Drat. I *did* have a couple of things in mind when I opened this page, and now I haven't the foggiest of what I was going to write.
Something about the Olympics, which, for someone who doesn't like sports, I'm oddly addicted to (always have been).
Something about adaptation and athletes' body types.
Something about volleyball (like, did you know.that it was originally called "Mintonette" by its creator (whose name was Morgan, not Minton?)).
And something about... hm. Oh, yeah! There's been some question in the minds of the U.S. athletes as to whether they need to remove their laurels during the playing of the U.S. National Anthem. It's been mixed-- Michael Phelps started doing it, and many of the swimmers seem to have followed his lead (hey, with that many gold medals, he set a pretty strong precedent. Heh), but others have left it on. What I never realized is that uncovering is more than tradition-- it's the law. I don't believe you could actually be *arrested* for not taking your hat off when the Star-Spangled Banner is played (the text uses the word "should" rather than "shall" or "will," making it more guideline than rule), but I find it interesting that it *does* make it into the U.S. Code (Title 36, Chapter 10, Section 171), part of the chapter known familiarly as the Flag Code.
Feh. The little grey cells, they are slushy tonight. Bed for me.
Posted by gris at August 22, 2004 11:57 PM