The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at.

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself -- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us -- that's where it's at.

Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.

Heck, gold medals, what can you do with them?

We use the Whitman Massacre as a representation for a lot of the struggles between the incoming settlers and the Native Americans who lived here.

I have won all the medals that I can win over the 20 years, except for an Olympic gold. I won't miss the chance this time.