Olympics 2018 Part 1

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  The traditional post of kids' Valentine boxes is coming but I will wait until they get home from school to see their haul and post about it later this week...or next week...or whenever...The Olympics are on after all so I've got some stuff going on. By stuff I mean I have to watch TV while following athletes and news channels on social media.  I am currently watching the luge where two people ride at once and remembering back in 2006 when the disgraced Matt Lauer and Al Roker went down the luge track together and screamed like little children and then people made a bunch of jokes about the movie Brokeback Mountain.  Hehehe I was in law school then and in peak Internet immersion mode and that was a fun time full of mirth and hilarity.

Anyway, the Olympics have not been going for a week yet but I already have some items to discuss.  Might as well do it before I forget.  First up-

I love seeing my first name anytime it appears because it is quite rare in the USA. It is popular in Norway so it's not really a surprise to see an athlete with the name.  Such as this champion ski jumper.  I love to ski and have covered some extreme terrain in the Rockies but ski jumping just makes me light headed.  Can you imagine doing that?  I have been at the top a Norwegian ski jump as a tourist in the summer and it is high.  It is very very high.  I'm glad to watch other crazy people do this.  Women were only allowed to compete in ski jump at the Olympics starting in 2010.  Way to go, ladies.  

Figure skating is always a favorite event.  A new development this year is the skaters can skate to music with lyrics.  I felt like the routines were a bit more modern when I first started watching but I couldn't really place why.  When I heard the news about the music I knew that was it.  I like the change.  You can only hear music from "Swan Lake" and other ballets so many times.  My favorite performance I have seen is the ice dancing routine by the Shibutani siblings of the USA.  

I usually get kind of bored with ice dancing because it lacks the thrilling jumps and spins but these two danced to "Paradise" by Coldplay and the medley they used also had excerpts from "Fix You" also by Coldplay and it was quite moving.  I had to go plug my phone into my computer and put some Coldplay songs back on it to listen to when I am driving.  

The Shibutanis are 26 and 23 and have been skating and dancing together since Maia, the younger of the two, was a toddler.  Meanwhile, my little brother/sister pair fight over who gets to sit by the faucet in the bathtub and who gets to use the freebie cup we got at Zorbaz this summer at meals.  

The big story so far, or at least the story NBC wants to be big, is the snowboarder Chloe Kim.  She is 17 and won a gold medal in the half pipe a few days ago/yesterday/I have no idea what day it is in South Korea.  She is very likeable and awesome at the half pipe, has immigrant parents, and you can't help but be happy for her.   

What annoyed me is during the finals there were apparently twelve women competing and NBC only showed five or six-the three Americans and a few other fillers who were getting top scores.  Which is fine if there are time constraints but they spent ALOT of time showing footage of Chloe just walking around and talking about stuff she wrote on Twitter.  Come on SHOW THE SPORTS!  

I would like to see more attention on this lady-Kelly Clark. She won the Bronze medal in the half pipe at the ancient for the Olympics age of 34.  Same age as me.  I tried to find a picture of her but every picture I searched for with her name and Olympics 2018 also had Chloe Kim in it.  Seriously.  I feel you girl-once you turn thirty it's a different world.  Have a kid and it's over.  This year I am realizing that the next time I see the Winter Olympics I will be older than all the athletes.  Ugh.  

This is an old picture of her from Sochi because that's all I could find.  What the hell?  I really wish the media would focus on a wider variety of athletes.  On the Today show there was about ten athletes from various disciplines hanging out at the set and Hoda and Savannah had to ask who they all were.  They were like "Uhh...I think we have a hockey player here?"  Kind of embarrassing.  

The other huge story-the wind and cold.  Apparently, after several winter Olympics where it was fifty degrees and cross country skiers were wearing sleeveless shirts (Sochi) and where the cherry and apple blossoms were blooming (Vancouver) actual winter is too much to bear for everyone.  I guess when you train in the mountains of California like most of the skiers and snowboarders it is hard to adjust to real winter.  I haven't even seen any real skiing besides moguls because they keep cancelling it because of the wind and cold.  

I am not impressed because I see a scene like this about 50 percent of the time I walk Ben to the bus stop in the morning.  Be tough, athletes!  Show your strength!