Olympics is the Season
Hello, it’s Chris again! In our most recent staff meeting we started the conversation with our reactions and thoughts on any of the Olympic events we watched, so I thought it topical to dedicate this blog post to the Olympics. Have you been keeping up to date on our other social media like Facebook and Twitter? On those platforms, we have regularly been doing Olympics themed posts and staff observations regarding the Olympics.
There are a couple really interesting posts I would like to highlight here for those interested in re-reading or for anyone who doesn’t have social media. The first post was on July 27th and featured Fencer Eli Dershwitz.
“Fencer Eli Dershwitz is competing in his second Olympics this year. At only 25 years old, he is hoping to win his first medal in saber fencing. http://ow.ly/2SGp50FBtjL”
Image from usafencing.org.
The second post I would like to highlight was added by Joanna Church as she reflects on how her past makes watching the Olympics fun. Does anyone else remember the Microsoft Decathlon?
“I do not come from a sporty family, but my brother and I did spend a lot of quality time in the mid ‘80s playing the Microsoft Decathlon game on my dad’s computer. We’re talking old-school pixelated graphics, tinny music, green-on-black aesthetic… it was great. And extremely difficult! I’m not saying that it was harder than actually doing a pole vault or a discus throw, but sending that little stick figure around the track by furiously typing 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2 at a slightly faster speed than my younger brother – or, worse, using the [ ] keys to run, T to tilt the javelin, and Enter to throw it at exactly the right moment – was not exactly easy.
Every four years when the Summer Olympics happen in real life, and I’m watching the track and field events, part of me is picturing my poor little stick figure contestant utterly failing to make it over the pixelated high-jump bar, complete with sad sound effects.
Since everything ends up on the internet eventually, you can watch someone playing it here : http://ow.ly/mww650FDEc4
Keep in mind this person is MUCH better at it than I ever was. #JMMOlympics”
Finally, the last post I would like to highlight focuses on the Jewish-Maryland ties to the Olympics.
“This photo shows three wrestlers and a coach, all Jewish Baltimoreans, on their way to the Sixth World Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, 1961. (Now the third-largest sporting event in the world, the Maccabiah Games are held every four years, after an Olympic year.)
Left to right: Ernie Fischer, who competed for Team USA in the 1956 Summer Olympics; John Siegel; Beryle Cohen, who later coached the wrestling team at Laurel High School for many years; and Bernie Silbert.”
Gift of The Associated. JMM 2018.36.1317
I know I said finally already, but I would be remiss if I didn’t plug the museum shop at least once. With all the talk about Olympics, you can send your own athlete to family and friends through our custom made Athletes postcard series available through the online shop here.