-Bob Costas has been the same age for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, he looked 40, Now that I am 25, he is still 40. Further, Bob is probably the most beloved person in the country. If you don't like him, you're most likely un-American. He is incredibly knowledgeable (or at least convincingly so) about every existing sport, nay, every topic.
-News-flash: Athletes are generally good-looking people and have great bodies (with the exception of bob-sledders). Who would have thought that people who work out for a living would be hot??
-Although the Cold War has been over for 2 decades, I think Americans still have some serious angst for the Russians. Any chance we have to beat them, is considered a particularly sweet victory. Even more importantly, we'll seize any chance we have to openly criticize them, especially for wearing ridiculous ice skating costumes, or not abiding by the rules.
-I realize that I am an extra sentimental person, but the Olympics serve me as yet another opportunity to get emotional. I'm proud to say I only got teary-eyed a handful of times while listening to the "Star-Spangled Banner" and watching various human-interest pieces and athlete bios.
-Maybe the reason we love the Winter Olympics so much is because we'd like to think we could excel in some of these more obscure sports if only we applied ourselves...
-I knew very little about Canada; apparently it is the second geographically largest country in the world and Queen Elizabeth is the head of state. Thanks NBC and Wikipedia.
-According to my brother, Matt, Ice-Dancing gold medalist Scott Moir looks just like Justin from the Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place."
-Great Britain's national anthem, "God Save the Queen," is the same tune as "My Country Tis of Thee"?!!
-Shout out to the 801 for being home to SO MANY Olympic Athletes. Apparently Salt Lake is a great place to train. Greatest snow on earth, elevation, Olympic venues, mountains...
-Thanks to Mrs. Miller's 6th grade world social studies class, I know that the Greeks invented the Olympics back in 700 BC, however I now have some serious suspicions that the American government has been feeding the IOC millions of dollars to keep the Games going. Why would I suspect such a thing? The Olympics serve as yet another reason for the US to arrogantly show the world how much better we are than everyone else by keeping close tallies on medal counts.
-Shaun White's hair is glorious and so is he.
-Sad that the US didn't win a medal in women's figure skating, especially given my personal rich history with the sport. In the fifth grade, I was Nancy Kerrigan for Halloween and my best friend was Tonya Harding. Enough said.
-Even though we go four years without caring one iota about such sports as curling, ice-dancing, and skeleton, for 2 short weeks, we are transformed into experts, allowed to criticize athletes for the slightest mishap; all while sitting lazily on our couches.
-As for the ski divas: Lindsey Vonn wears too much make-up, and Julia Mancuso is way cooler anyways because she dated Steven Nyman.
-Viewers are incredibly flighty and are just as fleeting as the Olympic coverage shown on TV. One week we are in love with mogul skiers and the next, we worship a new 16-year-old figure skating darling. The media absolutely controls our obsessions with these athletes!
-I wonder at what age I will stop fantasizing about winning a gold medal. I can't count how many times I have role-played standing on the podium, nor through how many sports I've dreamt about accomplishing this feat. I still have hope for 2014...
In summation: America IS the best, and I LOVED watching the Olympics. Despite my cynicism, I cannot wait for the Summer Games in 2 years.
i must say that i also didn't know that my country tis of thee and god save the queen are the same melody. What copycats we are- and it seems kind of rude! Lindsay Vonn does wear too much makeup and I saw her in a bikini from her SI shoots one too many times while watching the Olympics. I actually think Bob Costas is kind of boring! The announcers actually at the events are way more interesting...unamerican??
ReplyDeleteI'll have you know that I criticized the athletes while riding my bike trainer in front of the TV. :) Also, we really got into cross country skiing yesterday, as it was the only sport left. Fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteWho was Tonya Harding? And yes, its good you don't have a tv. I am witness that you could spend hours and hours of drowning away watching MTV and who knows what! haha. Bringing back Nielson tv room memories.
ReplyDeleterob at first i thought you were implying that you didn't know who she was at all! sarah chirillo (my non-member friend from elementary school who emma was always jealous of before she moved to chicago).
ReplyDeleteShort track speed skating is a joke of a sport. And one of the Canadian skaters looked exactly how Bret from Flight of The Conchords would look if he competed; i.e. - not athletic.
ReplyDeleteYour third-to-the-last paragraph expresses my sentiments. During the Summer Olympics, I can at least switch to the local Mexican TV stations and see a few more athletes and venues. The winter version seems to feature mostly well-to-do athletes from elite countries doing things that the rest of the world is indifferent about. I spoke with several people in India over these past two weeks. They didn't seem to care at all about the winter edition.
ReplyDeleteyou're going to post pictures of your Nancy Kerrigan costume, right? RIGHT? Because something that golden must be shared. Also, if you have video of yourself pretending to have a podium experience, that should be posted, too.
ReplyDeleteThat's all.