The
Olympic games are off and running! Sunday night after my last blog update, a
group of us went to see the new Batman movie. I thought it was a good movie.
Was good doing something that felt more American. We got back to the dorm late
and went straight to bed.
Monday
was a very relaxing and laid back day. I slept in and got some laundry done. It
was nice to be able to have a day to rest up after working for a week with the
USOC, and before a busy end to this amazing trip.
On
Tuesday I had planed to go to a Men’s Basketball game in the morning. I ended
up selling it to a friend because he didn’t have tickets to any other events,
and I already have an opportunity to see the Men’s Basketball Gold medal game.
Instead, I went on my own adventure to find the one and only Chipotle in all of
London. I was having some withdrawls, and was craving some Mexican food. One
thing is for sure; the Chipotle in London has nothing on the Chipotle in the
states.
After
grabbing lunch I headed to North Greenwich arena to watch the Women’s Team
Finals. While waiting in line to enter the arena, I stuck a conversation with a
man behind me who was with his daughter. We talked for about 10 minutes, and I
told him a little bit about my background and interests, and he told me a
little bit about what he does. It turned out being a guy named Aaron Ryan, the
VP of Global Marketing Partnerships for the NBA, and head of Business
Development for USA Basketball. I say that luck is when opportunity meets
preparedness, and I was prepared for this lucky encounter. We exchanged
business cards, and I will be in touch with him once I get back to the US.
The Women’s Gymnastics Team Final was an amazing
event that I will never forget. I had a great seat just a couple rows back from
the front of the upper section. I had a perfect view of all of the events, and
was able to the USA team dominate their competition. The United States won the
Gold medal in the event for the first time since 1996. It was awesome watching
the gymnasts walk out for the medal ceremony in their outfits, and know that I
played a part in putting those outfits together. All around it was a very
special experience that I will cherish forever.
On Monday I went to
the Excel center to watch Olympic Boxing. Again, I had great seats ring side,
and got to watch some of the top boxers in the world fight. Unfortunately, none
of the USA boxers won their match, but it was still fun watching my first ever
boxing event. After boxing I headed back to the dorm and met some of my friends
to play some basketball.
During our
basketball game, a very scary situation came about. One of my friends suffered
a seizure after one of our matches. This was the first time I have ever seen
someone have a seizure, and was very scary because I felt so helpless when it
was happening. We called an ambulance and I went to the hospital with him. He
turned out being fine, and just has to rest for the next couple days. I am so
grateful that he is fine, and that there seems to have been no damage done. It
just has made me appreciate life that much more, and that you can take nothing
for granted.
Tomorrow I am going
up to Arsenal and having lunch with Tom Fox. It is going to be good having some
one on one face time and talking about all the work that he did with my
grandfather. I am also going to go to the location the Oakley has in London to
meet with Brian Carlin, a man that I met at the USOC processing center. It will
be good to talk with him more and continue to network with him. I also was looking online for tickets and was able to find tickets to watch USA Men's Volleyball tomorrow night. On Friday I
start my work with the NBA House. This is going to be great work experience, and
I look forward to seeing what it has to offer.
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