When I think about the phrase "not that long ago" I always revert to the summer of 1996. I'm not sure why. It was 13 years ago, but it is a summer I will never forget... forget... forget... get... get... get...

-(Que music) "... it's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife. It's like meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife..."
-(Fade from black as 60-year old man loads up suburban for road trip from Milwaukee to Atlanta)

-(News anchor man in the background): "Continuing our coverage of this morning's breaking news... there was a bombing in Centennial Park in Atlanta. There are no suspects, but police believe this to be an isolated incident"

I rise from my slumber and swing my legs over my bed. I sit for a minute in my bed shaped like a vintage 1968 Corvette stingray. There is a slight protrusion from the front of my undies making Optimus Prime seem like he is in 3-D. I groggily wander towards my bathroom for a brisk morning brush of the old pearly whites. I grab my tube of crest and spread it evenly across my Oral-b "Reach" toothbrush. After a minute or two of brushing, and a scrape of the foliate papillae, I throw on my finest two-toned Umbros and head to the kitchen.

"Family meeting!" It appears the old man is becoming a bit apprehensive about our trip due to the morning's breaking news. You see WE were headed to the Olympics in Atlanta. Now we were on the brink of spending the next two weeks listening to Bob Costas wax poetic about the merits of women's rowing. However, like all true sports fans no stinking bomb was going to scare us from enjoying the once in a lifetime opportunity that is the summer games.

(Que Music): "And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's? She said "I think I remember the film, and as I recall I think we both kind of liked it." And I said "Well that's one thing we've got"

Day 1: MMMMMM.... Coke. The city of Atlanta is known for a couple of things: Heat, traffic, and Coca-Cola. We were most interested in the brown bubbly because being from Milwaukee we couldn't handle the other two. I walked casually through the front doors of the Coca-Cola building excited about touring the wonderful world of Coke. The tour was amazing, and years later I would think about how jealous my math teacher would be of me if she only knew. The woman drank four cans of diet coke per day. Her cheap perfume could hardly mask the smell.

(Que music): "We're coming through your town, Move your arm up and down, And make that choo choo sound, like this..."

Day 2: GOAL!!!!! Finally we get to see some events. Luckily, we struck gold in the lottery and our first set of tickets were for the Bronze and Gold medal men's soccer games. The bronze medal game occurred with little action of note. The gold was a far different story. The heavily favored Argentinians bowed out to the Nigerians 2-1 in an epic battle that featured an oft-debated game winner. If you ask an Argentinian it was off-sides; if you ask a Nigerian it was one of the great moments in the Nigeria's history. To this day I still get a rise out of all the cabbies in Chicago, who hail from Nigeria, when I tell them I was there.

(Que music): "How do you want it? How does it feel? Growing up as a N*** in the cash game living in the fast lane ride for real." 

Day 3: Wait for it ... wait for it... HISTORY! We got to the stadium at about 2pm just when our ticket said to be there. You see for track and field your ticket entitles you to a block of time. Often times many events are taking place at the same time. However, for the first 3 hours all that was taking place was the Pole-Vaulting part of the men's decathlon. As the sun descended the action picked up. My eyes, weak from watching the vaulters, suddenly picked up a bright sparkle floating just above the track. It was Michael Johnson's famed gold shoes. When the gun went off so did MJ. He raced around the track as the flashbulbs tried to keep pace. In an instant it was over. He took a few "slow down" strides and then right in front of me he knelt, with old glory on his shoulder, and his arm around a sign that read 19.32! Later that evening Dan O'brien (of Dan and Dave fame) won the decathlon, but nothing will ever compare to the second best 19.32 seconds of my life (The best is not appropriate).

It was a summer vacation that I will never forget. When we got home we realized that our cat, who had been let out only an hour before, would never be seen living again (RIP Ashes). However, when I think about the summer of 1996 it always brings a smile to my face and seems like only yesterday.....

(Que music and fade to black) "What if God was one of us? Just a bum like one of us?..."

Good Day,

Mr. Kint

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist"