BRIAN KENNY: August 2008

August 12, 2008

GOLDEN BRONZE

It's been awhile since I've been so excited to watch sporting events on TV. Superbowls just fly by me, and most of my sports fanaticism only surfaces when I manage to see something in person at the stadium or court. Regardless, last night I was glued to the cathode ray tube watching with mounting excitement, the mens synchronized diving,

then Golden Boy Phelps doing the fastest laps in the pool

and finally (my favorite) the Men's Gymnastics Finals. After the coverage ended, I was so excited I had trouble sleeping. Seeing so many impressive and good-looking athletes perform made me feel overcome with nostalgia, inspiration and pride for the human species.

I love Gymnastics. I was a competitive gymnast when I was kid, and it was the only sport I ever took seriously. I joined the sport in order to learn how to do flips to impress my friends and competed for 4 years until our family moved to another state without a proper facility. I made it as far as Regional competitions and was a part of the best boys team in Colorado. It was a real commitment, but paid off long term in giving me a greater awareness of my body. My favorite events was Floor and High-Bar. I was easily the tallest kid on my team (gymnastics favors the short guys) and at the time , I felt foolish and self-conscious wearing such short shorts and tight spandex. Now, of course, a big part of thrill of watching gymnastics is admiring the beauties and how good they look in those shiny uniforms! Although in Beijing, the Chinese gymnasts won Gold (and rightly so), I feel like the Americans also deserve a gold medal for looking so impressively sexy. Here's a breakdown of my favorite flip-floppers:

JUSTIN SPRING
a.k.a. Prince Harry's studlier twin brother.
He's the tallest on the team at 5'6 He's a real beauty to watch on high-bar, preforming at a higher difficulty level than the Chinese. In his spare time, Justin enjoys auto-mechanics and motocycling.

ALEXANDER (Sasha) ARTEMEV
A Pommel Horse Power House
The US was intially in line for silver but after a few disasters by other teamates on Floor and Pommel, the team was stuggling against Germany for Bronze. Luckily Sasha's amazing Pommel Horse routine last night secured the medal.

JONATHAN HORTON
Horton's a Who's Who.
Team leader and cowboy, Jon was easily the best all around gymnast I watched. He was consistently sticking his landings and for a really small guy, he is defintely a BIG STUD.

RAJ BHAVSAR
I'm glad this hottie got a chance to compete this time. Both in '04 and '08, he was crushed to learn he had just missed making the olympic team. Fortunately for him, (and us) when the Hamm brothers dropped off the teams due to injuries, Raj finally became an Olympian.