Recent Olympic Newsletter

Sent out the final big Olympic email today. The 2009 Games are exactly a month away. Unfortunately, I've yet to finish the theme song, plan the opening and closing ceremonies, pick teams, design the emblem, find a second location, or write up the rules for all the events. Other than that everything is ready to roll.

I sent the email out to about 25 people, and though I'm hoping they all come, I'm guessing it will be closer to 15. Not what I was hoping for, but people are getting older and are less inclined to play games. One of the main reasons I started the Olympics (and Ethan said it was my idea but I seem to remember it being Manda's) was to stay active and in shape. The Olymps are a great way to improve yourself year to year, both physically and mentally.

The email touched on several subjects. I finally released the weekend schedule, with everything beginning on Friday, from 7 to 11 pm, for the Meet and Greet, which is optional. Most people will recognize each other from wiffle ball games, but there will be a handful of people that have never met. I'm hoping most people show up on Friday to watch the Sox game and hang out. It would be a shame to have someone drive all the way up to Gardiner on Saturday morning just to discover they've missed the first event or two.

On Saturday, the opening ceremony is scheduled for 9 AM and events start, at an unknown location, at 10. We'll be finished events by 8 PM on Saturday, perhaps earlier, and the first event on Sunday will be the 1 mile run, at 10 AM. We'll be missing a few people on Sunday due to softball and other engagements, but I hope we'll have a good turnout for the medal ceremony.

The email also introduced the Mystery Event idea, the absence of Beer Pong and Pictionary, and what countries, territories, and administrative regions Olympians are expected to know. Chances are most people won't even read the email so I'll probably have to message everyone a couple times again before 8/08.

It would have been so cool if we'd had the Olympics on the 8th last year: 08/08/08. Oh well.

I've also drawn up some core teams, which are are not to be known by anyone outside of the committee until Opening Ceremonies, but there's got to be some reward for reading my blog. Right now, the core teams are as follows:

Team A: Ethan, Jake, Mary

Team B: Greg, Amanda, Jane

Team C: Breanne, Luke, Federico

I tried to make the teams as even as possible without putting Manda, Ethan, and myself on the same team. Some year, I'd like us all to be on the same team, but not this year. Clearly Team B has the advantage in running events, while Team A has my brother, who is my pick to win the individual gold. I like Team C, my team, so far. I'm hoping Federico is the dark horse of the Olympics. If he's half the athlete he was in high school we should be fine.