{"id":31115,"date":"2016-08-14T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T10:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=31115"},"modified":"2016-08-13T11:16:50","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T15:16:50","slug":"just-a-few-ok-maybe-more-thoughts-about-rio-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=31115","title":{"rendered":"Just a few (ok, maybe more) thoughts about Rio Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Random comments\u00a0and the road to ‘meh’<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Kelly Hockenberry<\/strong>, Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"KellyColumn415Newest815\"Thanks to the ridiculous back and forth between Trump and Hillary, it\u2019s hard to be proud of being an American. Thankfully, the Olympics have provided a much needed boost to our country\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n

But, here\u2019s the part that sounds like me…I\u2019m over it. I start out with boundless enthusiasm\u037e but, after about three days, the Olympic coverage feels like what happens when snow is in the forecast. It is CONSTANT and unrelenting. I understand that this event only happens once every four years…but, does it have to be on the air 24\/7? I think, no. (Especially the dumb sports – \u00adsorry canoers, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve put in lots of time.) And, thanks to social media, it\u2019s a real buzz kill to hear about the winners hours before we get to watch it.<\/p>\n

Therefore, my stream of consciousness regarding Rio goes a little something like this: Opening Ceremony<\/b>: \u201cMoldova?\u201d Absolutely no clue. I really am dumber than a 5th grader.<\/p>\n

Michael Phelps: <\/b>Impressive medal collection. Love the intensity of the headphones\/death stare as he is waiting for his next race. But, Boomer is cute for an infant, obnoxious for a thirty\u00ad-year old. I know Michael\u2019s busy training and everything, but, going to an orthodontist doesn\u2019t take that much time. (That\u2019s obnoxious, but, I\u2019m just being honest).<\/p>\n

Katie Ledecky: <\/b>Inspirational. There is not a chance in hell that I would not false start EVERY single time. How do they stay on that starting block? Baffling to me. Also, I feel sorry that everyone seems to be concerned about her hairline…but, why not the same amount of criticism for Lochte? He looks like a Smurf.<\/p>\n

Steele Johnson: <\/b>The American diver that\u2019s probably really talented\u2026.I just can\u2019t get past his porn\u00adstar name.<\/p>\n

Simone Biles: <\/b>The end of her floor routine was a total Beyonce moment. She killed it.<\/p>\n

The entire, female gymnastic team from China: I will never believe that those girls are not ten years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy aren\u2019t my kids Olympians?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

And, along that same vein, why aren\u2019t the parents of the winners allowed on the podium? <\/b>Right? We focus so much on how the athletes get to this level…but, what about the props for Mom and Dad? Because, guess what? They have dedicated the same amount of time, energy, and resources…and my husband and I complain about URA. Could be a tiny part of the reason my kids are not performing in Rio right now.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s disheartening that I spend the majority of my time eating snacks while I watch the Olympics.<\/b><\/p>\n

Which brings me to the stories about the forty year old mother\u2019s who are winning gold…which isn\u2019t nearly as impressive to me as their physique. I\u2019m talking about you, Kerri Walsh Jennings. She brings thigh\u00adgap to whole new level. Ugh. Put down the box of Cheezits, Kelly.<\/p>\n

For as much as I complain about missing my regularly scheduled shows, I have managed to stay up until midnight watching more than once. Although, I can guarantee you that I will NOT tune in to the Closing Ceremonies (which I think is akin to watching paint dry).<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts about Rio? Share in the Comment section below.<\/p>\n

Happy Weekend!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Random comments\u00a0and the road to ‘meh’ By Kelly Hockenberry, Columnist, The Times Thanks to the ridiculous back and forth between Trump and Hillary, it\u2019s hard to be proud of being an American. Thankfully, the Olympics have provided a much needed boost to our country\u2019s confidence. But, here\u2019s the part that sounds like me…I\u2019m over it. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[2495,7426,8733,1570,8732],"class_list":["post-31115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-events-2","tag-featured","tag-michael-phelps","tag-olympics","tag-rio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31122,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31115\/revisions\/31122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}