I guess I'm more attracted to the Winter and not just because I have hockey in my veins. There's just something exhilarating about the risk of skiing and bobsledding that's always managed to grab my attention. And I'm still entertained with curling because one - I don't get it - and two -that one guy looks like a very quick handed version of a janitor every time.
Nonetheless, I didn't want to let my seasonal Olympic bias to affect my kids. If they want to watch people twirl on the parallel bars, or swim like dolphins in a swimming pool, well, who am I to interfere?
This past weekend had its share of competition, but not just in London. A fierce battle of wills took place in my living room. For the remote. In fact, it was so good, I started thinking about petitioning for Remote Control jousting as a new Olympic sport.
This particular disagreement had to do with the battle between a previously recorded Olympic event or the unmistakably live Yankees/Red Sox game on Saturday night. In my house, the greatest rivalry in sports usually wins. But on this night, an unexpected battle ensued.
You see, this was the day that my kids discovered something so earth shattering, so inspiring and athletically enthralling, that they wouldn't be denied. You guessed it.
Beach Volleyball.
Was this for real? Turn back to the Yankee game!
"No, Dad. I want to watch this one match."
Were they kidding? Recorded, tape delayed, beach volleyball? First of all, it's 2 on 2. So we're not talking about the ball hitting a series of hands here. It's only 4 people on the court. On the beach. This was an Olympic sport?
My kids couldn't turn away. But I wanted to. The Yankees had just tied the game on a Marc Texiera 2-run blast over the right field wall. This was Yankees-Red Sox. A game with 9 players....on the grass. We watched for a few minutes. And just as the game hit its crescendo......back to beach volleyball.
NBC raised the stakes by mentioning that the American tandem had never lost a match in almost 3 consecutive Olympic appearances. Very impressive. But again, this was 4 people playing on the beach. From my view, it could have been a pick-up game.
I lunged for the remote, but my daughter has become very adept at concealing it by using her body to shield off my approach. Sometimes her sister even sets a pick. Realizing that this was no use, I tried to use logic. I explained the history of the baseball rivalry, but that meant nothing to them. Then I took the live vs recorded earlier route and encouraged them to head to the computer to see who won. Who was I kidding? To them, this DVR, and tape delayed program was just as good as live. And besides, who do you think they wanted to emulate more? A bunch of ballplayers spitting between strikes or women on the beach wearing bathing suits and really funky protective goggles?
In the end, the Americans won. And so did the kids.
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