Clan-Members » them) and waiting (so much waiting) and

By now we all know that Simone Biles and Aly Raisman are not only two of the best gymnasts in the world, but also besties who constantly document their perfect friendship on social media.And while the proof of their adorable relationship is seriously everywhere, Biles showed just how close the two really are on Wednesday. Raisman posted a screen shot of a text conversation between the two, and in it, Biles hilariously invites herself to Raismans room AND orders room service to be delivered to it. Simone just orders breakfast to my hotel room. Used to it. ??A photo posted by Alexandra Raisman (@alyraisman) on Nov 2, 2016 at 8:17am PDT#BestFriendGoals. Also, did this text conversation just make anyone else really hungry? Just me?See something entertaining on social media that you think deserves to be shared? Let me know on Twitter, @darcymaine_espn.Cheap Football Jerseys . PAUL, Minn. NFL Jerseys China . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. https://www.nflcheapjerseysfreeshipping.com/ . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Authentic NFL Jerseys China . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges.There is one specific part of the Olympics that always gets me: the proud parents in the stands.If Im really making a confession, what really gets me is the quadrennial tradition of schmaltzy TV ads about the parents of the Olympic athletes.Sign me up for tug-at-the-heartstrings visuals of all of the classics: Early morning wake-ups! Lugging gym bags! Unconditional support!And then, the payoff image: Athlete looks lovingly at parent, whose zero-sum investment of time and energy, space and support was so critical to the dream coming true. The parent beams. Watching the scene from the couch, we project (and, yes, maybe wipe a tear).You, like me, probably arent going to be that parent. But you did manage to get your kid to soccer games on time every Saturday morning for umpteen seasons, which aint nothin.I reserve a deep, abiding respect for the select few who ascend, with Olympian effort, to be that parent.I cannot calculate the hours -- let alone the effort, let alone the opportunity cost, let alone the self-discipline to stand aside and let the kid put in the work, let alone the anxiety -- that goes along with parenting a would-be Olympic athlete.I also cannot calculate the pride they must feel that their child has -- at least in one huge, universally recognized way -- completed an effort to reach their human potential.Let me put it this way: Yesterday morning, I dropped my 7-year-old off at ninja camp. Lets be real: Its gymnastics camp. It was my first time seeing him there. Before I walk out of the gym to get in the car, he sprints over to a runway of a mat and does this:My first reaction: Wait, what is he doing?My next reaction: Hes going to hurt himself!My final reaction: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!There are plenty of moments in your life as a parennt when your kid does something delightful and unexpected, and then there are those rare times when your kid does something you didnt realize they had the ability to do, but they pull off a front flip.ddddddddddddLiterally or metaphorically, it doesnt happen a ton and when it does, its staggering.OK: Thats my kid doing a flip in a random local gym. Relatively neat, given the known limitations of his dads athletic genes but extremely modest in the Simone Biles-Katie Ledecky-Allyson Felix Grand Scheme of Things. But having that acute, emotional reaction gave me a smidgen of a sense of what it might be like for the parent of an actual Olympian.Then layer in the baggage of the Olympic parent. I drove my kid 15 minutes to day camp and he proudly grinned at me after he did his trick, and Im bursting. Now project the accumulated sensation of investing hours (every day) over a decade (or two) and traveling (hundreds of thousands of miles) and weekends (all of them) and waiting (so much waiting) and nerves (GAH!).Then their kid smiles at them on the walk to the block or to the mat or to the track in Rio or London or Beijing or Athens or Sydney or Atlanta. Or their kid spots them immediately after finishing the race -- win or lose, medalist or mere Olympian. Theyre not actors playing athletes and parents in a TV ad -- the real deal. And those family members have won in a way few of us mortal parents can ever really know.And that parent has earned (and deserves) every bit of the unique intensity of that Olympic moment.Dan Shanoff writes about parenting for espnW. You can connect with him on Twitter or Instagram at @danshanoff. ' ' '