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Hats off to fellow Olympians
Kristine Lilly is the all-time appearance leader and third all-time leading scorer for the U.S. Women's National Team. The midfielder from Wilton, Conn., was a member of the U.S. teams that won the 1999 World Cup and 1996 Olympic Games. Lilly also played on four national championship teams at the University of North Carolina. Lilly is training for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Check out Lilly's diary every other week on CNNSI.com.
May 22, 2000
OK, all I have to say is go Knicks! I missed the game Sunday but watched the highlights of the Knicks beating the Heat in Game 7. I hope I have some fellow Knicks fans out there. Next up are the Pacers for another great series. I'll be missing it because we head to Australia for a tournament but I will be cheering them on. Enough of the Knicks for now. Well, I just got back today from a week long break. It was a much needed break, and I had some fun away from soccer. Before I get into what I did, I first want to share with you all, another great experience we had as a team the week after we got back from Portland. Towards the end of week of May 8, we had a Gold Medal Summit weekend in downtown San Diego. The USOC put this summit together that included our team, the U.S. ice hockey team, the U.S. softball team and the synchronized swimming team -- basically four different teams that had won gold medals in the past Olympics. It was set up as an opportunity to share ideas, feelings, things that worked, things that hindered, or just stories to help us repeat in Sydney and for hockey to repeat in 2002. It was a great three days. I got to know players from each sport, and we worked in small groups doing team-building concepts. It was just great. One day we spent an hour and half going from one sport to another. So we got the opportunity to try softball, hockey (on turf with a tennis ball) and synchronized swimming (out of water). There also was a soccer station. It was a lot of fun, but the thing that really hit home for me was that we all are elite athletes in our sports and the best. The reason why this was so important to me was because I think sometimes we take for granted what we can do or we just find it no big deal when it is a big deal. For example, I used to play softball in high school and was pretty good -- for high school. I was so excited to do the softball station. Basically we were given the opportunity to hit the pitchers that helped this team win a gold. I was like, 'Oh I can hit them.' Hello! Before I even got my bat around, the catcher had already caught the ball. I couldn't hit Lisa Fernandez. I got a piece of one pitch. I was mad, but then I sat back and I was like, 'OK, these are the best players in the world, and I actually thought I could hit them because I used to play in high school.' So the moral of the story is being an elite athlete is something special and making a U.S. team is the best and not everyone can do that. So to all you fellow Olympians out there -- hats off to you and your sport because you guys are awesome and I respect and appreciate your sport even more now. For those of you that don't know much about synchronized swimming and may not be a big fan, it was the hardest sport I tried that weekend. They are awesome. Thanks to Cammi and Karyn for getting that idea going. It was great. All of us soccer folks had a great time. Before our break started on May 13, we did practice throughout the summit. We had some hard workouts with fitness thrown in there so by the end of the week, break was looking good. I spent part of my break up in San Francisco with my dear friend Jodi who I have mentioned before in my entries. We had a fun weekend. We celebrated her brother's Scott's 30th birthday which was a blast. It was a surprise so her other brother and parents were there and some friends and me. Then of course Sunday was Mother's Day so we took Cheri out to brunch and then just hung out. Then Jodi and I treated ourselves to a massage after a hard workout, and it was great. Jodi was a trooper running fitness with me. So all in all it was a good visit up to San Fran. Thanks Ms. Morrow for the hospitality, and to you too Scott and Chris. After that, I flew to D.C. for a USOC dinner which a lot of other Olympians. I met Phil Mahr, who was the downhill skier. It was cool, and he was a great guy. So that was a fun-filled evening. Then I flew back to the West Coast and hung out with my friend Tish who you all know. It was a good time. We caught up on some lost time, ran and did a Met-Rx shoot as well. We both are sponsored by them, so we had to do some work as well but it is fun doing work with a friend. Tish is doing well, and I let her know that we miss her on the field and that you all miss her too. I wrapped up my break by going to Des Moines Iowa. It was the first time for me there, and it was a nice experience. I went there for an appearance. I did some autograph signing for the kids and some question and answer sessions. I also watched the Des Moine Menace take on the Rockford Raptors and the Menace pulled it off. It was a nice visit. The one thing I could say about Iowa was that I saw some buffalo, and I was like, 'Wow.' I wasn't expecting that, and the people were very friendly and good soccer fans. So that is my break wrapped in a nutshell. Nothing too crazy, but I got to see some good friends which is always nice. Now we are back in San Diego for four days and then head to Australia. We play five games out there against some good competition so I'm looking forward to it. However, I am not looking forward to the flight, but I'm going to bring some good books and some music to pass the time. Wish us luck on our trip, and I will be writing from there so I will fill you in on life Down Under. Happy late Mother's Day to all you moms and Happy Memorial Day weekend coming up. Also one last thing -- appreciate who you are and what you do and what you have accomplished. I think a lot of us get caught up in trying to do more and not take a step back and see what we have done and congratulate ourselves. We all have special talents that make us who we are and that should never go unnoticed. So take the time for yourself and appreciate who you are and what you do and I bet you'll feel pretty good. Take Care, --Kristine P.S. Chris congrats on the new job.
Join Kristine Lilly in supporting the March of Dimes.
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