The Winter Games

Are you like me, do you love the Winter Olympics? I pay little to no attention to winter sports, other than maybe catching a few snippets of the Winter X Games, during the 4 year stretch between games; but whenever they are being played I am captivated both by the novelty of the events and the athletes who must have certainly spent the majority of their lives training for these contests. I would go so far as to say the Winter Olympics have become more entertaining than their summer counterpart, the events are simply more intriguing.

Both Olympic games, summer and winter, will always have their share of human interest stories filled with eleventy examples of courage, setbacks, defeats, and triumphs- which are an integral part of the games, and the reason why even your mom can name various Olympic athletes. However, it’s the Winter Olympics that showcase the small number of specialized athletes that often stare down severe injury or even death every time they compete. The intestinal fortitude exhibited by the downhill and freestyle skiers; snowboarders, ski jumpers; lugers and bobsledders is simply awe-inspiring. Name a summer Olympic sport where the athletes are competing at 80 miles per hour or performing 1260° rotations while hovering 30 feet over a nearly solid sheet of snow and ice. The Winter Olympics are purely more pleasing to the eye and unnerving. I find myself clenching my toes whenever a snowboarder reaches the top of a half-pipe and grimacing whenever a skier misjudges a turn or when a figure skater falls hard on the ice. Who among us would be willing to sit atop a nearly vertical 125-meter hill on skis designed for maximum velocity and catapult ourselves off of it? It’s insane.

I will admit that there are some events that aren’t quite as watchable, like curling and cross-country skiing, but even they hold a level of novelty and uniqueness that inspires one to watch if only every four years. Moreover, cross-country skiers are probably some of the most fit athletes on the face of the planet, especially when you consider the temperature at which their races are held (the biathlon cross-country skier must also shoot 4 targets accurately or face extra penalty laps!).

Over the next 2 weeks I am sure I will get my Winter Olympics fill and be ready for another 4 year hiatus, but for now I am enjoying the games and a break from stupid reality TV and sit-com reruns. Normally, February is a boring month with little to do, watch, or look forward too once the Super Bowl is over; what with all of the hunting seasons ended and too bitterly cold to go fishing. If nothing else, the Winter Olympics serve as a welcome respite from the tedium that is February every 4 years, plus there are some hot female athletes.