The Olympics concluded on Sunday night with a futuristic, eye-catching and overall good-feeling closing ceremony.  It celebrated British music (including a Spice Girls reunion), used a clever stage that displayed the British flag from an aerial view and included a one-of-a kind pyrotechnics display.  Overall, the closing ceremonies solidified the opinion that London was a great host for the 2012 summer games.

I really enjoyed these Olympics and will remember specific moments.  I enjoyed learning about the individual athletes’ stories from Gabby Douglas’s journey to Iowa to Missy Franklin foregoing all sponsor opportunities to swim at college.  I also gained an appreciation for the infrequency of the event.  I felt I had to tune in because 4 years is a long time before this happens again – and the games delivered.  Finally, I appreciate how this is a truly global event.  It was a treat to learn about athletes from other countries along with the Americans.  The United States wins a lot of medals every year, but so many other countries do not and it’s especially thrilling to see the reactions when those countries get theirs.

In my opinion, NBC did a great job, despite the harsh criticism it faced.  It was not perfect but there’s so much to cover in such a short period of time and there’s only so many pre-produced packages you can prepare.  During those 17 days, things happen so fast and they were just trying to cover it all to the best of your ability.  I bet there are some things they want to do over – like the interview with a distraught Jordan Wieber.  But all things considered, I thought they did just about as good as you can do.

Frank Bruni, an op-ed contributer to the New York Times, summarized here exactly how I felt about the Olympics and what made them so enjoyable.  It’s worth a read and he’s a lot more eloquent than I could ever be on the subject.

There’s plenty of sports to keep my occupied until 2016, but I’m already looking forward to watching gymnastics, beach volleyball and swimming, and seeing new dreams achieved in Rio.