Winter Olympics
Man, I’m not going to poop on the Olympics. I mean, as an American, especially one without TV, its not like I even pay attention. But someone on the radio recently explained something that has always subconsciously bugged me about the Winter Olympics.
He said that the Summer Games are the real Olympics, because sports like running are something that people throughout the world can compete in. The Winter Olympics self-select for those who have access to Winter, or, more likely, those who have access to copius amounts of air conditioning. I mean, Michelle Kwan, who thoroughly rocks . . . she’s from L.A. She lives in a desert! And, her parents would drive her, in a car, which most people don’t have, to an ice rink, which most people don’t have, and she competes in the “sport” of ice skating, which, however gratifying to watch, is more of an “artistic physical endeavor” than a “sport” . . .
And ice skating is more democratic than stuff like skiing, which is an activity pretty much reserved for the upper middle class of developed Northern countries. I . . . well, I have just enough flatlander proleteriat pinko in me that I have always avoided opportunities to finally go skiing. Not like I’m about to storm the ski slopes and burn down the cabins or whatever, it is just that the whole thing is ever so slightly too bourgeois for my blood. (And I am an upper-income culture snob who doesn’t own a TV.)
. . . the summer Olympics, these are the ones where the barefoot Africans show up from impoverished countries you have never heard of to take home Gold Medals, because however poor their backgrounds, there is no denying that they can run fast. We have high-precision clocks that say so.
All the same, I’ll give the Winter Olympics its due . . . a lot of people from a lot of countries get together to compete, in the Olympic spirit. And since they staggered the Winter games into the years between the summer games, it is kind of a nice “side show” to tide the fans over ’til the next every-fourth-year event.
Responses
dbt
In the good old days, you’d have the winter olympics, get all fired up about God And Country, and be ready to go for the summer olympics.
Now you sit through 6 days of showoffs (ski jumping? snowboard half-pipe?) and the big payoff is … little girls in skirts and ice skates?
Give me the old every 4 years format any day.
dannyman
Dave, you make it sound as if “little girls in skirts and ice skates” is a bad thing. I figure . . . that’s the best part.
I hear ya, though.
-d
-berto
I hate to say it, but I actually look forward to watching the curling matches. It reminds me of a cross between pool and bowling, but on ice. I actually wouldn’t mind learning more about it. The other event I like watching is pair figure skating. Not only does it take skill and technique, but also the element of trust. In addition to the perils of individual skating, there really is an amazing level of trust knowing that your partnet will do the right thing at the right time in order to pull off a graceful performance under pressure.
As for the Olympic format, I think having it every four years was better because it seemed a bit more inclusive. Even countries that did not participate in the winter games at least knew they were part of a twice a decade event that literally showcased every aspect of the sporting world in the span of several months. Now with the split summer/winter format, it seems just like any other regularly scheduled sporting event- still interesting to watch, but nothing special about it.
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