Friday, February 24, 2006

Congratulations Japan:

I watched the figure skating competition last night for the Winter Olympics. It was a very very good competition. Shizuka Arakawa did great!!! I was happy to see Japan got their first gold medal in figure skating. Also the first medal of this Olympics!! I think the country must be proud of her.
Here in the United States figure skating is a very very popular sport. Also very competitive. So it was very big news in the United States also. Sometimes I really think the Americans take the Olympics too seriously. I mean I watch our speed skating team and they were not even a team. There were members acting like spoiled little kids. Its almost embarrassing sometimes as an American. So I kind of wish the United States would have a little more fun and not act like winning a gold medal is the most important thing in the world. The media drives me crazy. This morning on the news they interview the American figure skater who took a silver medal behind Shizuka Arakawa. They asked her “what happened” and “are you disappointed about sivler”. I though those were the stupidest questions. People should be happy just to be a part of the Olympics. But our media and corporate sponsors have put so much importance on winning that it is sometimes no fun to watch. Don’t get me wrong. I cheer for the United States. But I love to watch the underdog win. Still, Arakawa wasn’t an underdog in my opinion. She is a solid technical skater with beautiful form!! Congratulations!!!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Winter Olympics:

I have been watching the Olympics on TV everynight. I think the Winter Olympics are my favorite and I like them better than the summer. I think its because the Winter Olympics involve more extreme sports. I have seen some of the athletes I worked with in the 2002 Olympics. So far the Japanese snowboarders have been disappointing. I expected more from them. They were fairly strong in the 2002 games. But the games just started so let's see what happens in the coming days.
Turin is putting on some great games. Some of the people I worked with in Salt Lake went to Turin to work those games also. I think it would be cool to go there and work those games as well. But I don't see a lot of snow. I think the snow there isn't very good. Actually I think it sucks!! But that's the only downfall of the games in Turin so far. Here in Utah the ski season is awesome!! Tons of good snow. But thanks to the Olympics 4 years ago the prices have gone up. Its getting expensive to go skiing. When I was younger I used to go almost every week. But its too expensive now. Maybe I am just getting older. But now I am just looking forward to tennis. So I wish the weather would warm up soon!!!