One month to go

One month from today, the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics will take place in London.  My wife is big on the opening act, but I usually just want to see the Americans walk in and take a lap around the venue.  I'm in it for the sports, the stories behind the athletes and of course the medals.  I love hearing the National Anthem and watching the U.S. flag rise above the rest.

For 17 days, we can watch as young men and women from this country and around the world put on an exhibition of athletic prowess that is unrivaled by any other event.  Sure, some of the events barely qualify as sports cough cough..table tennis...cough cough (ok, those people have skills, but an Olympic sport?) and I don't get how you can put BMX and Mountain Biking in when you don't have baseball.  Still, I love to watch the events and get to know the athletes.

It's an amazing time to stand up and take pride in our country and what our flag represents.  I'll refrain from using this forum to discuss the "hell in a handbasket" route our country is on right now.

I picked up the David Price International parallel from Derek over at Tomahawk Chopping: Cardboard & More.  He threw it in on a mutually agreeable exchange of Olympic cards for greenbacks.  The lot of Olympic cards was great and here are just a few of them.

The Triathlon Commemorative Stamp.  Your 2012 USA Olympic Triathlon reps are Laura Bennett, Sarah Groff, Gwen Jorgensen, Manny Huerta and Hunter Kemper.  Good luck runners!

I once ran a triathlon.  Ok, I didn't "run" a triathlon, but I did watch a youtube video of some people who lost complete control of themselves right at the end of a marathon.  It was creepy.

Walter Dix won bronze medals in the 2008 Olympics in the 100m and 200m races.  According to his Wiki page, he was injured during the 2012 Olympic trials and won't compete this time around.

These flag patches are my favorite cards of the year.  Rebecca Soni won a gold and silver at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.   Swimming qualifications are going on this week so it remains to be seen if she qualifies for London.

Alex Meyer is trying to qualify in the Open Water Swimming category.  In 2010 he won gold at the Open Water World Championships by beating all his competitors in a 25K race.  That's 16 miles of swimming...think about it.

This is the bronze version (#d to 50) of Sanya Richards-Ross' auto.  She won gold in 2004 and twice in 2008.  Track & Field still has some qualifying dates coming up so I'm not sure of her status for 2012.

Here's hoping our athletes bring home lots of gold this summer!

Thanks Derek!