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