Olympic Review

So let's take a break from the Dawkins (like I am) to talk some Olympics (reason for break). These are mostly random thoughts I'm not gonna hit everything just stuff I feel like talking about.

First of all I have to pay my respects: rest in peace Nodar Kumaritashvili. It's really a sad story of such a freak accident.

Even with that overshadowing the whole event the luge was still awsome as always. Extremely exciting and fast. Felix Loch just owned the field the entire time. It was interesting that even though the track changes slowed down the speeds, they actually made the starts much more technical. The women had it the worst with the turn right at the beginning, so basically no chance to pull forward before they had to tuck down.


I've been watching curling for the first time. US men's and women's are awful. The men is just painful to watch, and not because their technique is bad. More because it's pretty good. They set up their ends so well and finish so terribly wrong. Imagine a football team that is up 27 to nothing at the half and manages to lose... three times in a row. Yeah that bad.

As expected, Olympic hockey has been nothing short of amazing. First two days went off without a hitch really. Canada dominates NHL-less Norway. Russia creams Latvia. All the favorites win as expected. But day 3, oh how the mighty stumble! Who would have thought Canada's arch nemesis would be.. Switzerland??? The Swiss still have Canada's number after embarrassing them in Torino. And even this time around, with so many precautions taken to make an incredibly solid Canadian team, the Swiss force overtime in a 2-2 game. Unbelievable, what drama! Jonas Hiller stands on his head, making unbelievable saves all over the place. And the Swiss stick to their hard hitting intensity that they showed against the US two days earlier. And suddenly the entire country of Canada is holding their breath. To see an entire country with fear in its eye, thinking "oh no they're going to do it again." But Sid the kid comes through in the shootout and Canada squeaks by the big bad chocolaty cheesy Swiss!

Then later that night, after most people's bed times, Russia, the other favorite for gold, takes on the marginal yet quite talented Slovakian team. Honestly I've thought the Slovakian team has been underrated and the Russian team way overrated, and maybe this game revealed that. Everyone is too excited about Ovechkin and Malkin and Datsyuk and Kovalchuk. But even I wouldn't have predicted that the Slovaks would have kept the Russians to a single goal! That seems ridiculous considering the insane firepower on that Russian team from every angle. But Zdeno "larger than life" Chara, Marion "mystical sniper powers" Gaborik and Marion "I'm good at defense too" Hossa, managed to do just that. And then the unthinkable happened, the Slovaks win in the shootout! Down go the Russians!

Two amazing games in one day, sent all the way to shootout with high drama! Too good to be true, Olympic hockey is great.

One last thing. Figure Skating is bad ass. I said it. So far it has been killer too. The pairs were phenomenal, and the men's singles just downright insane. Lysacek earned that medal for sure, even though Plashenko's quads are filthy. Really even though it's already popular, I think this sport should get more respect for its badassery. Unfortunately I think a lot of people, guys especially, are turned off by the culture, by Johnny Weir's androgynousness, and by the fruity outfits. But really I feel all these things are really irrelavent to the power and beauty of the sport. Just the insanity of the jumps and moves that they do, the speed and technicality of their footwork. The power of their performances. The whole thing is just physically impressive. All the rest is kind of Ad Hominem.

Anyway, I'm gonna keep watching these winter Olympics, because they are fucking awsome, and you should too. Speed, power and grace for the win.