Right now I'm back in Boston (I was here a few weeks ago for the national championships) and fortunately as of yet, there have been no rental car accidents (my rental car was totaled on my last trip as I was driving to the tournament). Last night, I hung out with a couple of my buddies from college. We had a great time hanging catching up.
One of the things that we talked about was my youtube videos for Bud (www.youtube.com/jfahrenkrog). I shot the videos after the first trials when I was in North Dakota promoting the 4H shooting sports program. My buddies were so excited about them and wanted to know if I really did shoot the one can on a single shot... the truth is that I did! That is why I was so excited about it. The Bud guys basically gave me 7 or 8 shots at 70 meters at a practice can to sight in (with NO warm up... usually I shoot 40-50 arrows warm up) and then they had me pull my arrows and put up a second can for the real deal.
They told me to look at the camera and say "One shot, one arrow, no problem" and then actually do it. A dream I always wanted to accomplish in archery was being in the gold medal finals against the Koreans and being the anchor shooter (the last person to shoot) and needing to shoot a 10 to win on the last arrow. In my visualization, I always nailed it... so when they asked me to do this, that is what my mind immediately went to and then I just took a deep breath and thought about my technique and shot. IT WAS SOOO COOL because the arrow nailed the can at that moment. Even though it wasn't in the gold medal final against the Koreans it was a lot of fun.
Anyhow, enough about that... the rest of this weekend is going to be great... I'm going to my 10th year high school reunion, something that I couldn't have done if I'd made the finals of the Olympic trials (given the choice, I'd probably still pick the finals... but there is always a reason!). So, I'll be out here with all my old friends, catching up and sharing fun stories. Ironically, a couple of my classmates won't be there because they are still trying out for their respective Olympic teams (one in mountain biking and one in rowing).
I'm waiting to hear back but I may have a chance to be on the Today show next week for Polo Ralph Lauren... I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I also wanted to keep you up to date about the book I'm reading about Darfur. If you get a chance, please sign up to be a Team Darfur fan (or part of the team if you are an athlete) at www.teamdarfur.com. The book, "Not on our Watch" is an incredible insight into the background of the Darfur genocide. It gives two distinct perspectives, one from a life long advocate for Africa and one from a famous movie star.
From what I have read, it seems that the situation in Darfur is extremely complicated. The perspective that the book takes is that Sudan's government is behind the killings but is trying to make it out to look as though it is tribal civil war based on limited resources and opposing religious beliefs. I still have a lot to learn and I would encourage you to learn more as well.
I also watched a documentary called "The Devil Came on Horseback." It was incredibly graphic so I would recommend not watching it with your kids. The documentary highlighted just how much red tape is involved in trying to make a change. The guy behind the documentary talked about how he would write reports on violations that were being made but only 8 of the 40 or so he wrote ever went anywhere and nothing was done about the ones that did get turned in. The documentary argued that other countries were aiding Sudan's government by providing the ability to purchase weapons from profits made in the sale of oil.
On that note, please keep Darfur in your prayers. Please sign up to be a fan and spread the word.
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