I saw the women’s figure skating a few nights ago and even though there were no real surprises, it was nice to see the winners all skate clean…But I’ve been thinking about how we get so sucked in to all of this!

I’ve been getting so caught up in so many of the sports.  It’s just amazing how we become students of various sports that we never think about during the year (most of us) – biathlon, luge, speed-skating…it’s easy to get lost in the pageantry and drama. Joannie Rochette, Kim Yu-na, and Mao Asada had a rather predictable battle, but one that probably made you sit on the edge of your seat just a bit!

I would probably never turn on too many extreme sports during the year, but I watched the snowboarding.  I watched the aerials.  I watched the ski-cross.  We just do!

And no matter how detached we think we are, we let the commentator give us a lesson in technique.  We watch for the skis coming apart and wonder how that will affect scoring.  We wait to see who will pop out of the starting gate first and take the advantage.  We look for the quad or the triple.  We silently (or loudly) cheer for our country’s athlete in whatever sport, hoping they’ll do well, even if we are just waiting for the hockey or skating competition to begin.

That’s the power of the Olympics.  We put aside a lot to watch them.  We clear schedules.  We open our minds to new sports.  We inflame rivalries we never knew existed, and we stand around the watercooler the next day and talk about it all.  And, aside from the occasional sour grape silver medal skater or the angry short-track athlete, it is usually in a spirit of friendliness.

I love that.

I’d love more of that.

Maybe I’m just a Pollyanna, but so be it.  If it is in the name of togetherness, I’ll take the label.

And, I’ll still watch the Olympics.

-josh

And Plushenko criticized Lysacek for his gold medal victory.

What is with these guys?

I mean, I know we’re all human and we all say and do dumb things, but good lord.

The Woods thing?  I’m still not sure what my take is on that (although, you can read some of my views on yesterday’s post).  He did some dumb things and it is in the media and he felt the need to apologize, likely for business reasons.

Whatever.

But Plushenko.  He criticized Lysacek for not doing a quad jump in his program.  I think his logic is that the quad jump is the future of the sport and if one does not have this in the repertoire, then surely he cannot be a champion.  Apparently, perfection with triples is not enough.

What  a load.

What is this?  Sour grapes.  An unhappy guy is criticizing the guy who did the better program.  It sounds like jealousy.  It sounds like (unfounded) shame and embarrassment projected outward.  It sounds like he can do a quad, so naturally he thinks a quad jump should win the competition.  Never mind if the rest of the program is so-so.  Never mind that it is a “program” and not a “jumpfest”.

But what do I know?  I’m just a guy who is still nursing a blister from a skating outing in fourth grade.

The point is, get over it Plushenko.  You didn’t lose to someone who fell and tripped and stumbled.  You came in second to a man who landed his jumps, showed dazzling footwork, and skated a near-perfect program.

If you want sour grapes, Plushenko, have a glass of wine.

If you want to be an Olympic champion, start acting like one.

Geez…at least Tiger apologized.

-josh

There was snowboarding on the Olympics tonight.

Ok.

Shaun White won.

Ok.

Then his coach started talking.

Ohhhhh…Kay….

If you heard what he was saying live, then…well…you have a little insight into the joys of live TV…

And maybe a little insight into Shaun’s coach.

The announcer, of course, apologizes for the language and says something looney about all the emotion the coach is feeling.  That’s interesting.  I have a lot of emotion about things, but I don’t spew a line of obscenities.

Well, at least if I’m on TV!

I’m no prude.  Things like this generally don’t bother me.  I don’t spend a lot of time getting offended and worrying about things like that.  Whatever.  There are more important things in the world than looking for reasons to get offended.

It’s just, here we are on the world stage.  We took the gold.  It’s a moment that parents and children are sharing.  White is a hero to so many.  He is pushing his sport to new heights…literally.

Now, if only he would rub off on his coach, who seems hell-bent on taking it to a new low.

-josh

Yes!

I love the curling.  It’s just so great.  Sweeping hard, making hard choices…sacrificing hard stones at the right time.

It has a huge following.  It’s like that mysterious kid in school that no one knows too well, but he has that mystique…a coolness that we can’t really define.  We want to approach him…hang out with him…but we’re not sure if we should.  If we can.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada and know there is a HUGE curling following there, and it’s really great…a real thinking-person’s game.  It’s grown.  Apparently the curling fans today numbered close to 5,000 people

They call it chess on ice.  The cerebral meeting of strategy and sport.  People love that.  They love intrigue.

I heard a human-interest comment about the American women’s team.  Some of them are moms.  They have full-time jobs.  Families.  And they balance it all with their curling.

In some ways, it takes a great strategist to manage the life of an Olympic athlete.  There are many stories of athletes who aren’t supported in a major monetary way, unlike in other countries.  They scrape by, trying to make ends meet to pursue their passions.  One of the American skaters is a DJ and skate sharpener to help pay the bills while he pursues his dream.

And did you hear about the Russian skater who gave up her Japanese citizenship to live and train in Russia with a particular coach?

Now THAT’S a calculating move for passion.

It’s not just for curling, I guess.  There are always hard choices we make to do the things we love.

That’s the brilliant draw of the Olympics.  That’s why we watch.  That’s why we can’t turn away, even when it gets sharp, fast, or dangerous.  We want to see the passion of sport.  We want to see the thrill of competition.

We want to see how lives of calculation and sacrifice, at just the right time, come together for gold.

No matter how “HARD!”

-josh

I watched the speed skating and saw the favorite take the gold.  But I also saw an unexpected athlete take the silver.  No one had him pegged for much.  But there he was with the silver!  There was something satisfying about that.

I like the underdogs.  Makes me think anything is possible!

Then there was the ski jump.

The announcer was great.  He said, “Your mind is telling you it’s suicide…”  And this was the normal hill.  The big hill is coming up, I guess.

Someone I was watching with asked, “I wonder what age you know you want to risk your life like that.”

I smiled.  I guess some people like to push the limits of what’s possible, even in ways we might think are crazy.

And it may be crazy.

But it’s inspiring.  And it keeps us watching.

There is heart.  There is grit.  There are people skiing moguls who have existing ACL tears in their knees.  There is speed, there is determination, and there are people risking getting body parts sliced off from skates.

I guess one of the big questions with sport is, at what point do we cross the line from commitment to crazed?  Does it matter?  Some humans have a competitive spirit so strong, they will perform feats that come out of what they call ‘obsession’ for the sport.  But don’t we do the same thing?  Aren’t we obsessive about dogs, food, or love, almost to the point where we risk life or serious harm?  For examples, see Cesar Milan the Dog Whisperer, Adam Richman of Man vs. Food, or any person who sticks it out with the love of their life, even through hard circumstances.

Maybe, then, when we watch the Olympic Games, we’re only seeing the tip of the competition/commitment/obsession iceberg!

Hey, it was only the first day and already there was a surprise silver and a ton of men risking their lives from a ski jump.  There were heartaches, heartbreaks, and, likely, some bone breaks.

I can’t wait to see what comes next.  It should be interesting.

Maybe I’ll DVR the games this afternoon while I’m out and watch them later.

Is that obsessing?

-josh

I watched the opening ceremonies from Vancouver last night.  On and off, actually.

I didn’t actually see every minute, but I did have some prolonged periods where I was able to give them my attention.  Fortunately, I have them on my DVR system thingy so I’ll be able to catch up later on.

But I saw some of the march of nations and the speeches from the bigwigs…long speeches.  Speeches that had substance and seemed to truly have a serious theme.

A theme of peace.  A theme of togetherness of nations.  Themes of respect for the fallen (Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old luger from the Republic of Georgia).  A theme of moving forward.

A theme of Unity.

Why is it so easy in sport?  We talk about it and talk about it.  We want it as individuals, but when it comes to nations…

How can it be that Iran and Israel can march together on this night, but…

The lack of the greater world’s ability to pull together is so frustrating…KD Lang is singing Leonard Cohen’s lyric, “It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah”.  Mournful sounds at the opening to echo the poignant stirrings within us that suggest that peace is just out of our grasp…

But is it?

Maybe my lament is just business as usual…in other words, it’s a few who ruin it for the rest of us.  A few angry leaders…a few angry nations…a few angry speeches.

I don’t know.  I don’t know what the answer, or the problem, is.

But I will faithfully watch these Olympics and be involved in the drama…and through it all I will keep hoping and praying that someday the world looks like the Olympic games: Not always perfect, not always peaceful, and not always happy…but filled with good intent and, most of all, respect.

-josh