Olympics 2006

Bode Miller is a very American American. I like him for feeling that his heart was not in the game as long as people kept so high an expectation of him. He's a loner, and he prefers the very American life of rural solitude. Although people in America talks about achievements and success, of individual accomplishments and victory, he symbolizes a very different face. It is a face of freedom from competition, freedom to do hard work for oneself, freedom to ponder, and freedom to live peacefully.

Kimberly Derrick's heart was not in the race after her grandfather passed away during his visit to watch her skate. In spite of this, the her tears that streamed the ice could not help but bear the Olympian fire. These are stories that make you ruminate and hold ourselves with the distant past when the pantheon of gods and goddesses gave their blessings to the Games. We are not the only ones who have faced trials. We are like the eternal heroes common in all mythologies, when we all face a long journey, a quest to come to a sense with ourselves. The ancient Achaeans must have done the same things, we are assured of that.