First of all, we had beautiful 65 degree weather on Saturday (18C) - sorry to gloat East Coast friends, but it was amazing! CatMan and I went for a bike ride and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I would have taken some photos for you, except that we didn't stop! We just rode 25 miles non-stop and I've gotta tell you, my little legs are feelin' it today!
I'm not quite back in biking shape yet, but it was fabulously wonderful.
Then I came home in time to watch the Ladies Free Skate at the National Figure Skating Championships.
I'm sure this won't mean much to most of you, but it was an amazing show! The two favorites, Ashley Wagner (who sorta annoys me) and Gracie Gold (who I just love) had both made major errors on their short programs earlier. This left the door open for the youngster, Polina Edmunds, who took a commanding lead.
Anyhow, Ashley made a few mistakes in her long program, which landed her barely in first place with both Polina and Gracie still to skate. Then Polina came out and skated fabulously.
Gracie was the last skater, and the odds were long. She would literally have to skate perfectly, and score significantly better than she'd ever done before, so I was pretty sure that she was only skating for second.
Then this happened:
As I said, I'm pretty sure this won't mean anything to you since I don't think any of my readers follow figure skating, but that was one of the most amazing clutch performances I've ever seen! Go Gracie!!!
For those who didn't want to watch the video, she was amazing and scored a personal best to win the championship |
OK... so then today, my beloved Denver Broncos were underdogs in the AFC championship game. Once again, I know most of you could care less, but here's the storyline.
Our legendary quarterback, Peyton Manning is nearly 40 years old, which is ancient for an NFL quarterback. He had a rough season, missing nearly half of the games with a foot injury. Our backup QB played well enough to keep us in contention, and many were saying that the great Peyton Manning's career would end with a sputter... sitting on the bench watching a younger guy play.
But then, in the final game of the regular season, with Peyton's foot mostly healed, but still sitting on the bench quietly accepting his new role as backup, things were not going well. We were losing badly and all hope seemed lost. Then the coach decided to give the old man one last chance and Peyton rallied the team to victory.
Peyton played again last week in our first playoff game, and once again led the team to a hard fought victory to land us a spot in today's AFC championship game against the New England Patriots. But everyone figured that was it, and that the Patriots (who won the Superbowl last year) would crush us.
But they didn't count on the tenacity of my Bronco babies. It literally came down to the last play, but we hung on to win the game, giving Peyton one last shot at the Superbowl and a chance to go out with a bang rather than a whimper.
OK... I know that many of you don't share my love of sports, and I know there are plenty of good reasons not to support sports, but for me, the stories behind the competition really hit home.
Things get tough... you get knocked down, and sometimes it looks like everything is lost. But in the end hard work and perseverance can pay off as long as you never give up.
Go Gracie!!!!! (World Championships: March 28-April 3)
Go Broncos!!!! (Superbowl 50: February 7)
Go Cat!!! (Next bike ride: my legs won't hurt quite so much!)
WOO HOO!!!!