by Shane Hylton
Columnist
The opening ceremonies were cool, boring, and insulting all at the same time. The Queen of England and James Bond (Daniel Craig) did a skit where they parachuted into the stadium. If you missed this, you have to go back and watch it, it was great. The rest of the ceremonies were pretty bland and kind of boring. While some things were ok, for the most part I enjoyed the nap. The part I found insulting was that the director of the ceremonies decided to throw politics into the games. They did an entire section on their health care system and put on a huge hullabaloo about it. I am still scratching my head and trying to figure out what a nations health care system has to do with the Olympics. But then I have trouble with British humor at times. It seemed to me that politics were more important. Nothing gets under my skin more than when politics enter into something that is supposed to be void of politics.
A really cool story coming out of the Olympics is the men’s archery team, taking home a silver medal. The U.S. men lost to Italy in the gold medal round, however to get there that had to beat archery powerhouse South Korea. For the longest time Korea has dominated the sport of archery, and the U.S. men beat them. This was a huge dethroning for Korea as even the announcers had written off the U.S.. The announcers began talking about a rematch between Italy and South Korea even as the match was going on. But the final ended up the U.S. against Italy with the Italians winning by only one point. It was a lot of fun watching that event to say the least.
Being a martial arts instructor, I tend to like the combat sports more than some of the others. I have just started to watch Judo along with some of the boxing matches. However, I cannot wait for the 10th of August! That is when Taekwondo starts! I have done some training with three of the four athletes representing the U.S. in Taekwondo. One athlete, Steven Lopez will be attending his fourth Olympics along with his sister Diana, who will be attending her second. The Lopez’s will be coached by their older brother Jean and three time Olympian Juan Moreno. The other two athletes are Terrance (TJ) Jennings and Paige McPherson. I have not met Paige; however she does have somewhat local roots, as she hails from Sturgis, SD. I met Tj back in 2002 at the Olympic training center during an athlete development camp. Tj was one of my teammates and I was the Camp Captain. I can tell you without a doubt that Tj is a great kid and is one you should definitely be cheering for next week! All four of the athletes have a great chance at winning gold.
Around town
School is just around the corner, in case you could not tell by all of the school supplies that have appeared in stores around Grand Forks. It never ceases to amaze me at how fast store shelves change. There are some good deals in there if you look for them. Start with the Sunday paper ads and check around, most stores will honor another store’s sale price. And many times you can find two for one deals. Especially if you are a college student look for the deals, the bookstore prices for simple supplies are as outrageous as the book prices. Take the time shop around and save yourself some money.
Here are some important
dates to remember for school:
– UND starts classes on August 20th at 4:00 pm with first full day of classes on August 21.
– Grand Forks Public Schools start classes on August 22nd is the first day of school for K-9th the first day for 10th through 12th is the 23rd.
– East Grand Forks goes back to school on September 4th. That is due to Minnesota law that states school must start after Labor Day.
Keep in mind that most of the surrounding communities all have differing start dates, so contact your local school for more information.
UND FOOTBALL
UND Football began practice earlier this week and things are going to be ramping up for those guys fast. Take some time go out and watch the guys practice. Practices are open to the public and the guys are great about stopping to talk and say hi to the fans. If you see me out there stop and say hi also. One UND player to watch this year will be #34 Cordero Finley from Kenosha, WI. Finley helped to UND win the Great West Co-Championship last year with a few blocked field goals and sacks of opposing quaterbacks. Finley plays linebacker and is sure to make some good plays this year for North Dakota.
Events
LEGO @ Your Library
Grand Forks Library will be hosting LEGO @ Your Library August 5th. The Children’s Department will host LEGO @ Your Library the first Sunday of each month from 1-4 p.m. Please contact the Children’s Department at the Grand Forks Public Library to make an appointment. The library can be reached at: 701-772-8116.
UND Summer Commencement
UND’s summer graduation will be held at the Chester Fritz auditorium this Friday, August 3rd at 3 pm. This ceremony is held for graduate and undergraduate students who completed their program of study in the summer semester.