My thoughts on a not-yet-finished Olympics

What are your thoughts on golf's return to the Olympics this year after 112 years? Mine are mixed. I very much want this to be something that works, but so far the whole thing just feels.... underwhelming. Here are my admittedly premature, and completely unsolicited, thoughts as I watch round two of the women's event (which in my opinion has been better than the men's, if I'm being honest).

Annika is awesome. Dear television, please use Annika Sorenstam more often for your Golf broadcasts. And have her do men's events too, she has actual experience on both tours. I just love her perspective, and she doesn't say anything stupid. For some reason the Olympic broadcast has been so much more boring than normal golf broadcasts, but Annika is helping me stay interested.

Ryder Reminder. Commercials for the Ryder Cup are all the evidence we need that Olympic Golf needs to be a team event, not just an individual event. There would be so much more drama and excitement! 

2020 Sights. I think the whole event will have a better sense of spectator excitement in Japan, which has a much bigger golf fan base. And I hope they pick an existing course with some tradition to its name. Hopefully when the IOC reviews golf in 2017 they'll leave it in so we can test this hypothesis!

The least important critique. I hate to feel this shallow, because this is totally the least important thing about any sport, BUT: the team uniforms of all countries have been a complete disappointment. This  is the Olympics! Where is the exuberance, the style, the pride and pageantry? Why is everyone dressed like they are on a zero budget high school golf team? If the sport is going to have the least exciting broadcast of any event, at the very least the fashion can be a little more flashy. The only highlights are the subtle "Svergie" vertical block print on team Sweden's uniforms (that you can barely see on TV, which is unfortunate) and Great Britain's attempt at a large graphic, which at least took a stab at being fun. Doesn't hurt that the golfer wearing it took gold in the men's event.

Great Britain golf uniform, worn by gold medalist Justin Rose. I may not be crazy about it, but at least they tried to have some pizazz. Photo: Telegraph.co.uk

I'm rooting for Stacy Lewis to keep first, but things shook up so much that the final rounds will be exciting!

What are your thoughts? Who are you rooting for?

My New Role Model, Olympic Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong

"Because I can."

That's what Kristen Armstrong said after winning her third Olympic gold medal in cycling.

The Olympics celebrates youth, and always manages to point out that an athlete is "old" if she's in her twenties or thirties. So it's probably tough for an elite athlete to have the narrative be about her age (Kristin turned 43 the day after her big win) instead of her epic ability. Somehow, Kristin Armstrong seems to own it, though, and I find her to be a total bad-ass because of it. She came out of retirement, recovered from hip surgeries, works a real day job, and is a mother on top of that. And oh yeah, she's been on top of the Olympic podium THREE CONSECUTIVE TIMES.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see my thirties and forties as a scary time to slow down and accept aging. Even though some things aren't what they were like when I was in high school or college, I actually feel most things getting better with time, even after having one baby and another one being on the way. There's still a lot that I want to accomplish in my sport and I know I have the time to get there, if I can work for it.

She's just so inspiring for that reason. I keep having flashes of her image, collapsed near the finish line asking if she won, then in tears of joy and exhaustion as she held her son moments after the race.

I haven't been able to golf much lately (this week's reasoning being a lack of a baby sitter), so it means I got to go to my favorite indoor cycling class at the gym. With Armstrong as my inspiration, I think I got the best sweat I've gotten in a while. I'm desperately seeking a sitter so that I can play in the league championship next month though and hope to be back at it before this baby bump gets too much in the way.

Congrats, Kristin Armstrong!

The Olympics are here! My Picks for the Golf Gold

I've always had a super soft spot for the Olympics. In middle school computer class we were asked to make a Power Point project and I did mine on the Olympics. I distinctly remember clipping around a photo of a figure skater (probably Tara Lapinksi), and making an animated slide transition where that clipping "twirled" around before a swipe to the next slide.

I also did a Photoshop project where I put my face on the body of a penguin. It was insanely weird.

Had it not been because of the reinstatement of golf in the games this year, I might have decided to just skip watching them all together -- as a way to opt out of my conflicting feelings about loving sports but not agreeing with how the modern games are a mess for host cities, and therefore detrimental to sports in general. Feel free to roll your eyes at me if you must, I'm used to that by now.

But like I said, golf pulled me back in this year, and I'm excited! Whether or not this is the best format for golf (like Matt Kuchar, I too would prefer team scoring!), it's a great opportunity for the game to be a part of this audience. The games start this weekend but golf will kick off next week.

While team format would be awesome, it will be individual stroke play. So here's my totally-amateur, non-invested picks for who will be on the podium at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Ladies:

Photo: Wikipedia

Lydia Ko, New Zealand - duh. She comes into the games as one of the most dominant players, male or female, on any tour right now, and is currently number one in earnings and the CME rankings.

photo: Wikipedia

Brooke Henderson, Canada - Another teenager, I think Brooke has a natural talent like Lydia but a more athletic style which will be fun to watch. She beat Ko a few months back at the KPMG Championship in a playoff and is currently ranked second going into the games -- I'm hoping for another showdown.

Photo: Solheimcupusa.com

Any of Team USA - particularly Gerina Piller, though. Of the three, she's the one that had to fight for her spot through her performance at the U.S. Open, which fires up the underdog fan in me. But all three (Piller, Stacy Lewis, and Lexi Thompson) really seem to "get" what it means to represent your country, and naturally I'll be rooting for them.

Men:

Photo: Skysports.com

Henrik Stenson, Sweden - I must admit, it was almost boring watching him play at the Open Championship at Royal Troon this summer. He just hit every fairway and every green, and unlike Phil who seemed to be playing golf like a human, Henrik looked like a golf machine. Despite that, he's my favorite going into the 2016 Games.

photo: PGA.com

Rickie Fowler, USA - I'll admit to not being a regular fan of Rickie, and for no reason in particular (sometimes deciding to be a fan or not of anything is purely subjective nonsense). But if I were making a bet this one would be a gut choice and I would put my money down with no regrets.

photo: telegraph.co.uk

Sergio Garcia, Spain - for no other reason than that he will put on an amazing show.

Who are your picks? How will you be enjoying the 2016 Olympics this year?