Over ... sad

I miss the Olympics.

Truly, madly, deeply.

I turned on my television today fully expecting some sort of athletic event, only to be rewarded with "Inside Edition."

Click.

I think the whole world is in a stupor, an Olympic hangover of Olympic proportions.

I love the Olympics. I love watching people do things I can only do in my dreams, accomplish things I can't even dream of accomplishing. I love watching athletes from "enemy" countries hug each other, cheer each other on. I love watching someone who made it against impossible odds, whether they win or not ... they're there. I love watching an athlete's parents, hands clasped, eyes closed (or wide, wide open), gripping the leg of the person next to them, hugging the person next to them, staring at the score/time board until the magical moment when the magical numbers appear, crying, laughing, cheering ... I love the intense human emotion that makes the Olympics so ... worth watching.

I love the commercials, too, especially the Visa commercials featuring the voice-over of Morgan Freeman, talking about Michael Phelps, Nastia Liukin, the Lopez family and the overall triumph of the Olympics. I also liked the ad for the wind energy company (can't think of a name right now) that had the athlete hurling a discus into the pillars of the Parthenon. And the AT&T "no bars" commercial featuring the "Phelps Phan" ("you big dummy!").

I love feeling a whole new pride in my country during the Olympics. I still cry when I hear the National Anthem played, when I see our flag raised, when I see an American athlete anywhere on the podium.

I watched the closing ceremonies (the bell girls were strange ...), saw Jackie Chan solo on a song, watched Michael Phelps get greeted by screaming British girls, cried when they showed clips of the people who lost (I'm such a softie), cried when the flame went out ... and almost cried again today when I turned on my television and realized, all over again, that it's over.