I love the weird events, like skeleton and biathalon. I love that Torino is playing 70s disco for the Parade of Nations. I love the Canadians and their hats with ear flaps. I love the nations from Africa and the Caribbean that send athletes to winter games, even though they have never seen a flake of snow (which of course means I love the Jamaican Bobsled Team above all others). I love seeing the Alps in all their glory and slavering over places I need to go visit, post haste. I love that it’s more laid-back than the summer games. I love that there are a number of events, like luge, where big wimmins have an advantage. I love the countries that send a grand total of one athlete. I love that North and South Korea are marching under one banner.
And I still remember my mother asking the hairdresser to give me a “Dorothy Hummel” haircut.
Hey! I had one of those haircuts in the seventh grade. Braces, cowl neck and bouncy short hair. Gawd, what a sight.
Don’t forget curling. LOL!! It has to be the only sport where brooms or brushes are central to the game.
Wait…was there no Jamaica? Bermuda was there, but not Jamaica.
Rachel beat me to it. Curling is easily my favorite non-hockey winter Olympics sport.
Curling is the shit, mostly cause Canada always wins. I have an affection for the Winter Olympics, mostly cause Canada’s actually semi-competitive in the Winter.
Canada will clean up in hockey, fuck everyone else.
Hey…
Is Sophia still ultra hot or what!
I think the flake percentage is higher among winter athletes, partly because of the lower total field. Of course, letting the snowboarders in helps a lot with this.
Hooray for obscure sports that few people know anything about!
I love Luge. I’m a Georg Hackl fan from way back — he was told at 16 that he was terminal, and he told his parents that he wanted to run all the great alpine Luge tracks before he got too sick. Turns out, he wasn’t dying, but by the time he found out, he was on his way to being the best in the world. This is, what, his fifth Games?
Zuzu, who is good in women’s luge this year? (Also, in the summer Olympics, the women throwers are all big and many have actual bodyfat. Weightlifting is weightclassed up to the top class, but at the top, having some fat is no detriment.)
I was watching women’s hockey today, and goddamnit I love it!
They’re huge! Like refrigerators! And yet they’re so damned graceful and powerful on the ice. So, so cool. I should have been a hockey fan.
Lauren: There’ still time! Damn, I wish I had cable so I could watch the off-prime time events, like women’s hockey.
I was so being made fun of yesterday for cooing over the opening ceremonies, I’m such a dork, but I can’t help it… so much fire, so much pomp, ooh the ancient art of the color guard, Eva Herzegova as “The Birth of Venus,” the IOC chair saying things to the athletes like “Show us the world we all long for,” so crazy and pagan.
I confess, I don’t know. I usually don’t follow it until the Olympics actually happen. But there’s always Grandma Luge. She’s 52! She’s from the Virgin Islands! She’s got no chance of winning, but she’s happy to be there!
I watched a little of it yesterday (being somewhat distracted by the kitten and a cardboard box), and during the ice-dancing event one of the Chinese women had pants and black skates, just like her partner. Seems they’ve just changed the rules to allow female figure skaters to wear pants.
Yup. The pants are new this year.
Grandma Luge Abernethy is out due to a wrist fracture sustained in a crash. She will be missed.