Olympics

We live in an area where watching the Olympics will be next to impossible. We don't have cable, and we can only get two television stations (usually not a bad thing!)...but one of them is not NBC. I'm hoping to have someone tape some of the Olympics for us this year as I think the kids, and Luke especially, will have some interest in them!

Anyway! One of the American wrestlers is the grandson of some fellow church members. I was reading his profile today and thought how cool it was! Here's a clip from the NBC website:

Shocker at Trials: The most surprising member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, 18-year-old Jake Deitchler makes his Olympic and major international senior tournament debut in Beijing. He pulled off the biggest upset of the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling trials by winning the 66kg/145.5 lbs division. Deitchler defeated 32-year-old Faruk Sahin in the final, but his most shocking victory came in the semifinals, when he dispatched 24-year-old rising star, Harry Lester, a two-time Worlds bronze medalist. In every match he competed at Trials, Deitchler lost the first period before needing back-to-back wins to advance. And against Sahin in the final, which was contested as a best-of-three series, Deitchler lost the opening period of the first two matches, but came back to win both and claim the series -- and secure the Olympic berth.....
Prior to his Olympic berth, Deitchler's more realistic goal was winning a junior world championship. Last fall, he competed at the junior Worlds in Beijing, and though he lost his first match of the tournament, he was given an early preview of the arena in which he'll compete in August. Upon returning home, Deitchler had tattooed under his right armpit two Chinese characters that stand for "God, warrior, wrestler.''

(if you'd like to read Jake's full profile, it is here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=1317/bio/index.html)

Now, I have never had an interest in wrestling, but it'll be interesting to see how this young man does....keep an eye out for my fellow Minnesotan! And while doing so, pray for his grandma Gloria -- she has circulation problems with her legs and recurring infections; currently she is in the hospital where the doctors are deciding if she will need a double amputation.

Go Olympians! Go Team USA! Go Jake!