When the Olympic Torch Came Through Philly at 45MPH!
The Olympic torch has been lit in a ceremony in ancient Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic games. This begins the torch relay that will cross a circuitous 3,000 mile trek to Paris for the 2024 Summer games.
If you’re lucky enough to be in an area along the route, you could be able to see a cool spectacle of someone running past you carrying the flame as part of the torch relay. Or you could be like a few thousand of us who “saw” stood on Roosevelt Boulevard in 1996 to see the relay as the flame made it’s way to Atlanta.
It’s 1996 and I’m nine years old. The Olympic torch relay is going to make it’s way through North East Philly only one block from my house. My parents grab me, my sister and brother and head down to the Olde Ale House at the corner of Red Lion Road and Roosevelt Blvd. I’m into anything sports at this point and the Olympics scratched that itch, so I was pretty pumped up to see this thing. I had seen the news reports about it making its way around the country. I was ready. We probably went to the restaurant early, had some dinner then went outside to watch this cool event.
In my nine yeard old head, I’m thinking this is so cool. The torch is coming through my neighborhood! When is the next time I’m going to be able to see this? Well all of my expectations were wrong. There was no person running carrying a flaming torch. There was no person slowly jogging up the boulevard. Don’t get me wrong, the flame came by my family and the people waiting. The issue was the person carrying the flame wasn’t on foot. He or she, can’t be sure what sex the person was since they were riding on the back of a motorcycle or some sort of scooter going 45mph down the boulevard! If you sneezed and closed your eyes, you probably missed the Olympic Torch! What a rip off. There are probably no good pictures taken at this event with 1996 cameras. It’s just an orange blur heading south on Route 1.
Drafting The Ultimate USA Flag Football Olympic Team
The International Olympic Committee has officially approved adding Flag Football to the Olympics starting at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. With the news and the NFL season six weeks deep, there’s only one thing left to do. And that is to mock draft what the ultimate USA flag football Olympic roster would look like.
While we are unsure what the limitations will be regarding players who can participate, we do know the 2028 Summer Olympics does not overlap with the NFL regular season.
Sure, we are still over four years away, and it’s hard to predict which athletes will dominate the NFL by then. However, on the heels of this exciting news, it’s only appropriate that we envision a flag football Dream Team.
I’m talking about the Jordan’s, Magic’s, Bird’s of today’s NFL that would be as culturally appealing as the 1992 USA Basketball Team.
Before we build this mega all-star Olympic flag football team, let’s give a nod to lacrosse, baseball, softball, and cricket for also getting into the 2028 summer games.
What To Know About Flag Football
“This is a no-contact sport with ‘tackles’ made by removing one of three ‘flags’ – more akin to fabric belts – attached to the ball-carrier’s waist with one on each side and another at the back,” Olympics.com explains.
Though much of the offense is passing, running plays are permitted except when the offense is five yards or less from the end zone. Other rules to note are that teams are typically 12 players total. Five players are on the field at a time, resulting in a five-on-five (offense vs. defense).
The NFL has long been a proponent for flag football, even hosting championships at the Pro Bowl. Furthermore, the NFL all-stars participated in this style of all-star game competition.
For our 2028 flag football Olympic Dream Team, we will build the roster by the following categories. Quarterback (2), wide receiver (3), running rack (2), tight end (2), defense (3), and head coach.
Steve Vassalotti is co-host of “The Matt Cord Show with Steve Vassalotti” weekday mornings 6a-10a on 102.9 WMGK. He has been with the station since 2015. For WMGK he writes about inane nonsense that surrounds our daily lives, sports, food and other various topics. Steve writes about Philadelphia lifestyle content, the Philadelphia Eagles culture and trending topics.
