It all started after a typically tough Tuesday practice when myself and Jeff Hansen (Hanner) were discussing who would win in some skill competitions such as a foot race, a shooting competition, and an obstacle course. So at that very moment, the so-called "Tough Guy Olympics" were born.

Since that point, we have had many events from the aforementioned foot race (which went to Hanner on an arena football field in Oklahoma City) to a heads up poker game which, of course, went to myself, or the "Shark" as the boys call me.

Hanner, I must confess, dominated the early events starting with the obstacle course that was constructed and mediated by Cully ( Brent Cullaton), Dunnny ( Terry Dunbar), and Plummer ( Clay Plume). That event was followed by a close battle in the blue line to blue line foot race that, again, went to the amazingly fleet-a-foot Jeff Hansen.

The third event completed was the javelin event, which consisted of Hanner and myself starting below the goal line with our stick perched on our shoulders and then with a quick couple steps, throwing our sticks as far as possible towards the other end.

But to add a kink to this event, we had a late entry into the Olympics with Clay Plume jumping into the mix and winning the event with, strangely enough, what looked like a much practiced technique. So at the culmination of Day 1 of the Olympics, we had Hanner in first, Plummer in second, and embarrassing himself in last place was, of course, me.

As we took the competition on the road, we found ourselves creating the most exciting event thus far, which was the elevator/100-meter dash around our Oklahoma City hotel's atrium. This event took place after our pre-game meal last Friday, when myself and Jeff Hansen proceeded to the elevators on opposite sides of the hotel's atrium and hit the buttons for the race to begin. The object was to get to the top as fast as possible and then run around the indoor courtyard to the opposite elevator. The first one back to the bottom was the winner.

This race saw us make a quick jaunt to the top, followed by both of us sprinting wildly around the courtyard until we arrived at the opposing elevators staring face to face at one another with no waiting elevator in sight. After coaxing my elevator to come to a stop, I coasted my way to the bottom to capture the gold in that event. So finally, I had won an event and earned some valuable points in the race for the gold.

The next event wasn't until after a real roller coaster of a hockey game on Saturday in Wichita, which saw us capture our second win of the weekend. Following the win over the Thunder, we decided to play a game of cards on the bus. After a large and skilled field of eight competitors was shockingly worn down to myself and Jeff, we decided to make it an event in the Games. After a heads-up battle that saw crazy play from both sides, I found myself on the right side of the last hand. So I won the money and the points, which put me right back in the race for the gold at the Games.

As we stand, there is still a lot of action to be played in pursuit of the elusive gold medal for Overall Competitiveness and General Macho-ness in the Tough Guy Olympic Games.