Summer Olympics 2012

It’s that time. The Summer Olympics is here once again! It’s very special because it’s only around once every 4 years. Sort of like an election but vastly more interesting than politics. 4 years of training. 4 years of blood, sweat, and tears. 4 years of building the perfect team. 4 years of breaking records just to qualify for this moment which only a few earn once in a lifetime. Whether you come in 1st or 50th, to be able to march in the stadium during the Opening Ceremony is the single most greatest honor an athlete can ever achieve. 

Now alot of people (mostly westerner Americans) feel that the Olympics is boring. It’s boring because it doesn’t host the sports that I enjoy such as Football (American) or Baseball. In that regard, it may be true, but the way I see it is that those sports aren’t nearly as competitive. What exactly is the point of saying that America has the best Football (American) and Baseball athletes in the world if the rest of the world are not playing those sports. The way competition is suppose to work is you test your skill and abilities against anyone who poses a challenge. Not just those in your network or area.

Now enough of my philosophy on competition. Time to get on with the events and the teams I will be rooting for.

The Events

There are many more events in the Summer Olympics than the Winter Olympics. Many of them are interesting but some are not so. My favorites would include as follows (Not necessarily in this order):

  • Artistic Gymnastic
  • Athleticism
  • Boxing
  • Football
  • Judo
  • Swimming
  • Tae kwon do
  • Weightlifting
  • Wrestling

I’ll probably get into more detail about the types of sports and the athletics who play them. These are just my favorite sports in the Summer Olympics to watch. Some other sports I’ll probably be paying more attention to this year than others is Basketball. Sure, the United States pretty much dominates in the sport of Basketball but this year I have a feeling it will be different. Also, Table Tennis always seems like high paced fun so this year I really want to check it out. All other sports usually involved the water and racing. It’s really not my cup of tea.

The Teams

Anyone who knows me knows that I am by no means a nationalist. This generally means that my loyalties don’t reside to one particular country, but rather which country fairs the best. I’ve lived all over the world and have visited many fabulous countries. How can I side with just one? These are the countries I’m going to be rooting for:

  • Hong Kong, China
  • Denmark
  • Sweden
  • Japan
  • Germany
  • Philippines
  • South Korea

There may be bias when when it comes to my favorite teams but they are not influenced by the politics or culture of the giving area.

Technically, Hong Kong and China are two different countries but I lump them together for geologically purposes. China is definitely the favorite for me this year. They’ve earn the highest rank in the 2008 Olympic games with the most Gold Medals on their home turf. You can’t really go wrong with China. Everything about the China seems to be surpassing the West. Economic, Business, Technological and Athletic wise, China seems to be taking over the world.

Denmark is also a native country of mine and fairs surprisingly well when it comes to the Olympic Games. This relativity small country averages 2 Gold Medals every Olympic Games. Usually in the events of Rowing and Sailing, which is not surprising being that the country neighbors the North Sea. It’s too bad boating events doesn’t interest me. 

Sweden’s Olympic success is about the same as Denmark’s but a bit more random when it comes to the placings of their events. They don’t necessarily dominate in one particular field like the Danes. Every time the wins are always different which means the country is very diverse when what it excels at which makes each Olympic Games more exciting than the next.

Japan and South Korea are equally matched when it comes to Gymnastics and Fighting events so it should be fun watching these two go at it. 

Well I can talk about sports and teams but I’ll be here all night. Today begins the opening ceremony and tomorrow starts the festivities. I will be providing tons of updates in all of the sports which interests me.