RIO RAMBLINGS: When reality sets in

EDITOR’S NOTE: Phil Arnold is the owner and coach of the Alpha Omega Wrestling Academy in Albany. He is currently in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games to watch his nephew, J’den Cox, compete in the wrestling competition. He will be writing a daily blog during his time in Rio.

It was a glorious dream. My nephew, J’den Cox, who wrestles for the University of Missouri had made the Olympic team. In my dream, he did it in a most memorable way, working his way through a bracket that included some of the toughest wrestlers in the country. Could you imagine how awesome that would be? The worst parts of dreams though, is waking up.

But wait, I’m not dreaming.

I woke up on an airplane Thursday morning at 6 a.m. Looking at the map on the screen, it dawned on me I was over South America. More specifically over Brasillia. Never been there before. But I know where I’m going — Rio.

It’s official — reality has set in. I like to consider myself a pretty tough guy. But this tough guy, right now, at this moment, has tears in his eyes. Crazy I know, right?

But the reality is, I come from a very humble middle-class upbringing, which is probably more closer to the poor side. We are a family that has never been on a plane together, let alone out of the country. In fact, out of the Fierce 11 (that’s what they call us in Missouri), only four of us have flown anywhere in the last 30 years. The reality is that all the adults of our group work normal jobs. The kids of our group go to public school, and the one retiree just got that way after 50-plus years of hard work. The reality is we are just normal people who have been blessed to be able to do this extraordinay thing.

The Olympic trials were in April. I didn’t get to go. I was in Kingsport, Tenn. with my mentor and close friend, Chuck Morris, watching my youngest son, Gabe become an All-American at AAU National Elementary Duals with MF1. During the tournament, everyone was giving me updates from Iowa.

Wait, J’den just beat Jake Herbert? Wasn’t he the guy from the 2012 Olympic team? Yep. He’s in the finals? Who’s he got? Kyle Dake?

Man it’s pretty cool he made the finals. But it wasn’t cool at all. It was calculated. You can’t get to the Olympics without winning the Trials. It just happened that Mr. Dake stood in the way. As we drove home, Gabe and I watched J’den and Kyle go at it. I cried. I had to pull over because I was so overwhelmed. I called my mom. She was there. She was surrounded by wrestlers congratulating our family. I cried even more when she said I had something to do with him being there. The reality is, my part in it was minimal, at best.

Right now, my screen says we are going 534 miles per hour and will land in Rio in 24 minutes. Reality has set it. The Fierce 11 have made it to the Olympics. It doesn’t get more real than that.