Olympics

[Leigh]

I thought I would start a thread for the Olympics, which start on Friday. Are you watching? What are your favorite winter sports? What countries are you rooting for?

[Kirsten]

I'll probably watch. Even though I feel a little guilty about it. (And I hate NBC's coverage.) My favorite events are hockey, skiing, speed skating, figure skating, bobsled. I root for the US, then the Dutch.

Though I still feel conflicted. Don't know if I should be supporting Putin's Olympics.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

I'll be watching. I like to watch alittle of everything.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

I'll be rooting for the US.

[Weenie]

I'll be watching what I can - go Team GB!

[Leigh]

I am conflicted too Kirsten. I wasn't going to watch at all but then I thought about all the hard work Olympians put in and they only get to shine for a few moments eery four years, so I decided to watch.

I love hockey, ice skating, sped skating, snowboarding, and skiing.

I root for the US, Canada, GB, and France. But in truth any good athlete's stories will get me to root for them. The Jamaican bobsled team is back, so I'll be rooting for them too.

[Weenie]

Leigh wrote: "The Jamaican bobsled team is back, so I'll be rooting for them too."

Cool Runnings II - the sequel! :-)

[Jennifer]

Curling for sure, and hubby will probably watch hockey.

[Karen]

I will watch what the family watches, especially Friday night - I have no control over the TV. We usually watch the Opening Ceremonies, but not alot of other stuff. I find judged contests biased and it drives me crazy...

[Leigh]

Jamie Lynn wrote: "The best way to watch the Olympics is to try to block out what's going on there. Security is high right now. I'm thinking they will be ok. It is nerve racking though."

Yes!! I am constantly thinking about something terrible happening.

[Deb]

Since the winter Olympics only come every four years I try to watch as much of it as I can. I love the snowboarding the best. I root for the athletes' that I think perform the best no matter what country they come from. They all work so hard to get to this place.

[Cheryl]

Rooting for team GB!

[Janet]

Yes to the Olympics. I loved all the figure skating and ice dancing. Very beautiful. Then the snow boarding has been great. Over-all I just love watching everything. I look forward to the Olympics, Winter and Summer I enjoy it all.

[Leigh]

Ice skating musical choices are not very good this year. For a few years they really experimented with more adventurous music, but this year they are all going back to classical music.

[Leigh]

Speed Skating tonight!

[Leigh]

I am watching pairs ice skating. Most of the men are so much taller than their female partners, it's quite funny.

I hope Bob Costas gets better soon, I don't really care for Matt Lauer.

[Yuliya]

I'm Russian, but living in USA, I'm most interested in these two teams to watch, but not root for any team and worry and get upset for any fall and any failure of sportsmen from any countries, and happy for everyone who did the best. I love iceskating the best

[Leigh]

Yuliya wrote: "I'm Russian, but living in USA, I'm most interested in these two teams to watch, but not root for any team and worry and get upset for any fall and any failure of sportsmen from any countries, and..."

Yep. All these athletes work so hard and just get a few moments to shine on the international stage, I'm happy for all of them.

[Leigh]

That fall by the Jeremy ( the American skater) looked so painful. Pleshinko is out too. Ice skating sure has been dramatic tonight.

[Leigh]

Why the hell is NBC bringing up the Nancy Kerrigan thing again. Hasn't this been covered to death? Do they not have actually sporting events to cover?

[Leigh]

When I hear things about people wanting the athletes to protest, or do others things to disrupt their experience; I always come back to the fact that they works so damn hard and only get this short moment to shine. They should be able to have this moment.

[Donna]

I loved the US ice-dancing couple, too. Their final performance was so beautiful that I favorited it on YouTube so I could watch it again.

[Leigh]

Jamie Lynn wrote: "I agree Leigh. They should have nothing to do with politics whatsoever. As you said it's their time to shine. I think it would be very inappropriate to get themselves involved in a mess which doesn..."


I had read that a few are bringing dogs home. Love that.

[Kirsten]

Found this article on the HuffPo: 7 Sci-Fi Writers Predict The Future Of The Olympics
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/o...

Personally, I am looking forward to #3.

1. Climate change will cause the Winter Olympic Games to change drastically.
Madeline Ashby, author of Company Town

2. A new, more environmentally sustainable alternative to the Olympics will rise up.
Malka Ann Older, author of Infomocracy

3. Cheesy human interest stories will be replaced by a more immersive, athlete-controlled media experience.
S.B. Divya, author of Runtime

4. The Games will become a nostalgic ode to a time when humans were less scientifically perfect.
Max Gladstone, author of Four Roads Cross

5. And they will do so for the same reason we enjoy going to the movies or looking at art today.
Patrick Hemstreet, author of The God Wave

6. Or, it could go the other way, and corporations will sponsor athletes based on their DNA sequences.
Stacey Berg, author of Dissension

7. And each Olympic event will eventually handle issues of gender differently.
Ada Palmer, Too Like the Lightning

What do you think? Any other suggestions for the future?

[Icewineanne, Moderator]

People always want more but athletes must be able to concentrate on striving to be the best, free of intense media scrutiny, otherwise their performance will suffer.