Can't Talk. Watching the Olympics

I swear, if I hear one more ignorant buffoon mocking biathlon because they don't know anything about it, I'm going to strap on my skis, find a gun, and make my way to them for a little educatin'. Of course, at the rate at which I cross-country ski and the time it will take to find a friend with a gun who is willing to lend it to me, that ignorant buffoon will have plenty of time to live a long happy life. *

Biathlon is a sport rooted in history, both Olympic (the Winter Olympics needed traction and they needed nordic and northern European countries to get traction at the beginning; sports like Biathlon suckered those nations in) and traditional World History. Like the Marathon, it has its roots in war - in this case a medieval Norwegian civil one - and was a valuable life-preserving country-preserving skill.

It requires skills and patience and focus and athletic ability and accuracy, and I have watched as much of it as I can find. Even curling comes in second (mostly because there's a lot more curling on TV, not that I'm complaining. I'm picking the Swedish women and the Canadian men to win the whole shebang. I will note that the Chinese women are formidable, and the UK men are remarkable.)

Speaking of curling, it is outrageous that the nearest curling clubs are 2+ hours away.

*Note: I wouldn't actually shoot them. I'd probably end up using the gun as part of a tripod seat while I lectured them until they cried uncle and admited that biathon is awesome. Or maybe as a pointer. Or a demonstration tool.

Top Five Winter Olympic Sports

1. Curling
   The greatest of the winter sports, the one that makes you think that you, chock full of cheetos and hot chocolate, having skipped going to the gym for well over a month now, could totally do that with a few lessons and some killer concentration. It's strategy and strength, teamwork and grace, precision and fun.
2. Biathlon
   You ski, you shoot, you ski, you shoot. These are skills that could come in handy -- and did for the Norwegian resistance during WWII. I like the combination of speed and aim -- all done on skiis. It's not a glamor sport, which adds to the appeal.
3. Nordic Combined
   Two great tastes in one sport! You jump and then you ski across the countryside. The skills that make you a great jumper don't necessarily make you a great cross-country skier. They should add a downhill stretch for extra awesome.
4. Speed Skating
   The most graceful of the winter sports and the prettiest to watch, speed skating - with it's endurance qualities, long track, and drafting strategies is completely appealing.
5. Freestle Skiing/Moguls
   All the fun of downhill skiing, but with humps and bumps and twists and turns. This is just a thousand pounds of fun in a snowsuit.

Settling In For the Long Haul

We are at the beginning of a golden season on television. It was kicked off with a Saints win in the Super Bowl (as I predicted in August, she said smugly), and stretches all the way until April. Between 31 Days of Oscar on TCM, the Olympics (which I still love, even though I have to use my mute button with great frequency and pine for Canadian coverage which is by all accounts, deeper, wider, and much less annoying) and most especially constant curling coverage, and March Madness, it is a time of great happiness.

Even if my Cavs (the men; I think the women's team will be definitely in for the Big Dance) don't make it into the NCAA Tournament, they're lifting the spirits of the region with their plucky underdog always-getting-better play. They've already shattered my expectations for the season and done us proud. It's fabulous seeing guys buying into the new system and getting rewarded for hard work, defense, and improving.

On Why I'm Staying Inside Today

Archives