Bryan Clay won the Decathlon yesterday. The people of Hawaii are ecstatic! He is half African American, half Japanese American. It's interesting that we think of him as local, not just black. On the other hand, people automatically think of Barack Obama as black. I remember thinking from high school that everybody should intermarry and we could all be brown so there wouldn't be any prejudice. Then I learned about the difficulties of Jewish people and realized that prejudice would always be there, if not the color of your skin, then your religion, if not that...maybe the way you wear your hat...
This reminds me of something silly. I remember a friend telling me in Illinois that I had olive colored skin. Well... I was insulted. I happened to love green olives so I assumed she meant my skin had a green tint. It was bad enough that people thought I had yellow skin because I was Asian but now.... green?!?! Well, now I know she meant I had tanned skin... and that is true.
Good gracious! I'm getting away from what I really wanted to write about and that is the lack of coverage of the Decathlon. They had virtual minute by minute coverage of the prelims for platform diving and only showed a short segment of Bryan Clay coming in last on the 1500 meter run and still coming in way ahead in points for the Gold Medal. Why couldn't we see how great he did in the 100 meters, the long jump, the discus, etc.? There are so many events but the coverage seems to focus mostly in gymnastics and swimming/diving. OK... OK.... I know... I know... we should get cable...
Ah well...
I'm going to stop griping now and enjoy my Saturday! Have a happy day, everybody!
Bryan Clay did a great job when interviewed by The Today Show this morning. I was impressed with his humility. He's very handsome, isn't he? He's obviously an amazing athlete.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this, Kay! I love the smile on his face. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a bit of a problem with many events - if Chinese athletes were involved there was great coverage, otherwise it was a bit hit and miss. Luckily the BBC have several freeview digital channels so we were able to channel-hop to keep up with British athletes. Hasn't it been a great games? None of the problems that the doom-mongers forecast.
ReplyDeleteit's been fun watching the olympics but impossible to watch it all...glad it's soon over so I can catch up on lost sleep...I agree we should all be the same color-green???? lol
ReplyDeleteI loved this whole post.
ReplyDeleteTo fall as far behind as he did and still come out with the gold shows such strength of character. He has not only the body and skills of a talented athlete, but the mind and spirit of a champion.
I'm thrilled for the people of Hawaii, the people of the U.S.A., and for Bryan Clay and all those close to him.
The Olympics and all they represent have always been such an amazing thing to me!! It's such fun to watch the sportsmanship between the athletes and the coaches. I'm sure there are lots of behind the scenes tears and the occasional chucking of a shoe... but on the whole they're an inspiration and a pleasure to watch.
That was an interesting observation about Obama. I wonder why he isn't thought of as a local. Is that unusual or odd?
I'm so envious of being thought of that way. I've fantasized about being a Pacific Islander since I was about age four. The land, the music, the legends, the people, the food... even the language tugs at me. Let me qualify that statement. I do not like poi.
Back to Bryan Clay and his triumph.
I wonder if much of what they show has to do with the time difference between the two countries and when the events took place. My husband and I have noticed that many of the
events we wanted to see were shown a day (sometimes two) after they actually took place. I don't know. Perhaps I'm being a Pollyanna.
May I repeat myself. I loved this entire post. You're so dang cute. (Thinking you were olive green)
Wasn't that something and his family and children are so cute. I would have rather watched more of that, but all we had one was beach volleyball...
ReplyDeleteGreat post Kay! I love reading whatever you write. It's funny the way we think of things as kids. I laugh at some of the things I used to think about. The olympics were wonderful, but it certainly was focused on swimming and gymnastics. I admire every athlete - they are an amazing group of people.
ReplyDeleteOlympics ends today! Gonna tune in to watch to closing =)
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Bryan! HAahhaha...it seems this round its more focused on swimming. Phelps... =)
Cheers and regards,
Stanley
Kudos to all of the athletes! I am looking forward to the closing ceremony because the opening was so spectacular...I think it will be great, too.
ReplyDeleteIt is frustrating that they focus on only a few events. In the Winter Olympics I get sick of the ice skating. I know it gets the ratings but I just wish they would be more equitable in their coverage. Congrats on your local guy!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the coverage. I decided that NBC must have skipped the events where Americans weren't in medal contention. But that doesn't explain the non-existent decathlon coverage. I like to watch the equistrian events, but didn't see a moment of that, and I saw far more beach volleyball than I needed. There were so many events. I would have enjoyed a peek at more of them.
ReplyDeleteHello Kay, I've sent you two replies to comments you made on my blog, but they've both been returned as undeliverable. Do you have problems with your email at the moment?
ReplyDeleteHe is a good looking guy--nice combination.
ReplyDeleteAt Senn HS in Chicago we had a couple who wanted to marry. He was Chinese, named Eng, and she was Jewish. So the joke was that the baby would be called Engelstein and have slanty eyes and a big nose. We were far enough along in our "brotherhood" lessons in the early 1960s that we could laugh about it.
Didn't Kermit the Frog have a song about how hard it is being green?
I enjoyed your olive skin story. When my son was seven he went through a period when he insisted he was 'peach, not white.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in my last blog, I tried not to spend all day watching the Olympics, so I tended to watch NBC in the evening. And I so agree with you about the coverage, especially the decathalon! Beach volleyball, anyone?
ReplyDeleteYou are so right "that prejudice would always be there" no matter what. If not one thing it will always be another like you said. Prejudice people are sad ignorant hypocrits.
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