I used to be a huge fan of the Olympics. During the summer Olympics I was glued to the television watching women’s gymnastics and during the winter Olympics, figure skating had my attention. At some point over the years, I stopped. Now I just get the highlights, if that. (Although, this year I think I missed a lot by not seeing Snoop Dogg in action. I need to see if someone has done a “best of Snoop Dogg” compilation.)
However, as awesome as Snoop Dogg seemed to be, there were a few memorable moments that won my heart. Kenn got a big kick out of Yusuf Dikec and how his casual shooting stance took over the Olympics. Kenn tends to avoid social media, so I spent a lot of time sending him memes.
The images of Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin learning about the medal-biting tradition from Italian gymnasts Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito is hands-down one of the cutest things ever.
However, in my opinion, the single best thing to come out of the 2024 Summer Olympics is gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, aka Pommel Horse Guy.
Stephen is the best thing to happen to nerd-dom in forever. Nerds and geeks tend to have a reputation as anti-social guys living in their parents’ basements while doing nothing except playing video games and occasionally foraging for junk food. And, I’m sure there are nerds who fit that stereotype. However, the majority of us don’t. I am a major nerd and I’m not even a dude! I love video games and could talk to you about my favorite games for hours. I’m also a wife, mom, grammie, and writer among other things. (Like Stephen, I can’t see two feet in front of me without my glasses.) Stephen has shown the world that not only can you be an unabashed glasses-wearing nerd who loves video games, rubic cubes, and math, you can also be an athlete. And not just an athlete, but a world-class athlete! (I’ve seen reports that more boys are now signing up for gymnastics lessons.) Thank you, Stephen. You have done more for nerds in general and future nerdy athletes than you will ever know.
If anyone is curious, my favorite video games are The Mass Effect series, Fallout 4, and the Dragon Age franchise.
Do you watch the Olympics? If so, what are your favorite events?
Linda Lou's Life 
For some reason, we didn’t get into the Olympics at all this year. Probably too busy. Nerds are underrated. Many times, the nerds in grade school and high school, grow up to be productive, responsible, personable adults. At least, that’s been my experience.
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I think most of us nerds are misfits; we don’t fit into the typical school cliques. I think we blossom once we leave high school behind.
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The memes of Steve, especially the video set to the “Your Friend Steve,” song, are hilarious. I got such a kick out of those. What a clutch guy. And he has an orange cat!
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I just saw pictures of his cat yesterday!
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The one with matching flannel pajamas is adorable
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That’s the one I saw. So cute!
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I caught very little of the Olympics this year. Like Betsy, we were probably just too busy. I did see some skateboarding, table tennis, and a bit of kayaking, but that’s about it. Oh, well…there’s always 2028!
(Or 2026 for the winter games, which have always been more my speed anyway.)
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I did not watch the Olympics and haven’t for a while. I did watch the Winter Olympics for the individual figure skating for years, plus all the figure skating events leading up to the Olympics. I enjoyed the era of the two Brians, Scott Hamilton and Nancy Kerrigan, Debbie Thomas, Kristi Yamaguchi and Katarina Witt. I am probably the only person in the world who has never played a video game.
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Yes, that was my favorite figure skating era as well.
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