Could I win an Olympic medal?

My favorite time of year has finally arrived: the beginning of fall sports. While, personally, I’m partial to football, professionally I cover all of them — and I love it!

Being involved in Sampson County sports reminds me of why we play sports, for a myriad of reasons. The community, the brother — or sister — hood, the sense of purpose, keeping us out of trouble, or whatever it may be. Not everyone plays for the same reasons, and that’s OK. Some people never play sports, and that’s OK, too.

I have been busy coordinating and wrapping up everything regarding the Pigskin Preview, my first one ever. That has taken early morning, late nights, and everything in between. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. It has been a ton of fun, and I have truly enjoyed networking and meeting everyone in the community that I have so far.

Here are some thoughts I’ve had over the last week or so:

• Club sports have taken off since I was in high school. When I was playing sports, club athletics were kind of niche and not readily available. Sure, we had travel baseball teams in middle school and, occassionally, you would play with someone who had known someone that played AAU basketball. They were kind of mysterious to us. Granted, this entirely could have been a product of my environment, but there seems to be more club sports even in that area today. I am very much of the mindset that club sports (and all sports, for that matter) are a good thing, especially after talking to many local coaches over the last month or so. Primarily it has been volleyball and soccer that I have discussed travel ball with, but that might be becasue football isn’t necessarily a sport that’s club-friendly. Nonetheless, coaches have sung their praises about the overall development of talent because of nearly-year-round athletics.

• I am wholeheartedily convinced that there are a few Olympic events I could compete in and give the athletes a run for their money. This is not to be downplaying their athletic abilities — I used to live less than a mile from the U.S. Olympic headquarters and I saw firsthand how they trained; I would be wheezing and throwing up five minutes into any training regimen of that caliber. With that being said, though, I think I could hold my own in Handball. I seriously think I could round up some of my high school buddies and with minimal training, could at least get bronze. Same with Mountain Biking. It’s just riding a bike, I think I remember how to do that.

• Continuing my thoughts on the Olympics, Rugby Sevens has by far been my favorite to watch. That could just be the fact that I’m antsy for football, and this is the closest that I’m going to get to it. But that sport is absolutely electric to watch! Hard-hitting, smashmouth, and chaotic… but somehow still organized. My daughter and I watched the women’s teams face off yesterday and America obliterated Japan in their matchup, 36-7, while Canada squeaked by Fiji, 17-14. The biggest upset, though, came Friday morning, as the seventh-ranked Republic of South Africa took down second-ranked New Zealand in their group play on the men’s side.

In all seriousness, no, myself and my out-of-shape fatherly friends could not, in fact, take on an Olympic team in any sport. However, like the armchair quarterback that I am, I do have that thought running through my head as I watch these games.

I want to know, though, what sport (in any Olympics), do you think you could compete in? Not necessarily win anything, but compete enough on the world stage. I’m interested to hear your thoughts!

Fun fact of the week: There are three official languages of the Olympics — French, English, and the host nation’s official language, if the first two do not apply.