In The Olympic Spirit

My pity party is done. It's over.

I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em!...wait, where did I just go?

Really, I just wanted to tell you, the people who voted for me (hopefully), about what ending up happening with the contest. I was distraught about it, and a lot of emotion spilled into "Devastation", which I probably should have edited and torn apart before posting.

Meanwhile, although I'm not happy about the situation, now that I'm back at school, I haven't had much time to mope around. I'm co-producing a high school basketball show, single-handedly running the website, taking midterms, trying to stay in shape (by dancing), hopefully remembering to eat and actively learning another language (Spanish), among others. But you know what?

To hell with it. I'm going to blog about the Olympics anyway.

Take THAT, Man.

I always love watching the Olympics, no matter which season. I love watching the Olympics, even if my roommates refer to the Winter Games as the "Fake Olympics" because they don't know the names of anyone competing (they would mutter "fake" under their breath every time someone would ask me about the contest). I remember watching The Greatest (start at 5:50) light the Torch when I was just six years old, and I still get chills now.

The Torch is one of the greatest objects in sports. Think about it, for an entire year, a stick-on-fire is carried by many and watched many countless more. People bare bitter cold to see a person run past them wielding fire. It's like the Tour de France minus extremely uncomfortable seating arrangements for the participants.

I love watching the Olympics for so many reasons, and I think you should know about them. So, for the next few weeks, starting with the Opening Ceremony, I'm going to blog about what I (unfortunately) will watch on TV. And I couldn't be happier (Olympic Spirit = unrivaled).

For starters (and those who are uninformed, like my jerk roommates), here are a few stories to watch:

1. Can Vancouver bring the heat?

I'm sure Vancouver will be a phenomenal host city. Honestly, I cannot wait to see how they open the Games tonight. I think it will, as always, be a phenomenal blend of culture and pizzaz. I'll probably learn more about Canada tonight than I've ever dreamed of knowing before. But the "Heat" that I'm talking about is the literal temperature of the Olympic Village and its beautiful surrounding areas (in pictures, of course...I've never been there, remember?). The average temperature for Vancouver in February is around 35 degrees Fahrenheit, aka not capable-of-snow. Actually, until yesterday, the word was that crews were working around the clock to move snow (from as far as three hours away) onto the ski slopes. But, Mother Nature was overcome by Olympic Spirit and decided to dump some snow on British Columbia. As if I ever thought she would get in the way of the slalom.

2. In my opinion, the biggest story on the slopes is...

Not Lindsey Vonn (or her spread in SI's Swimsuit Issue), but another United States Olympic medalist - Lindsey Jacobellis. At the Torino Games, Jacobellis was absolutely cruising to Gold in the Snowboard Cross, when she tried for some extra style...and lost. Watching that was heartstring-tearing. Like 2005 Memphis/Louisville. It just made you want to weep. So what's going to happen in Vancouver with Jacobellis? She'll be on the podium again. And this time, she'll be Golden.

3. All curling, all the time

Guilty pleasure #2134085 = CURLING. I spent more hours watching CNBC (I swear that network broadcasted curling 16 hours a day...'Cause NoBody Curls) during Torino than I did doing homework. The U.S. team took Bronze in '06...and will hopefully medal again, but if Team Canada's boisterous voices are any indication, they should win Gold. Screaming at teammates who hold brooms = directly related to curling success. (Note: I tried to find a YouTube video of curlers screaming, but they're few and far between...here's all I found).

4. How many times will I curse tape delay?

Answer: multiply the amount of events I watch by the number of times I fail not to log on to the internet while watching said events and you get a very frustrated sports fan. Seriously, there should be a worldwide law that bans media outlets from broadcasting the winners of events until the public has seen them. I know that's probably impossible, but I can dream...right?

Tape delay is the only horrible thing about the Olympic Games. And gosh, it's worse than a BCS/Bud Selig love child. Think about this: if you wanted to know, you could have found out the score of the "Miracle on Ice" before you watched it. You're sitting in your living room thinking, "I wonder how badly the Russians beat us this time?"...so you turn on the local news and BAM!...out of nowhere, the TV reads "USA - 4, USSR - 3". Do you believe in miracles? Really, the question should be: do you believe in miracles that you already know the ending to?

Go World.

As always, thanks for reading. I love you.

By the way, I've been asked to post the link to Team USA's news site...check it out!