right now.

I hate leaves

Stacey and I spent a good part of the weekend working on the leaves in our front and back yard. In our neighborhood they have street vacuuming that comes by in November and December. Its nice because you just blow or rake all your leaves to the curb and then the city comes by and sweeps them up. No bagging needed. The process of getting the leaves to the curb is still a labor intensive one. Stacey and I both took turns raking and blowing the leaves all afternoon. After we were done, I noticed that much of the area we had just finished was beginning to be re-populated with freshly fallen leaves. As I took in that sight, I couldn't help but think about how isn't that just like life? You finish a big project and the moment you are ready to celebrate it, you look back and see more things to do or accomplish. Well in that moment I decided to still celebrate our accomplishment and be okay with seeing more work. I congratulated Stacey on the hard work and our accomplishment and acknowledged we'll work on it again but in due time. The work will always be there, remember to really celebrate the victories.
My wife baked up a storm on Sunday. She made, ham and cheese rolls, cheesecakes, and muffins. When she gets going in the kitchen it is a sight to behold. She really does have a gift for baking. I wish I could appreciate it more. I'm just not a big dessert guy. I would be totally satisfied for life with a constant flow of simple chocolate chip cookies. With a little milk on the side, I can put those babies away.
Tuesday night we are going to see Coldplay in concert. I bought these tickets back in June, as a treat for Stacey and I. We're both huge Coldplay fans, and she's never been to a big arena rock concert. We never do this, so I figured this was the time to do it. We're pretty excited about our evening. I'll let you know how the experience turns out.
Finally, we had over two of our great friends Friday night for budget entertainment night. That means we made dinner and created our entertainment. And oh did we have entertainment. I successfully indoctrinated two more people into the Wii cult. By the end of the night they were sold and asking for further invites to come play. If only I had bought Nintendo stock when they were struggling. For the record I came in fourth place in bowling. I'm man enough to admit that. It was actually painful. I got to the point where I was about to start virtually rolling the ball between my legs. It would have had more success than what I was trying to do.

Until next time.

You might be a redneck if...

What I'm about to write about is 100 percent true and can be validated by Stacey as she witnessed this occurrence as well while we were voting on Tuesday. We arrived at the local elementary school at 6:30 am on Tuesday hoping to avoid a massive line while excercising our civic duty and freedom. We were somewhat successful. The poll opened at 7 am, and we quickly made it into the building as they allowed their hallways to fill with voting residents. Now let me give you some context for our neighborhood. It is lower middle class to low income. A lot of Black families, a lot of Hispanic families, and a lot of single, still working older folks, and a sprinkling of young couples fresh out of debt inducing school. Its a bit of a stepping stone area for young professionals.
When we had first arrived we got into line behind a white couple with an elementary school aged child. I'd say they were in their early thirties. The wife was pretty overweight, and not well kept. The husband looked like your local mechanic or warehouse worker. I was quickly intrigued because everything they said to one another was nasty, or short. No patience. Really poor communication. Repeatedly the dad would tell the daughter to shut up, then the mom would say to the daughter to hush, and the father would angrily tell the mother, "I already told her to shut up!" Nice.
So until we get into the building we're watching this back and forth occur. Thankfully there was a nice young couple standing behind us which we struck up good conversation with and we the dysfunction occurring in front of us melted away. It melted away until we were handed a sample ballot inside to become familiar with our voting choices. At this point the wife began attempting to fill it out, as if it was the real ballot. The husband told her "It's a sample stupid." However, in all her infinite wisdom, convinced him that because everybody was being handed one it must be the real thing. So then they began bickering about who to vote for, even though the clearly marked SAMPLE wording also contained instructions that this ballot included races out of our district. This ballot also contained those little ovals you fill in completely, and while the husband was doing his best to stay in the lines while standing in the line, the wife was placing large checkmarks by her selections. And when she came to a race she didn't know anything about (frequent occurrence) she would ask his direction, to which he snap "Vote on your own!"
The real kicker though came when we were just about to vote for real and we were asked to turn in the piece of paper we were there to vote on this day, yada yada. He hadn't filled his out yet, so when the voting registration person asked for his he refused to fill it out becaue he had his proper identification already and this waste of additonal paper would kill trees and raise his taxes. The official gained the support of a deputy and the man was told he would not vote until the paper was filled out. While this argument was unfolding the wife was asked if she would like to wait to side while her husband worked out his grievance to which she responded "Not if I lose my place in line!" So the official carefully waived us through and we registered. Then the guy came in after filling out his form and audibly critized the organization of the entire process for five minutes while we waited for a machine to open up. Mind you this process was run phenomenally in my opinion. They even handled this joker without causing any real delays.
Wheneve I think, surely nobody would have trouble with this...this happens. And because of that experience I'm going to recommend a referendum for the next election that allows us to vote on two things. First, not everybody necessarily needs to vote, and two we should give licenses for people to reproduce, because there are some cycles that need to be shut down.

Trick or Treat

Last week's fall festival was quite the exciting outing. I had no idea there were so many small business vendors doing local crafts and food making. You could buy homemade jewelry, clothes, and food. There was fair food as well. I had some roasted corn, fried chicken, and a fried peach pie. Pretty awesome. I also picked up some homemade dutch apple pie jam. Its the perfect topping for toast in the morning. It was also a beautiful fall afternoon. The people watching was a little weak. Quite frankly the people in our neighborhood are too normal. Just a bunch of normal looking families enjoying the afternoon.

This past week Stacey really began her rural rotation in earnest. It has really worked out pretty well. She drives about 50 minutes from our house to get to the clinic she is working at in Calhoun County, Georgia. A couple of nights a week she is going to stay with my brother Ryan and his wife Rachel. They live about 35 minutes north of Calhoun. Stacey definitely likes being with people she knows every night as opposed to most of her classmates who move into the country for a month to complete their rotations.

Next month Stacey will be traveling a good bit going to interviews at potential residency programs. On the the list: Atlanta, Houston, Durham, Orlando, Washington D.C, Cincinnati, and Lexington. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Stacey and and I got gas this morning. It was 2.29 a gallon. Last month we paid 4.00 for gas. I don't think we're dealing with a supply and demand issue only. We've got years before seeing incremental increases and now it can swing over a dollar in a month. I'm a bit suspicious to say the least.

Finally, we vicariously trick or treated with our good friends 2 year old John Michael. We walked through the neighborhood for a while with our little ghost costumed buddy. He was pretty excited as you can imagine, and his mother Susan had him totally prepped with the door bell ringing and saying trick or treat thing. Here is the sad part. The kid has a peanut allergy so about half his candy couldn't be kept and Stacey isn't eating sweets, so I got half the haul. Sweet deal for me! While John Michael's dad Johnny and I held down the fort giving away candy for part of the evening, I had a brilliant idea. We were beginning to run low on candy and I had a thought about how to have something to still give away and clean out your junk. Why not treat Trick or Treating like a yard sale, except give away stuff nobody will ever pay for. Like that old stained sweat shirt from college? Give it away! Those size 34 khaki pleated pants you'll never fit into again. Give em away! That clock that dropped off the wall and doesn't work anymore! Give it away. That way you can still enjoy the festivities of the evening and make that knock at the door worth their while. Kids love any gift given to them!

Until next week

Digging in Garbage

I waited to post this entry a little because I knew the activity I would be participating in this week would pay off with a great story. It did not disappoint. I have a college friend named Tripp Crosby who is also an Atlanta resident. He was also a Media major at Asbury. And he was and still is very good at what he does. Tripp until recently was working for Northpoint Community Church (Andy Stanley's Church) as a video video editor. He is now on his own. I had run into again recently and asked if I could be of assistance on any upcoming projects. I wasn't looking to be paid, I was looking to learn. He taught me many things in college about video production and I still have a lot to learn now. He was happy to have additional help, so he gave me the time and place to be and the shoot was all set to happen.

Now Tripp has been able to land several video projects with Christian hip hop artists. This project was another Christian hip hop music video. The setting was a subsidized apartment complex in a less than desirable part of town. We were to be shooting in the dumpsters behind the complex. Nice. The storyline of the song/video was that three guys in suits were to try and put a meal together out of the garbage, only to be interrupted by a chef welcoming them into a legitimate feast. You can derive the Biblical symbolism here. So we had a crew of about 8, with three actors and we shot from 6:30 pm until about midnight. Long night. Not to mention the fact that the whole time we were there, it smelled like rotting garbage. At least the temperatures were nice outside. Among my duties for the evening: moving lights, moving sandbags, setting up props in shots, running gear back and forth from trailer to set and vice versa, and my favorite; running interference with the random homeless guy who decided he wanted to be a part of the crew. I now have a good bit of experience talking with random homeless guys who very rarely make any sense. But as long as you nod and pretend you understand that seems to satisfy the conversation.

It was a long evening but very interesting to watch Tripp work with his director of photography, his actors, and the other crew. I was able to see how they planned to pull off this field shoot with minimum budget, and still get what they wanted. It required some creative lighting and a nice camera. I unfortunately was not able to be a part of the other shoots which included the green screen with the rapper, or the banquet shot at a local hotel, but it was an interesting and educational evening.

Stacey update: She had her first official residency interview today with Morehouse's Pediatric Program. It is not her first choice, because its focus is a little different than hers, but she could achieve the end result by being there. Plus its in Atlanta. She is the shining star of the Peds program at Morehouse, and so they would love to have her in the program. This begins several months of her traveling to various programs and cities to interview for Residency programs.

Finally this weekend we are planning to attend the Smyrna fall festival. Stacey wants to go to get the full spirit of the season whatever that means. I'm going because it advertised fair food. Fair food is the one reason to go to a State fair or a fall festival. I take that back. There are two reasons to go to a State Fair; fair food and people watching. People come out of the woodwork at State Fairs. The ultimate scenario: sitting on a bench with grilled corn and a funnel cake while watching people enter and exit the woman with a snakes body tent. Now that's a hot date right there. Sadly I don't think the Smyrna Jonquil City Fall Festival will have a woman with a snakes body tent or a five foot man eating chicken (reference to The Little Rascals Movie - ask my Dad about his reaction to that scene, its a legendary Cobb family story) But hopefully they will have grilled corn or a funnel cake.

Information Overload

As I wrote last week, I attended the Catalyst Conference. It was incredible. My brother Ryan came down with his Pastor and they attended with me. We had a great time processing the content and laughing at the antics of the emcees. Very refreshing time to hear so many new ideas, and be centered again in what its all about: The Gospel message. When you work in the church or for a faith based non-profit, its easy to become desensitized to the point of the work you're doing. God calls us to care for others and help bring them into relationship with Him. The point of serving someone food when they are homeless or bringing a meal to a friend who just lost a loved one is to be a vehicle for Jesus' love for them. We need to partake in that selfless act as much as they need our care. Actually, we probably need to partake in the selfless act more. In a world that is so full of consumerism and "What is in it for me?", we all need grounding reminders of the Gospel Message.

Stacey and I went to see Call + Response the movie Monday night. For about two years now I've been working on the cause of Human Trafficking and Sex exploitation of minors in Atlanta. That has connected with a number of other people and organizations working on the cause. About a year ago I met a guy named David Batstone and another guy named Justin Dillon. David had created the Not For Sale Campaign to bring awareness and action to modern slavery. 27 million modern day slaves in the world. And he helps us understand not only the problem, but solutions we can be a part of. He was touring with Justin who is a musician and someone burdened with knowing the truth. He decided to make a film highlighting the issue and marrying his passion of music with his passion for this issue. Call + Response is his answer. It released Friday for one week in 12 cities at certain theaters. It was really compelling. So compelling I'm spreading the word, in the avenues I have:) Please check out www.notforsalecampaign.org, www.callandresponse.com. You can start there. Learn about the issue. If you don't know about it, you'll be appalled. We're talked about child soldiers, 11 year old forced sex slaves, families in bonded labor at rice plantations, forced domestic labor, and more. And this is happening in the America along with the rest of the world. If you want more info just ask me with a post or email. I've been in this issue for a while.

Finally, as I said earlier my brother came into town this weekend to attend the Catalyst Conference. He set a bunch of ridiculous records on the Wii Fit. I'm not sure how he managed to dismantle all of our marks on Saturday morning so easily, but it could be several frustrating weeks before my Mii (your little character representing you while you play) can obtain the levels of Guest C. Thanks a lot of bro. Not everybody can get paid for running around with high school kids like a crazy person. I'd probably be in better shape too.

Wii are having fun

What a weekend. We had dinner on the Duke University credit card Friday night with a bunch of sportswriters. We had a great time catching up with my good friend Bryan Strickland who covers Duke Athletics for the Durham Herald Sun. He was coming into town to cover the Duke-Georgia Tech football game. We try to catch up whenever that occurs. So in an effort to get together he was invited to have dinner with other sportswriters, hosted by the Duke Sports Information Department. He inquired about us coming along. And Duke, fine institution that it is, welcomed us with open arms. Marvelous evening had by all.

Saturday we headed to Bobby Dodd Stadium on GT's campus to watch the Blue Devils, the new college football juggernaut take on the Yellow Jackets in a noon ACC football showdown. We did the traditional pre game, stopping at the world famous Varsity for some burgers. We then walked across North Avenue over the GT campus. As we discovered we had quite the tickets. These tickets had been purchased at a charity event by our friend Johnny Myers. These tickets ended up being 50 yard line and 12 rows up. Yeah, nice view of the action. Beautiful sunny fall afternoon. There is definitely something special about college football and all the fanfare and pageantry. College basketball is fun to watch in person, but is much more about the game. College football is an event. Before the teams came out, the famous Wramblin' Wreck drove out onto the field in between the band, and you could feel the energy in the air. The first half was very entertaining and Duke went into the locker room trailing by a field goal. Stacey and I were feeling pretty good about our chances. During halftime somebody told the Georgia Tech football staff that Duke doesn't have much of a secondary and well 27-0 happened. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.

Saturday evening we took it easy, recovering from not drinking enough water during the afternoon and both having headaches. That kind of stuff really sneaks up on you.

Sunday morning we went to church and heard a great sermon by Dr. Steve Hayner, the scholar in Residence at Peachtree Presbyterian. He teaches at Columbia Seminary in Atlanta. He is currently the chairman of the board for International Justice Mission, on the board for World Vision and was the former president of Intervarsity. How is that for credentials. He talked about the call Jesus gives us to reach out to the rest of the world. Sunday was World Communion Sunday and so there was a natural emphasis on remembering our fellow Christians throughout the world.

Sunday Evening Stacey and I attended a very interesting event. We have a rock star friend named Alan Yates. He has a band and has a couple of CDs. Well, Alan has developed a songwriting themed team building workshop for corporations. He needed to do a test run on the program on some people, so we were among the people. It was very cool. We actually wrote a song collectively and then his band performed it live. He also had created a presentation that gave an inside look at writing songs. Alan has been in the business all his life. His credits: Best friends with Collective Soul, touring with them at one point and helping to produce some of their music, he did some producing for Elton John, the White Stripes, and Sister Hazel. And on top of all of that, if not for Alan I would not have experienced some of the hot Atlanta bars. I went several times to local spots to watch him perform. I'm typically not a Dark Horse Saloon kind of guy. I think Stacey had a better time with the workshop than me. She was really good at coming up with song lyrics. I was impressed.

Finally, Stacey is now healthy again and thus we have started our Wii competition. We play tennis, baseball, bowl, and box. The Wii is the great equalizer and thus our battles are fierce. She bowls a mean wii game. I have figured out the baseball quicker than her, and we're pretty even in boxing and tennis. And when it comes to the Fit, she is a hula hoop fiend. I've never seen someone rotate their hips so fast.

One more item, this week is the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. It was started 9 years ago by INJOY, John Maxwell's organization. It is one of my favorite experiences. Great speakers, really fun moments and great music. My brother Ryan is coming down from Dalton with his Pastor and boss to attend the conference and they are staying with us. I'm really looking forward to attending with them and my Atlanta friends Johnny Myers and Roxie Chess. It's awesome. This year's speakers are Andy Stanley, Jim Collins (Good to Great), Seth Godin, Tim Saunders (former exec with Yahoo), William Young (The Shack), and more. The goofy thing they do is with 10,000 people attending they attempt to break a new Guinness World Record each year. I'm a part of the world's largest pillow fight, the largest frisbee toss, and largest dodgeball game. The year before I went they set the record for the most simultaneous whoopie cushion discharges. You get the picture. Who knows what this year will hold.

Enjoy your week and get a Wii, they're awesome.

Do you have gas?

First things first. Stacey is doing much better. Pneumonia is gone, the inflammation is getting better. She had the week off in between her two rotations which worked out really well. I mandated her to the couch for the whole week, playing nurse. I believe that helped her recovery a good bit. She is still on pain medication but weaning herself off of it. Its been a trying week for her and me though. I've spent the week running errands for her on top of doing the things I needed to do anyway. I'll be glad when she is back to her normal self. Her birthday this week was rather pathetic considering she celebrated while sitting on the couch for the entire day. Her surprise was a new Jade necklace from China. I bought that while I was over in Beijing and had kept it a secret until her birthday. It even came with an authenticity certificate. She loved it. The hardest thing about picking it out was that the Chinese jewelers make most of the jade into little buddha shapes. I was pretty confident Stacey wouldn't want a little green buddha around her neck, so it took a while to convince the sales people that I wanted something that was smaller and more discreet.

This week in Atlanta we have no gas. Literally, you can't find gas at 90 percent of the gas stations. You have to go online and check the news websites to find where gas stations actually have a supply. Let's just say our Costco membership paid for itself this week. Instead of waiting in line for over an hour like most, I was able to fill both cars up this weekend at the Costco right around the corner. I waited in line for minutes and paid the cheapest amount in the city. This just goes to show how much Atlanta needs to cut down on cars and improve public transportation. If I wanted to get to work without a car, it would take me over 2 and a half hours. Atlanta is a big enough city that it needs to have a much better system in place.

Next Saturday Stacey and I will be attending a big time college football game. Our good friend Johnny Myers was at a charity event this week and got us two tickets to the Georgia Tech vs. Duke game. That's right big time football. Duke is 3-1 and Georgia Tech is 3-1. Its a clash of titans in the ACC. Its a noon kickoff, so we'll do it up right, by going for a pre-game meal at the world famous Varsity and then head over for the game.

We got a Wii when I got back from China. We added a Wii Fit a week ago. Talk about entertainment. The Fit doesn't pull any punches in telling you what it thinks from the measurements it takes. The first time I stepped on it, I was in Durham at my parents house. By the way my parents have a Wii and a Fit to got with it as well, so make sure you ask them about how they like it. So when I got on it and it did its initial measurements it gave me a Wii Fit Age of 40. Not good. The first time I used it, I had some major balance issues. In fact it called me unbalanced for most of the evening. I was considered a bodybuilder by the strength programs, and a calorie roaster by the aerobic. I was impressed by the technology. It has enough variety and incentive programs to keep you coming back and trying to challenge yourself. On Friday night with Stacey as my audience I tried it again, setting up ours for the first time. My Fit Age: 23. Yeah, much better. I still am trying to get the hang of the balance games though. They are tough. And after going through all the strength activities I had been on it for an hour and had gotten a pretty good workout. I was impressed. However, the funniest story of the Fit is my dad. He attempted to use my aunt's this summer, except that she set it up backwards. No matter what he did it was wrong. His Fit age was 70. Apparently, everybody in the room had a pretty good time at his expense. I couldn't convince him to get on it when I was visiting. I think he was hiding behind the backwards setup excuse. My mom tried it. She got the hang of the aerobics after a couple of tries. Thanksgiving will be a Wii kind of Holiday in Durham.

Hope everybody has a good week.

Unforeseen complications

That title is very medical to me. Its fitting based on the week we're having at the Cobb residence. Stacey and I have been apart for three months and we were reunited the two of us on Sunday plus an uninvited guest: pneumonia. Stacey contracted a form of pneumonia that sent us to the emergency room Sunday night for a rather unpleasant stay until 7:30 in the morning. She had trouble breathing and was pretty panicked so I gathered her into the car an headed down the road to a small hospital around the corner. I couldn't find the emergency entrance right away and parked near the back ambulance entrance. I got her out of the car and a worker told me the entrance was towards the front. Stacey at this point was just about done, and the look on her face told me she was not getting back into the car. Luckily, a nurse came through the door and said "Do you need some help?" I said "Yes!" The nurse got out a wheelchair and took over. Now a young woman clutching her chest, laboring to breath causes a bit of panic and a visit straight to the EKG room. That came back fine. Next blood work, and x-rays and a CT scan. Then the news of fluid on her lungs, despite no cough or fever. Strange to have pneumonia but none of the normal symptoms. They sent us home with three prescriptions and Stacey has since been able to rest pretty well, and her breathing is getting much better. I had a pretty rough go of it. I was up 26 hours, not able to sleep at the hospital, and then had to get her to a doctor's appointment later in the morning. When I don't get sleep, it really messes with my stomach, so I was in bad shape by Monday night. We were in a sorry state. Luckily, Tuesday morning came and I was much better and she was improving.

The blessing is that she had the week off being in between rotations. So she is able to rest this week with no problems. It certainly hasn't been the reuniting we were planning or hoping for, and it really stinks that her birthday will be spent on her back recovering. She turns 27 on Wednesday. I'm totally bummed for her.

In other news, my business partner Johnny Myers and I spent the weekend with Family Health Ministries in Durham, NC. We had a great time their board helping them work through issues to make their organizations better. We are looking forward to working with them in the future and they do amazing work. www.familyhm.org Check out their work in Haiti, they are changing lives and doing incredible ministry.

I apologize for the brevity of the message, but I'm in between playing nurse, doing laundry, keeping the kitchen clean, and catching up on work. We appreciate your prayers for Stacey to heal quickly.

Uh Houston we have a problem

So the big news this week is still happening. My wife Stacey is currently doing a visiting rotation at Texas Children's Medical Center which is located in the currently not-so-desirable-vacation spot of Houston, Texas. I have spoken with her today a couple of times and she is safe and sound along with the family she is staying with. They are in a townhome on the "high side" of Houston, so they remained hunkered down for the duration of the storm. I had suggested to Stacey that she might want to move her car (my car actually) to the medical center's parking garage so that it wasn't out in the open for trees and floods to impact. We think it was a smart move, because an Oak tree fell about ten feet away from where it was parked. The house sustained some minor room damage which has cause a little bit of leaking, but it sounds like it faired pretty well.

I have been somewhat limited in my knowledge of just how bad things are in that area due to the fact that we still haven't hooked our cable back up. Its on days like this that CNN's 24 hour coverage is the best thing on TV. So instead I've followed the storm news via the internet and grainy network updates. I will say this though: you watch a lot less tv when the picture has high levels of snow involved. I've gotten a lot more done around the house than I typically would, because I really like to watch TV. I mean lot. But being limited I'm forced to do things like read and clean. Probably good for me.

Because I've been reading more I have come across some good reading material. If you don't remember anything else I say in this entry remember this. You must read "The Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Its by Thomas Nelson Publishing. The most amazing story I've ever read. I read it in two days, which is miraculous for me. Its a story about God and he relationships and friendships that occur between a homeless man and a high end art dealer. Amazing story that is still unfolding. The book was published this year and these guys are still going strong. Trust me its worth reading and its a NY Times Bestseller, so you won't have any trouble finding it.

Finally, how about a round of applause for the Duke football team. They won a second game today beating Navy. Those guys have endured such lousy seasons you can't help but feel good for those upperclassmen on the team that are now finally getting to experience the feeling of victory when they go to bed on Saturday night. So long the butt of countless jokes, we're going to have to find some new football punchlines.

Next weekend Stacey comes home from Houston, and it will be our first time together since early July. I'm looking forward to it. I'm done with single life. I'm done with my pitiful attempts at well rounded meals. I stink at side dishes. For the good of my health I need my wife back.

Post Beijing

As promised, I've committed to continue writing, even if its for only my mother and aunt to read. I've finally gotten most of my Olympic stuff put away and most of the souvenirs handed out. I gave away some torch themed chopsticks, which seem to be a hit with the sushi lovers in my life. The souvenir though that wins the award was one I never told anybody about in the blog because it would have ruined the surprise. Remember how I went and visited the Today Show as one of my final activities? The Today Show that day had on as a guest, the U.S. Women's Soccer Team who had just won the gold medal the night before. My sister has just finished up a great career as a soccer player at King College earlier last fall. Being the media savy guy that I am, I had a hunch the women's team might be at the show. I had bought her a hat earlier in my time, and I had a sharpie I'd brought to Beijing, and the idea hit me. If I could somehow get close to the girls, I might be able to get a few signatures.

So after staking out my place along the back fence, just as the girls were being interviewed they were actually standing about three feet in front of me. I had watched a lot of women's soccer the previous week because, well what else is there to do when you're working for 9 hours at night in front of all the event feeds. You watch the sports. I knew all the starters faces and names, and most of the usual subs. So during a few commercial breaks I called over a couple of players to sign my sister's hat. Shannon Box first, Lauren Cheney second, Andrea Huckles, then Aly Wagner. Mission accomplished.

Last weekend our family all came together in Dalton, Georgia at my brother's house. My sister drove over from Memphis and my parents from Durham, NC. So when it came time to distribute their souvenirs from Beijing, I handed out shirts, mugs, and then simply gave my sister a hat with no mention. She then began to realize the who had signed it. Needless to say, it was a fun reaction. I think my Christmas present might get upgraded this year.

On another family front, Stacey and I have still not been reunited yet. She is on a visiting rotation in Houston, TX at the Baylor Medical School. She comes back to Atlanta later this month. It will be very good to have my wife back. She actually gets back in town right in time for her birthday on September 24th. Good timing on her part. There will be much to celebrate.

Finally, my best story line for the week is "Phil versus the Ford Taurus" We have a 1999 Ford Taurus which is usually driven by Stacey to school. We typically don't take it out of town. Stacey took my Honda Civic to Houston and it was a good thing. The Taurus has been acting a little funny lately. Mainly the speedometer has been cutting out while driving the car. Typically not a good sign. Then the transmission started acting funny, as the car would really jerk when shifting gears. Finally the straw that broke the camels back: the cruise control wouldn't stay on. Now I can take the speedometer not working, and I can tolerate a badly shifting transmission, but don't go messin' with the cruise control! The car never stranded me anywhere, but it certainly added some stress this week, and it seemed to act up most when I had the AC on. So here I am driving around in Atlanta in 90 weather with the windows rolled down. Needless to say I scheduled a service appointment. I took the car in and they diagnosed a faulty speed sensor. One sensor was causing a lot of issues. Its located in the transmission and it basically tells your car how fast its going. You can imagine the potential problems if your car doesn't know how fast its going. Changing gears for an automatic transmission gets exponentially more difficult. The service department fixed the problem and I was rocking and rolling again by the afternoon. Now Stacey will come back to a smoothly running car and life can go on.

Until next week, this has been the first PB (Post Beijing) edition of Straight From The Cobb

The Final Olympic Post

The Closing Ceremonies was a fitting end to the Beijing Olympic Games. The Chinese again dazzled with remarkable feats of acrobatics and sheer people. Lots of color and light brought amazing images into our minds. When it was time for the British handover for the Games in London in 2012, we got a small glimpse of how different the Games will be. Jimmy Page playing guitar on top of a double decker bus, while people danced below, almost like a music video. London’s budget for the Games is something like 11 Billion. Beijing’s was over 40 Billion. Its going to be different. Nobody will every have that kind of money to throw at it again. Only the Chinese government could get away with it now. No other government would ever be able to justify such an amount.

These Games were spectacular in many ways. Beautiful venues, compelling stories of triumph, and just plain old great competition. To watch the men’s swimming relay, and the women’s gymnastics all-around final, the U.S. women’s soccer team, and U.S. Men’s basketball team have fantastic finishes was amazing. The U.S. men’s volleyball team won a thrilling game over Brazil in a fitting tribute to their coach whose family had just been struck by tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the competition this Games. I will never forget the Michael Phelps performance. To be at the Games where that took place is being a part of history. And then to have met the guy who put in the most amazing relay swim in history was awesome.

To have had the opportunity to hold an actual silver medal in my hand and see the amazing beauty of the Jade ring on the back and see the equaled awe in the eyes of the athlete sharing it with me was incredible. What a moment to share in.

To have had the opportunity to go and experience Track and Field in the National Stadium with 90,000 screaming and cheering fans, is something I’ll never forget. There were only three of us that got to experience finals at Athletics. What a blessing.

My Olympic experiences are always blessings. I never have any idea what I’m going to experience. Sometimes I go in with a plan, and none of it works. Sometimes the plan works beautifully, but the end experience isn’t the most memorable. Sometimes they are indirect blessings that sneak up on you. I’m had the pleasure of exchanging about 6 or 7 emails with long time sports columnist Rick Reilly while I have been here. I met him in Salt Lake City, and low and behold he still has his same personal email address. I wrote him at the beginning of the Games to see if he would be here. He wasn’t but he was writing about it. So I sent him some feedback about one of his columns, and emails went back and forth. This is the guy that inspired me to begin writing back when I was in high school. That has been one of the coolest elements of this experience.

After the Closing Ceremonies were completed I got another opportunity to have a great interaction. There is always a company party at the close of the transmission. Its at the IBC and it invites everyone from the company. At this event, besides free food, drinks, and dancing, there is the opportunity to thank bosses, and network. I got to have a picture taken with Dr. Jim Owens of Asbury, who made all of this happen and Manolo Romero the President of the company.

On my last night there, the entire department went out to dinner at an Arabian themed place. We had a great time laughing about all the funny situations that had occurred during our stay. The food was fantastic and the chance for a proper sendoff was appreciated by everyone. I had bought a white hat earlier in the day, and I was able to get everyone to sign it. Now I can put it on display and remember everyone I worked with and the stories that come to mind with each name. Finally as the evening came to a close, what struck me about the parting of ways was this: I was the first to leave for home and everybody came up to me and did not simply give me a handshake, but a hug. It was as if we were a family saying goodbye to each other. Several of the harder to love individuals who I had specifically spent quality time with, gave me very poignant goodbyes. That spoke volumes to me. It was the payoff for the for all the moments I had put others before myself. I had been quick to praise the overlooked, give to those that wanted, and look out for the good of the team. It was noticed. The final hug goodbye came from the supervisor, Milan. He said “Great job and see you in Canada my friend.” Well that had not happened in Athens. He said great job, but there was no comment about the future. I don’t know what the future will bring, but I have a feeling if I want it to include the Games, it will. That is certainly something I will have to pray about going forward.

The very final interesting thing that happened on my journey home, was I met Jason Kidd who was on my flight. I congratulated him on the Gold Medal, and told him how much entertainment he had provided. The flights home ended up being very smooth and now I am fighting the jet lag. Hopefully I can beat it sooner rather than later.

I hoped you all enjoyed a bit of an inside scoop on the Olympics. I hope what I wrote made you think a little bit about the rest of the world. If anything I said spurned you to have more questions, I would love to answer them and correspond further. I have also decided that I will continue this blog on a once a week basis. I really enjoy writing and between having a wife in medical school and the adventures I get into at work, there is enough material I think to keep things interesting. My email address for further comments is philcobb@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

-Phil

There will be one more post from the Games with a final update of the last part of the experience, so check out blog tomorrow. Right now I still trying to remember which country I'm in. USA I think...

You're still watching?

Today was day 15 of competition. It should be called day 2 of “oh, you’re still here and watching? We thought you would be done after swimming and gymnastics.” You say day 2? Yeah, there are a few other sports people watch that happen in the second week, like track and field, or women’s soccer, but the majority of what’s on the second half of week two feels like Olympic Title IX in action.
Some of these sports need some help to make them a little more appealing to the masses. I have some ideas:

Trampoline: They put a basketball goal on each side of the trampoline and they have to dunk after each flip or twist: And now Svetlana Vorkhof will do her famous 4 1/2 flip tuck 2 1/2 twist windmill jam. What a crowd favorite. They would get bonus points for wearing a mascot outfit.

Taekwondo: Every point has to be scored from the crane kick position, and instead of padded helmets they were headbands with random chinese characters on the side. And of course there has to be a female love interest watching anxiously from the side of the mat, and the coach must have a fu man chu beard and address his athlete ending in son. “Lopezson, remember wax on, crane kick. Now go beat Jacksonson.”

Syncronized Swimming: Easy, they have to incorporate dolphins and killer whales into the routine, its worked for Sea World for years.

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Every prop is on fire. Let’s see katrina gracefully twirl that ribbon now.

Modern Pentathalon: Its sort of based off the the aristocratic society concept of a prince being good at all these different disciplines. It really is a whacky combination; simplified fencing, swimming, horseback riding, running, and shooting. Well in my version they do it old school and the fencing is the last event. Based on how you do in the other four sports depends on how sharpe your sword is and how much protection you get to wear. “Dimitri Karcolkof, is really wishing he’d practiced his swimming technique, as he faces the difficult last event wearing only his speedo and wielding a broomstick.

Sailing: You have a hole in your boat, you’re carrying a record load of fish, and a storm is approaching. I bet that increases the urgency to finish the course.

Swimming Marathon: Added for Beijing, I can’t help this one. As if watching people run a marathon is boring enough, swimming is even worse.

Table Tennis: This one needs to have the playing field leveled a bit, so all Chinese competitors must take a drink of beer after losing a point. Let’s see Wang Li hit her famous serves after 4 cans of Budweiser hit her 90 pound body.
(Funny aside that is true rule in Olympics: alcohol is a banned substance in archery because of its ability to calm, competitors must abstain from alcoholic beverages 1 month prior to competition. Not even making that up.)

Canoeing/Kayaking: Its always held in West Virginia, there is banjo music playing over speakers going down the river, and whatever happens on the river stays on the river. Everyone who makes it to the finish automatically gets a medal.

Wrestling: They add ropes, fireworks, and announcer and they come into a theme song. And in this corner hailing from Iran the Cleric of Chaaaoooosssss! His opponent from Russia, Boris the Ukranian Undertaker. For the Gold Medal Match they drop a cage over the mat.

Dressage: It doesn’t need any help. I watched the Grand Prix final the other night. You ever seen this stuff. They get the horses to dance to stuff like Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, 80s one hit wonders. I had no idea Dressage could actually be entertaining to watch. The horse skipped across the ring to Sympathy for the Devil better than Mick Jagger.

So, I think that if these few changes are implemented, the ratings for week two could be even better than week 1. I’ve sent my ideas to Jacque Rogge, and his people said they would get back to me.

In all seriousness, you can really feel things winding down. Venues now are hosting all Gold Medal games for team sports and individual competitions. We’ve already shut down half of the venues. There are parts of the day now with only two events happening, versus last Saturday with 32 events happening simultaneously. When you watch network coverage you have no concept of how much stuff is going on at the Games. While you watch Phelps swim and Nastia flip, there are about 10 other competitions happening. You really end up missing a lot of amazing performances by athletes from other countries. Some of the Table Tennis that gets played is hard to fathom. I don’t know how people develop reaction times like these athletes. Even shooting skeet. They shoot at 100 fired skeet, and the winner hit 93. Are you kidding me? And these people train for these less popular sports while working full time and living a pretty normal life. I say pretty normal, because they have to mix in hours of training. At its best the Games is a fantastic venue for really hardworking, disciplined athletes to show off and compete. And outside of the superstar, celebrity, athletes, most have an incredible experience living in the Athlete’s Village, getting to know people from all over the world, and sighting seeing in the Olympic City. I run into random athletes all the time downtown. Boxers from Poland, Judo competitors from Brazil, etc.

Not to mention getting to meet the journalists from all over the world. Yesterday, I met a lady from the U.S. who works for Reuters. She covers cycling for the Games, but covers politics the rest of the time. She is currently on the trail with Obama, on the plain, bus, wherever he is. Fascinating to ask her questions about what he is like and to talk about the upcoming elections. She says he is actually a very genuine down to earth guy, and is a basketball nut.

Last night I road the bus with the primetime anchor for Channel Seven Australia. We chatted about our families, the Olympic experience, and what we enjoy most about telling stories. She was very nice, took a picture with me as we parted ways.

I like talking to Australians because they say things like “I was really buggered about not getting to do that” or “Aren’t you a shocker.” (Cute, funny) Lincoln says this one all the time “Ah, good on ya mate.” (sounds like things are going well) And of course Cheers (Goodbye).

The next entry will about the Closing Ceremonies. Love the fireworks. Until then, Cheers Mate!

Update part 2

Well I was at the Today Show just an hour ago, met Al, Meredith, and Ann. I also met several members of the women's water polo team that won the silver. I mention that because I got to hold one of the girls silver medals. Its pretty heavy! The jade on the back is very impressive. I told her it was the nicest paper weight she'll ever have, and she laughed pretty hard. Very nice girls.

I was standing in the first row behind the fence in back of their main desk, behind an American flag draped over the fence. I had on a green shirt. The lady standing next to me got a text from a friend in the States saying she could see her, so I assumed that was the same for me. It was really quite fun, because I was so close to everything. I made some quick tourist friends waiting for the show to start and we really had a fun conversation and even traded some pins. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I told Al I wanted to apply for the position of equipment manager for he and Matt's Rhythmic Gymnastics team. He laughed. I had watched the video of it at work hours earlier. Pretty funny. Saturday is their last day from Beijing. I will post another longer entry later, but wanted to post this after prepping everyone.

Quick Update

Just wanted to post the message that Friday night for me morning for you I'm going to head over to the Today Show, so anybody that watches can be on the look out for a really good looking, non-Chinese guy in the crowd. I'm going to attempt to be there earlier rather than later in the broadcast.

Athletics spectacular

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to meet some world class athletes. I was walking out of the IBC by the exit from NBC and out of sheer lucky timing I crossed paths with three gold medalists finishing up interviews. Aaron Piersol, Jason Lezak, and Brendan Hansen, 3/4 of the United States medley relay team were still in their Team USA warmups with victory roses in hand from the medal ceremony 4 hours after the event. I shook the hand of each and offered congratulations. Each one obliged the greeting and climbed into a minivan waiting to take them to the Athletes Village. This was the first time in three Olympics that I’ve ever gotten to meet such high profile gold medalists. They were actually the second meeting of the day. Twenty minutes earlier I had run into Rebecca Soni, the new 200 meter breast stroke world record holder after she too had finished an interview. It was quite thrilling to be able to congratulate athletes who throughout the week had given me such an entertaining performance.

The main event for the day, and what will be a lasting memory for my life was the opportunity to attend an event. In the past Olympics I’ve attended speed skating, men’s indoor volleyball, and table tennis. At two of those events I witnessed medals being awarded. It was a great experience but somewhat lacking in true Olympic buzz. So you can imagine my excitement at finding out a way to arrange an upgrade pass for entry of Lincoln and myself to the Bird’s Nest for Track and Field in Primetime Sunday night. We would get to see the showcase venue up close and personal, without even buying a ticket. In actuality, going with our pass gave us access to areas that normal tickets would never have. Here is an Insider’s View into Athletics at the National Stadium.

Upon walking up to the stadium there is a huge plaza that separates the Nest’s enormous compound from another enormous showcase, the Water Cube. The Stadium is surrounded by very well maintained flower gardens with little light posts along walkways that incorporate the architectural elements of the Nest into their look. We had been instructed to report to the television compound to obtain our passes. The Compound manager met us with two passes and a stern warning to bring the passes back to him at the end of the night. He also made a passing comment of his unusual generosity in giving us access to the evening session. We thanked him profusely and made small talk for a minute or so and then he directed us to follow the hundreds of cables leading from the compound into the stadium structure. We headed down into the bowels of the enormous facility following the heaps of wiring carrying the video, audio, and information that enable the magic. We arrived at a lower concourse that had several pass checks. We flashed our passes and were given access to every point we came to, passing several interesting sights along the way. For the first time I was able to see the venue mixed zone. A mixed zone is where the press and video media are able to interview the athletes. The press get a bit of a raw deal at the Games. They have to line up inside the main lower concourse in queue lines with questions and recorders in hand. The reason I say raw deal is that the athletes get interviewed by the Broadcast media immediately exiting the field in the video mixed zone. They answered numerous questions, then the press get a crack at them. By then, they are done, so the press gets the short end of the stick most of the time. Most of you probably didn’t know this but, athletes cannot simply exit the field to the locker room. The field exit literally winds winds in between several rows of rented space cubicles that usually contain a reporter and a cameraman. In order to skip interviews they have to actually walk past and ignore reporters who could reach out and grab them. Its a system that is designed to create interview opportunities. The location of the mixed zones, help give an impression that the interview is taking place down on the field. Its not, its actually occurring about thirty feet away and several feet up from the track surface.

Continuing on we went up several flight of stairs, following signs for the Commentary Control Room, or CCR. This room is the extension of my department at the venue. All the commentators equipment is wired to feed this room built into the back of the lower level stands. In there all the audio circuits are monitored and then they are fed into digital modems that carry the signals to the main broadcast center switching center which is where I work. At the National Stadium we get to know the crew there pretty well over the period of the Games because we work extensively with them in getting things ready for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It has the most commentary positions, and special compound feeds of any of the venues. Track and Field is still the grandaddy of the Games. More countries are interested in Athletics because of the broad nature of the events and the fact that many of the smaller nations can compete in many of the track events. It doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment to run.

We walked into the CCR and greeted the crew. Lincoln and I took in the setup, which for us was very helpful because the switching center acts as the lead on trouble shooting. So any insight we have on the other side of the line helps us help the venues figure out issues. After some time of swapping stories, the CCR manager showed us the observation seating area. The seats were right outside the room and located just above the start finish line, behind the mixed zone. We were about 40 feet from the track. We grabbed two seats and took in the scene. The stadium was at capactiy, filled with color and waving mini flags representing dozens of nations. Two giant scoreboards gave stats on the action taking place on the field. One was in Chinese and the other in English. There also two giant video boards showing closeups of the various things happening down on the field of play. Camera flashes continually popped up little white sparks of light. Above the three levels of seats ringing the stadium was the enduring image of the Olympics: The Torch. It was across the stadium from us creating a perfect backdrop for many of our pictures.

For any of you that have ever attended a track meet you know that it is a bit of a circus. There are running events, jumping events, and throwing events all happening at the same time on different parts of the field surface. On this particular evening there were sprint and hurdle running events, the high jump and triple jump, and the hammer throw. If there is ever a sport that television doesn’t do justice to its the hammer throw. We were watching the men’s final. These guys were launching cannon balls attached to metal wires from a cage, about half way across the green field. It was unbelievable. Its sort of like when cheerleaders use that air cannon to launch t-shirts into the stands, except that in this case the object would kill you. Same sort of flight path. Once the hammer lands on the field it is picked up and returned to the cage, via a remote controlled car. Yep, that’s right somebody gets paid to drive a remote controlled car back and forth on the field of play returning throw objects like a game of fetch.

On this particular night the women’s 100 meter final was being run. When it came time for the event everyone pulled out their cameras and got ready to witness the fastest woman in the world be crowned. The amazing thing about the race is that when it actually happens its over so quick, you don’t even have time to react.

We witnessed a new world record in the 3,000 meter women’s steeplechase. There was a medal winner from China recognized, and to hear the roar of 80,000 Chinese fans was something I will always remember. It was unreal. Pride in their athletics achievement is not something they have to conjure up here.

We took a number of pictures, walked around the concourse admiring the architecture, and then returned our passes calling it a night. It was an experience that was unexpected but certainly welcomed and will leave me a lasting memory. What a blessing. When I get back into the States I will post some of the photos from the evening, so you can get a little more visual perspective. 8 days left on my Chinese adventure.

Hmm, I'll pass

Pin collection is a shrewd business. It takes cleverness and patience. You have to stick to your guns in order to win out on the swap. For me pin collecting is not what it is to others. Some people go nuts over collecting and swapping pins. Me, no, what I do is go after very specific pins that represent a memory or event. For instance, if there is a particular broadcaster I’ve done a lot of work with, I will attempt to get a hold of a pin from them. If there is a particular place that holds a good memory, I will either trade for a pin with that place or I will buy one.

My main motivation now is to build up a collection that supports a good shadow box display. Stacey is really good at display handicrafts and she can take the various items I’ve collected and turn it into a fine piece of art. I have a very cool display from Athens she put together, and I’ve been collecting items she can use for a Beijing display. What I love about this type of souvenir, is when its on display in my house and I see it, it brings back great memories of not just the events and experiences but of the relationships that are a part of the memories.

Outside of the main press center there is a whole other level of pin trading going on. Professional pin traders stand outside the press center hoping to trade for press and broadcast pins that are rare. These guys travel to every Olympics and every day come outside to trade, looking for the rare pin that has never been seen before. Its amazing to see all the companies and places represented in the collections these guys have. They’ve dedicated much of their lives to this hobby. Glad I’m not them.

On a totally unrelated note I made a visit several days ago to a place that you may have seen on the news coverage of the Games. The Wang Fu Vendor street. This is the place where they fry everything in front of you and serve it up on a stick. In walking down the street a menu of the following could be offered: Fried silkworm, fried squid, fried grasshopper, fried centipede, fried snake, fried starfish, fried sea horse, fried scorpion (small and large), sugar coated watermelon, honeydew melon, strawberries, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, stewed DOG, and my personal favorites, fried sheep testicle and fried sheep penus. The smell is enough to make you toss your cookies without even putting anything in your mouth. On my visit I was with Jared, and he had tried this stuff the other night. I patted him on the back and said you the man, you can have the title. Even though most of it all tastes the same after frying it (according to everyone who has jumped on the opportunity) the sheer psychological damage I envisioned wasn’t worth it. I liked watching Fear Factor, but I never wanted to actually participate myself. So it makes for a good laugh, a good cringe, but not an experience I wanted to venture in on. It doesn’t help things when the Chinese man across the counter, smiles and in broken English says “try the sheep testicles, truly delicious!” Riiiiggghhhtttt.

The torch burning in the Stadium has so much gas pumping into it, when no action is going on you can pick it up on the commentary unit microphones. Our venue manager at the Bird’s Nest noticed that the other day, while troubleshooting a noise on the circuit he couldn’t figure out. He then discovered it was the gas line feeding the flame. If oil prices jump even more the next few weeks, you’ll know why. Its a pretty amazing site, the torch, burning on top of the stadium. The stadium is incredible and that torch up there is just beautiful and quite the symbol for the competition.

I read Michael Phelps makes about 5 million a year in endorsements. Imagine what that amount is going to be now.

The Sports

You want to know the best way to judge Olympic Achievement? It can be measured by how many journalists working the Games will stop what they are doing to watch. It doesn’t happen very often. These are people who for the most part not only work every Olympics, but they also cover these sports all year. It takes something special to catch their attention. Enter Michael Phelps. His 100 meter butterfly race had journalists pulling chairs around the television in the dining area. They don’t cheer they just watch, and when the finish graphic popped up after they touched the wall, there was a groan of amazement that could be heard murmuring through the room.

Regardless of whether the relay team wins the last Gold for the great eight, he has at least tied Mark Spitz for the single Olympics Gold mark. And there have been numerous quotes I’ve read from other swimmers and coaches that say in one way or other, that Spitz was swimming in a far less competitive generation. Let me help put his accomplishment into perspective a little more. I don’t have the benefit of super promotion via NBC. I’m just watching uncut, live feeds. The CHINESE cheer for Phelps as loud as their own athletes. His success has transcended nationalities. He has simply become the man...and very rich at the same time.

You wouldn’t believe some of the hours that people have to keep here. This is a 24/7 operation and most of it is divided into shifts to give coverage to everything that needs to happen. Some of the NBC interns work 3pm - 3am, 6 pm - 6 am, and so on. That really puts your body out of whack. I have a hard enough time with 3:30 pm to midnight. The light outside says one thing and your body gets trapped in this bizarro sleep schedule. And why? So that you the captive audience at home can have the best coverage imaginable.

This is the last Games for baseball and softball. They did not make the cut for the London Games. The IOC needs to cut some more sports. The amount of competition that gets played out over the two weeks is just silly. And within each sport its silly the number of different events that get competed in. Like sailing. Who cares. Just pick a boat, put a crew in it and see who can make it the fastest across a lake. Takes one day, you’re done. Road Cycling has it right. Make a course, startem, and see who wins. The other thing that drives me nuts about the Olympics is when they put in sports that really aren’t world championships. For instance. Tennis is a world tour already. We don’t need another sport added to the Games that already is competed in internationally by the best. Basketball has at least gotten to level internationally that it works to have an international tournament. Baseball is being taken away for precisely this point. Who cares. Minor leaguers getting together to play. We don’t care. Men’s field hockey. If only a quarter of the countries even know it exists, it shouldn’t be an Olympic sport.

Some sports are around just to give small countries something to get excited about. You know what Iceland is good at...handball. They dominate handball. And we all care. Its all about including everybody. And sometimes even countries like the U.S. start to steal the limelight in sports we shouldn’t. Table Tennis. We have a pair competing for the bronze as I write, although it should be noted they are Chinese by race.

I’ve decided that Stacey and I’s children are going to compete in the Olympics, and we’re going to hire a private badminton coach from Indonesia to come train are kids. Very little risk of injury, very little competition to make the team in the U.S. You have several windows of opportunity to crack the competition as well. They can practice in the backyard, cheap gear needed, and it won’t cause them to have no social life.

In all seriousness the Games are really a great place for many of these unknown athletes to shine. I can appreciate the discipline and hard work they put in for years to compete at the biggest event in the world. For Olympians they get to have a very rich cultural experience in the village hanging out with the other athletes. To see USA basketball members show up at a swim meet is something you only see at the Olympics. My only question is, what will Michael Phelps first post Olympics cameo NBA game be?

The Lighter Side

So after so many serious blogs I felt it time to lighten the mood. Here are some unrelated but humorous observations and occurrences from Beijing.

Olympic reporting: The other night I connected a unilateral that featured Al Jazeera television interviewing...Craig Sager, the NBA sideline reporter, who is working here for NBC. I’ve always wondered what the quality of other nations sports reporting was. When they are speaking in another language they sound very put together and very intelligent. When you get the opportunity to actually here the questions in English, one quickly realizes the rest of the world is not setting the pace for intelligent journalism. It started with the commentator and having to look at Sager’s name badge to remember his name, accompanied by Sager actually whispering it into his ear. Then the guy turns to Craig and says “Mr. Sager, you saw the game tonight. Why was it so exciting?” Sager, trying not to laugh, and looking like he was rethinking his agreement to the interview began to try and actually give basketball analysis to the game. Instead of just saying China playing Spain is a big matchup, and there are some great stars out on the court, he tried to get into the strengths and weaknesses of Spain and China. Next question: “China was winning, why did they not win?” Sager, chuckles, then tries to explain that the guards for Spain are NBA caliber and begin to play better defense in the fourth and that the Chinese big men weren’t setup defensively the right way...etc. It all finishes and Sager quickly exits, while the reporter is saying off air thanks Craig Sager, thanks Craig Sager. At the time I thought I was the only one taking this magical journalistic moment in. A guy in the department next door came in said “Did you see that!” We both burst out laughing. Only the Olympics can feature Craig Sager doing post game analysis for Al Jazeera Sports Television.

I’d be willing to make a bet that several weeks after the Games we might be in for controversy when its revealed that some of the Chinese gymnasts weren’t 16, the age limit for competing. There are enough investigative journalists over here that I’m sure are working on that as we speak. They might not come up with anything because the government will produce whatever doctored paperwork is needed to show proof, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Female weightlifters from every nation share one thing in common. They all fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

Table Tennis and Badminton are sports that they really shouldn’t even compete in. Just hand over the gold and silver to the Chinese in each sport. Professional Table Tennis is what is on in primetime here. Turn on the CCTV sports channel and night and many times its a table tennis tournament. You can see kids playing badminton in the streets whenever you walk around at night. No net needed. They just bat it around. You actually see a lot of moms and daughters playing.

One of our new favorite sports to watch here is handball. Handball isn’t new but us watching it is. You have a limited amount you can run with a little soccer ball before either dribbling it or passing it. Then you throw it in a net past a goalie. Its played on an indoor court about the size of a basketball floor. The perfect game for any church youth group with a gym. Pass and throw. We haven’t quite figured out the fouling rules yet, but some of the athletic double pump throws the competitors make are pretty impressive. Final scores are usually in the upper 20s and low 30s. Apparently, they play this a lot recreationally in Australia. At least that’s what Lincoln tells me.

I was happy to see that the American south contributed to the Olympic effort. New Olympic record in trap shooting by a guy that looks like he was from Alabama or Mississippi. Hopefully he gets some nice endorsements from John Deere and Stihl after this.

I would love to know the U.S. Gymnastics budget for medical tape and wraps. It has to be absurd.

There is now a Chinese military tank parked outside the IBC. As if we needed any more reasons not to try anything. People have certainly enjoyed taking pictures of it.

I’m really glad the U.S. is good at basketball again. Its a lot easier to talk smack about slamming a ball in a guys grill than talking trash about how much faster our guys can row a boat.

Amazing occurrences: The U.S. Women’s soccer team explodes for 4 goals, the Norwegian team gets taken behind the woodshed by Japan, and the U.S. wins the group on goal differential. This might be a team of destiny, because the way the pool play finished was nuts. Now the draw is Canada instead of Brazil. Nice trade.

Members of the European media should be banned from receiving liver transplants. When I get off my shift at midnight and get back to the media village I have to walk through a common outdoor area with tables and chairs. Every night the European broadcasters and journalists have enough empty beer bottles to cover the entire table surfaces. Its crazy how much alcohol they consume...every night! They all smoke as well. Americans will die from heart attacks and diabetes, but Europeans will be right there with us keeling over from liver failure and lung cancer.

Behind the Athlete is great support

Now that some medals are being awarded, this brings me to my favorite part of the Olympic Games. The stories of these athletes unfold before our eyes and to see them achieve victory in something many of them have spent their lives working towards is amazing. I just finished watching some of the swimming finals. When you see the closeup of the athlete turning to look at their winning status on the scoreboard is just incredible. For anyone who has ever competed for something and won, you know that feeling. That’s the payoff. Its especially fun when an athlete medals who really wasn’t expected to. You can see it in their eyes when they step up to the platform to accept their medal.

The reason I love this element of the Olympics is it occurs when everything else is stripped away. Other than the logos on their uniforms, its just the competitors, the field or water of competition, and everything else falls away. Pure sport and the stories that unfold around it.

One of the elements that I love about being here to watch the games, is the feed that I get to watch is uncut. When someone wins the competition there is no commercial break. We watch captivated by the celebration of the athlete. For me personally this coverage allows me to see an image that brings back treasured memories. Behind most of the successful athletes here at the Games are dedicated parents and siblings. Sometimes you get to see this on network coverage, but most of the time they cut away to another sport or analysis. For me seeing that mom cry for joy because her son just made his lifelong dream come true is a vision of joy. That mother has spent a good part of her life shuttling that kid to and from practice and games and meets. And the payoff, watching that beloved child achieve Olympic Champion status and being able to share in that. The reason this resonates with me, is because my parents were incredibly supportive of me and my siblings in their endeavors. Every game and match they were there cheering us on. We weren’t always on good teams either, and they were still there giving us their undivided attention and support.

Having had that kind of support growing up gives me a genuine appreciation for the images of those parents cheering on their Olympic Champion son or daughter. Becoming the best in the world is too hard to do on your own. You have to have great coaching and great family and friends support.

On a totally unrelated note, yesterday gave us an Olympic experience we haven’t had to deal with since at least Sydney: Rain. It never rained a drop in Athens. But it rained yesterday. So much rain it postponed tennis, held up Archery, made the cycling road race very difficult, and otherwise wreaked havoc on fans at every outdoor venue. One of the Commentary Control Rooms at the center court tennis venue started flooding. A frantic manager informed us he was ripping up the false floor to drain water out of the room. After its rained in Beijing in the past weeks, the air quality has improved. We’ll see if that happens this time. Its been pretty bad thus for the Games. In a press release the other day, one official was quoted as saying that Beijing is going to have to figure out what their solution will be long term. You can’t keep factories closed and odd and even license plate cars off the road forever. The way this city is expanding and attempting to grow, these problems are only going to get worse. For the sake of the Chinese people I hope they can come up with a good lasting solution.

Finally, it was nice to see Team USA basketball at top form again. Last night while watching the game with the Chinese students in our Switching Center, I took the opportunity to teach them how to talk junk during an athletic competition. They didn’t understand how to do that. So I gave them some lessons on proper reactions to great dunks, bucket and the foul, and building the lead bigger and bigger. I considered it part of my cultural giving back. The students enjoyed the lesson, though it was at the expense of their own team. I don’t think they minded too much because the American players are almost more loved than the Chinese players are. Kobe Bryant could probably amass enough support to make a run at the Chinese Presidency. I’ve also decided that the sport of gymnastics can only be watched with expert commentary. If you try to watch any of it as just video with ambient noise, you have no idea who is doing well until someone falls and then you only know that they aren’t winning a medal. And they changed the scoring system. Great. Now a 10 stinks. I don’t have time for this, there are like 15 other sports happening at the same time, and they have clearly defined rules: put an object in the right place in the fastest or given amout of time, it doesn’t matter how you look doing it!

Game On!

The Games have begun! I worked the Opening Ceremonies, and for our department it was anything but a ceremony. The most troubled opening I’ve worked in Commentary Switching. Between equipment failing due to the absurd heat and humidity in the National Stadium, to standup position camera guys failing to show up, it was a rough night. I still got enjoy much of the ceremony watching throughout. The fireworks were something else weren’t they! I stood outside during the last set. It was amazing to see fireworks going up from as far as you could see left to right across the horizon.

Now that competition has begun, there is a lot of stuff going on. Everyday there will be competition from 9 am until past midnight. While you’re watching let’s say the US women play volleyball, there are 4-6 other venues going with their own competition. Its a lot to keep track of. What makes the Olympics so unique, is that unlike most other events of any size, they tend to be centered around one thing or sport. This runs the gauntlet of setups and needs. For instance, there are special kinds of wireless camera feeds for the cycling road race, and then there is the robotic camera inside the weightlifting floor to look up at the competitor (though a closeup of the female weightlifters is a debatable need), and then of course there are the track cams that go alongside the swimmers and runners. What’s really crazy to think about is that only covers the video coverage of the sports. There is a whole other side to the Games you never see. Food service for all workers and athletes, accommodations, travel around the city, security, merchandising, etc. Its an amazing amount of work that goes into two weeks.

Speaking of merchandise. Wow, this has to be the most heavily marketed games in history. I’ve never seen so much merchandise. Here is an interesting trend I’ve found. In past games there has been a lot of clothes you can buy. Not so here. Much more limited in clothing options. Though the prices are cheaper than in the past (pricepoint so Chinese can afford to buy), there aren’t as many shirts and pants available. In China, the marketing materials of choice have been the mascots and mascot things for children and trinkets. My gosh, there are more Olympic trinkets available to buy than you can believe. Crystal miniatures of the Water Cube, the National Stadium, the mascots. There are gold plated miniatures of the National Stadium. There are dozens of different types of keychains and pins for each venue, sport, and mascot. There are official Olympic pins for major Chinese landmarks. There are tea sets, coffee mugs, a whole line of Lenovo sponsored computer items like flash drives and mouse pads.

The Chinese have been buying everything! Many of the women’s soccer stuff has sold out. They bought all the Olympic tickets. Everything venue in Beijing is sold out for the Games. First time that has ever happened. If there was ever a place to be concerned about for post Olympic depression its Beijing. It’s been shown in past studies that the Games being over has a depression effect on the host city. In Beijing, these people have lived for this for years. Most of the way of life here has been centered around preparing for the Games. National pride for hosting a great Games has been the motivation for much of life around here. It will be interesting to see what will happen when the Games are done. I’m sure there are people waiting to do studies on just this after the Games have concluded.

I made a visit to the common Olympic domain the other day. One giant sponsor commercial. The major Olympic sponsors have built temporary exhibition spaces to show off whatever they deem to show off for the Games. Adidas for instance has former displays of gear worn by former Olympic Champions. A neat history lesson, because it includes athletes from Games that occurred decades ago. Its interesting to see how athletic gear has evolved. At Coke’s display you walk through a Chinese centered exhibit looking to recreate the spirit of the Games. There are videos and lights, and it ends with a Coke design contest that went across China. As you are walking out of the space they of course send you on your way with a refreshing, ice cold Coca-Cola. That was really welcomed by me because it was 95 degrees outside with 60 percent humidity. You stand, you sweat, you walk, you sweat more.

One last note. As you’re watching the medal ceremonies, watch the Chinese athletes. Anything less than Gold is failure here, because the Chinese government is attempting to prove that its academy system of plucking children from their homes to place them in intense training environments is the most successful system. If they do not win the most gold medals, it will be considered a blow to their philosophy. So already I’ve seen one Chinese athlete be almost sad by winning the silver. The goal is gold. Something to keep an eye on.