Thursday, February 23, 2006

Olympic Rants & Raves

I love me some Winter Olympics, in fact it is one of the few sporting events I actually follow closely. I've been watching the Olympics the past few weeks and for the most part I have really enjoyed the games, there have been some great races, upsets, and drama. Below are a few rants and raves from this year's games:

Back in the day I remember the Olympics being on all day, everyday. I understand there is a time difference, but I would love to be seeing more live coverage, especially on the weekends. If there is ANY event going on, no matter what time of day it is, they should be showing it live. I would watch cross-country skiing or the biathlon if they showed it. It seems NBC has given in to their advertisers and has limited the coverage to prime-time hours only, after announcing the medal winners earlier in the day. Show it live, then replay it during prime-time.

Last weekend I was hoping to catch some of the men's combined downhill, but I couldn't watch it because NBC was showing the Daytona 500 instead. Are you telling me more Americans would rather tune-in to some rednecks driving around in a big circle than watch men bomb down an icy mountain at 70 mph on skis? NASCAR blows.

I don't think the Olympics should allow professional athletes into the games. One of the great things about the Olympics is seeing the young, up and coming athletes. If you sign an endorsement deal with some sunglass company, or play in the NHL, sorry. I'd rather watch college kids who are still passionate about their sport and want to win. Sorry Bode, I like your DIY ethos and live and let live attitude, but you got outskiied this time, stop making excuses.

I am not sure ice dancing should be an actual event in the winter games. Talented skaters? Check. Entertaining? Check. Olympic event? Not in my opinion. I'm not sure about any event that relies on judges to determine a winner. I suppose you could say the same thing about most judged events (figure skating, freestyle skiing, half pipe, etc.), but there is something about ice dancing that doesn't do it for me. Are we going to see ballroom dancing in the summer games? I like the events where there is a clear winner; whoever crosses the finish line the fastest, or scores the most points.

Two events I totally got into this year were the snowboard boardercross and cross-country skiing. The Olympics needs more events like the boardercross, it went over really well and was a blast to watch. It's funny how the snowboarders turned out to be some of the classiest athletes at the games, you could tell they were just psyched to be riding in the Olympics, very little attitude. I also enjoyed watching the cross-country skiing, those guys are some hardcore athletes, thirty plus miles, mostly uphill. It wasn't as exciting as the boardercross but there was some definite strategy to what they were doing, almost like a game of chess.
Overall, I have enjoyed watching the games this year, and I will be looking forward to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Stock up on the Molsons.

In other Olympic news, if you haven't seen "Murderball" yet, check it out. Those guys are badass, and an inspiration to get off your butt and do something. Great movie.


Listening to: Thievery Corporation- The Richest Man in Babylon

1 comment:

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