Medal Count

I’ve been caught up in the Olympics, both watching and competing. I know some of you will be shocked to hear I decided not enter the swimming competition. I did however medal in pool.

My quest for the gold started one Friday afternoon in a meeting. Something made me realize that all summer my friend Geno (who is ten) and I had talked about playing golf but had never gotten around to it. When a follow-up meeting was scheduled for Monday morning I decided to miss it and take Geno golfing.

We went out and played a par three course. At the medal presentation, I received the gold. Geno took the silver. Nothing makes you prouder than being able to beat a ten year old at golf.

SOR (Son of Ralph) and FON (Fiancée of Nathan) came to visit. I had the opportunity to participate in more events.

First, it was Wii. In case you haven’t heard of Wii, it’s a video game where the characters on the screen mimic your body movements. If you bowl, you have to act as if you are rolling a bowling ball. That’s fine if you like passive sports. We decided on boxing.

FON's mother was matched up with Char for the first boxing event. To Char’s credit she held her own . . . for a while. However, in the third round she dropped her guarded and took a brutal blow to the chin, resulting in her being knocked out. The gold went to FON’s mother. Char took the silver.

While this picture may appear blurry, it’s not. My body movements are so rapid they are hard to capture with a camera. I held my own for a while but then a surprise sucker punch knocked me out. Nothing can humble you faster than being knocked out by a ten year old. Gold went to the ten year old. I took the silver.

It was time to return to my primary event - golf. SOR and I had competed on the greens before but since his move, neither of us had trained much. Tension ran high as we stepped up to the tee box. It was a dead heat; neither of us was really favored to win. In the end SOR took the gold, I the silver.

Then DOR (Daughter of Ralph) and SILOR (Son in Law of Ralph) arrived in town and wanted to try their hand at pool. The teams were set - DOR and SILOR against Char and I. I wasn't holding out much hope of winning a medal. I hadn't played for a long time and Char hardly knew how to hold the pool cue. But after a few warm up games it all started to come back to me. The comment of the night had to be made by SILOR who said, "If you make that shot I'll walk home." My response after the ball landed gently in the hole was a modest, "SEE YA." Char and I took the gold, DOR and SILOR the silver.

The next stage of the golf competition was against DOR and SILOR. I heard all the media hype and knew I was favored to win. Hype is good but I counted on my raw talent and dedication. I took the gold, DOR and SILOR tied for the silver.

Having won the previous round I qualified for the final event – nine holes of golf with SILOR. The evening before the final event, I tried my hand at trash talk like some of the people in Beijing. It didn’t work for me either. SILOR won by three strokes. SILOR took home the gold, I the silver.

The final medal count was in:
Geno: O Gold 1 Silver
Char: 1 Gold 1 Silver
FON’s Mother: 1 Gold 0 Silver
10 year old: 1 Gold 0 Silver
SOR: 1 Gold 0 Silver
DOR: 0 Gold 2 Silver
SILOR: 1 Gold 2 Silver
Ralph: 3 Gold 3 Silver

At the closing ceremonies, I had the most medals - thanks to my endurance and perseverance.