The countdown continues. We now have 364 days* until the opening ceremonies of Sochi 2014. I have much to do to make you fully informed viewers and now have less than one year in which to do it. I also need to come up with less vague ways of filling space.
We have a few things to cover today, but let's begin with the next Olympics. For those of you that followed me during London, 2012, you know my fondness for the Olympics is not limited to the summer games. In some ways (i.e., in the ways that don't include swimming, Alex Morgan, women volleyball players or long track races), I prefer the Winter Olympics. I like to learn new things and develop odd fondnesses for obscure sports. Seven years ago, I discovered curling and fell in love with biathlon. The only problem with curling is the television coverage often doesn't show you the whole round. They only show the last couple of stones. I want to develop a better feel for the strategy of the game. I am hoping to do so in 2014.
Biathlon is simply awesome. Ski until you almost die, then shoot, then ski again. I love the races where a missed shot results in a penalty lap, not just time deduction. The look on the racers' faces when they finish and have to go to the penalty lap area says it all. They are tired enough and they know this will cost them in effort and time. In most of the races I have seen, everyone misses eventually, so when you miss is often as important as how often. Regardless, I just find it enjoyable to watch.
Three years ago, I discovered and fell in love with Nordic Combined. Nordic Combined combines the two nordic ski competitions. (Funny how that works with the name, huh?) At some point in the next 364 days I will research what a Nordic Ski Competition is and give a history for you. Now, since I have 364 days, I shall focus on the bigger issues. As far as Nordic Combined, the bigger issue is whether the US can even approach their historic success of 2010. Prior to 2010, the US had never won an Olympic medal of any color in Nordic Combined. In 2010, we DOMINATED. (That all caps was brought to you by my Volleyball Insider.) The US won four total medals out of nine available medals, including silver in the Team Competition and gold and silver (and 4th) in the Large Hill competition. The names Johnny Spillane, Bill Demong and Todd Lodwick will always have a special place in my Winter Olympics heart.
Three years ago my two oldest boys fell in love with biathlon. This isn't surprising. What could be more fun for two young boys growing up in the snow-starved mid-Atlantic region of the US than imagining a competition that involves skiing and shooting guns. (Yes, I know, the 2010 Winter Olympics happened during the historic 2009-2010 winter so we weren't snow-starved then. Don't let facts get in the way of my "no snow" whining.) Really, though, I think the snow helped, because my boys could actually imagine that biathlon was something they could do. Why not? There was 2 feet of snow outside on three different occassions. I have pictures of the two of them practicing biathlon shooting with Star Wars Nerf guns in prone and standing position. In a couple of the pictures, you can see the Olympic biathlon competition on the television in the background.
Now, we can look forward to Sochi. There are a few problems, but for now I will focus on just one. Sochi isn't exactly a winter wonderland. Jim Caple, of ESPN.com, visited Sochi and wrote about his experience. Among other things, he spent the majority of his time dressed for a summer vacation, not the Winter Olympics. According to Weather.com's 10 day forecast (that link is useless because you aren't looking at it at the same time as I am, but it can be used to get a general feel for Sochi's weather) in the 10 day period from February 12, 2013-February 21, 2013*, the high temperature averages at about 50, the low about 40, and it never goes below freezing. On Valentine's Day, temperatures are expected to reach 60. This is not the stuff a great biathlon course is made of.
(Caple also discusses some of the traffic and human rights issues, which we may touch on later in the year.)
The weather concerns were not a big surprise to my Baltic States Insider, who informed me of Sochi's primary purpose upon Russia being awarded the 2014 games. Sochi is a summer resort city on the Black Sea. The next time the US goes for the winter games, perhaps Myrtle Beach should put in a bid. Seriously though, Sochi is kind of close to the Caucasus mountains, which is where the skiing will be held. Of course, they aren't getting any snow in the mountains right now and traffic is a bear. Start praying for snow in Sochi, we have less than a year for the olympic gods and snow gods to agree that the snow problems in Vancouver didn't help the experience and give us a better show. Unless they decide Putin doesn't deserve a better show and they go out of their way to ruin things for him. There is justice in that, but I want to see a fast downhill, the Flying Tomato and Nordic Combined. So I am praying for snow...in Sochi and Chantilly.
In other Olympic news, wrestling has been dropped from the summer games' core 25 sports. Wrestling has been contested at every Olympic Games except Paris in 1900. I am not exactly a fan of wrestling. I have, as far as I can remember, never attended a wrestling meet. I have never really watched wrestling in Olympic competition. If you asked me to list my favorite sports, for any purpose - to watch on television, to watch live, to listen to on the radio, to participate in for competition, to participate in for fun, or anything else you can think of - I can't imagine wrestling makes it into the top 25, regardless of the category. But this feels wrong. Wrestling is a classic olympic sport. It should be contested at the Olympics. If it is not contested at the Olympics, where will it be contested? It is already one of the most victimized casualties of Title IX, in my unresearched observation. (This website, showing the 281 or so college wrestling programs that have been discontinued since 1972 certainly supports my unresearched observation.) Without the olympics, wrestling is on its way to extinction.
Of course the article says TV ratings and ticket sales are part of the reason it has been dropped. So, I guess, in some small way, my ambivalence played a role in this. Well, mine plus about 100 million other people who don't care about wrestling. It still feels wrong. I don't know why I care now. I'm not going to watch in 2016. Maybe wrestling is the pinky toe of Olympic sports. You never think about it (unless you stub it), but you'll notice when its gone.
I planned to get into some other subjects, but the wrestling story sidetracked me. By the way, the * above is there to indicate that this post was started on February 8, 2013, but not finished until February 12, 2013.
Things to look forward to:
Choosing Spring Sports for my boys
Fat Old Man Update
Winter Sports Review
SI Swimsuit Issue in mailboxes this week
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