My favorite sporting event

Oh it's that time of year again. The shushed crowd. The quiet commentators. The electric, crackling tension in the air. The goosebumps as your favorite wows the crowd into roaring applause.

I'm talking, of course, about the Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

This outstanding competition occurs only once every four years. If you like classical music at all, it would be worth seeing. Last time, I kept up with the goings on through the video (televised on the now defunct Denton PBS station), and the TCU radio station (88.7), which is broadcasting live again this time. One of the early recitals happened to catch my ear and eyes. An attractive Russian woman and single Mom nameld Olga Kern. She played with more passion than anyone I'd ever seen. She continued to progess, and in the process became the darling of Fort Worth and the competition. I decided to try to get a ticket to one of the Finalist concerts - and ended up getting to see her.

I have heard in my life from time to time that a person was born to do this or that. But I don't take much stock in that, because it seems so rare. I think Tony Bennett was born to sing and Fred Astaire to dance. I think Hemingway was born to write. These people make whatever it is they do well look effortless, and do it in a very understated way. Olga Kern was born to play Rachmaninoff. She pours everything she has into that music, but her performance doesn't seem put on or over the top. Her grandmother actually knew the composer, and she had some music she used in the competition that had his handwritten notes scribbled here and there. All emotions ranging from dark sadness to sheer joy emit from her fingers. She comes back from time to time, and if you can get a ticket, anywhere in the hall, it will be worth your while. I know I will be there.

Fortunately for the competition, and unfortunately for me, all of the concerts sold out very quickly this year. But in the meantime, I will be listening on the radio - waiting for that one performance that is so spellbinding that I will realize when it's over that I was holding my breath.