The way I see it...

Winter Olympics

Have you all been watching the Olympics? We are pretty regulars around my house. It doesn’t really matter if it’s the Summer Olympics or the Winter Olympics, we love to tune in.

I will say that the Winter Olympics, compared to the summer, have way more events that I just don’t understand. And by that I mean, I don’t get the rules. I watch curling and watch curling and I still don’t get really get it. My husband, usually very knowledgeable in random sports stuff, is absolutely no help at all. As I watch what is basically to me shuffleboard on ice, it’s not that exciting and given the fact that I don’t understand it, I’m still glued to the t.v. I can’t explain it.

I have also come to the conclusion that Winter Olympians are adrenaline junkies! Between the ski jumping, ski aerials, snowboarding half-pipe, the luge, downhill skiing and pairs skating, my heart can’t handle it. I’m on the edge of my seat hoping that they stick the landing or don’t lose control and wipeout. The ski aerials that were on last night, the announcers were saying they get about 60 feet up into the air. 60 feet! How do they do that? Even the pairs skating freaks me out. Who wants to get thrown around above a sheet of ice? Crazy!

I guess I’m in awe of Winter Olympians. Even though I consider myself a semi-athletic person, I’m terrible at things dealing with my legs and feet. I cannot snow ski. I tried one time in 7th grade at a super-duper tiny hill in Estherville for a school outing. Once I sort of got the hang of staying upright, I was so scared because I felt like I was going to fast (it was the bunny hill, trust me I wasn’t) and I hated that out-of-control feeling. That was my one and only snow skiing experience.

Another thing I love about the Olympics is that there always seems to be a time when someone or some team achieves what looks like the impossible. They had a special on about the 1980 hockey team and their miracle win over the Soviet Union. I had chills listening to their stories and watching the highlights. I know this isn’t a fair comparison, but that same night (Sunday) they had the USA/Canada hockey game on. Canada was supposed to be the favorite at the start of the games, but USA won, in exciting fashion. If you saw the last goal of that game, you know what I’m talking about. It was all my husband and I could do not to scream out loud and wake up the kids.

So, I guess we will enjoy it while it lasts. The adrenaline-filled, doing the impossible sort of feats that you will remember for years to come. Grab some popcorn, a comfy chair and tune in and see what kind of success the USA has, but that’s just the way I see it.