5 Days to Go!

With the start of the Olympics, I am starting to get jitters. I was able to watch the opening ceremony and various events. I saw Hannah Kearney on the Moguls pull off her almost flawless performance to get her gold. I felt the adrenaline rush as she completed each of her jumps. I waited in anxiousness to see her scores. I yelled and screamed and shared in her victory. It was amazing! I listened to stories of athletes' hardships and heartbreaks. J.R. Celski (a fellow Filipino) could have severed a major artery, and here he is in his Olympic debut with a Bronze medal in Short Track Speedskating. One could not write a better story.

I love what the Olympics stands for, individuals come together to represent their country and show what they've accomplished. I saw a quote on one of the news packages: "The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." And I know that each one of these athletes started with an interest, and they built upon it. Perhaps they started competing in tournaments such as the one we'll be going to this weekend. They took their interest to each next level, learned from their experiences, strove for perfection. I can understand why people look up to these athletes as heroes. They've accomplished something that only a small percentage of the world get to do. They push limits of the body and imagination. I am truly awestruck.

So for this Club National Competition, I'd like to think that we are participating in our own Mini-Winter Olympics. It's kind of appropriate to feel this way, seeing that our tournament is happening at the same time as the 2010 Olympics. The whole world might not be watching. We might not have huge sponsors or cool montages. What we do have is a lot of heart and PINK! We'll take each day and each game one step at a time. We know that the competition is steep, but we've learned so much within these 2 years. We're not coming to Madison to do just enough. We're coming to Madison to do the best we could do, and I believe the only way to do that is to strive for a medal. Who knows where this could take us? One stone at a time...

-Domino