Now that the Olympics have started, Americans can put on display the thing they do better than anyone else in the world. Whining.<\/p>\n
I love a good chance to complain as much as the next guy, maybe even more, but we really ramp it up as a nation when the Olympics roll around.<\/p>\n
It seems as if we have to make fun of a sport or complain about its foreign nature if we’re not good at it. Where’s the American spirit in that?<\/p>\n
Instead of having our comedians crack jokes about biathlon, which makes perfect sense, why don’t we suit the Vice President up for competition?<\/p>\n
That was a low blow, I know, but someone had to do it.<\/p>\n
But seriously, what about cross-country skiing and shooting offends Americans so much? Probably the losing more than anything. And that\u2019s what bothers me the most.<\/p>\n
I admit it: I am an Olympics geek. I have piles of video tapes in the basement that I have never looked at from past Olympics. I love this kind of stuff.<\/p>\n
So why do American sports commentators have to do everything they can to convince people the Olympics are a waste of time.<\/p>\n
Sure, some of these sports don\u2019t seem too logical and the fact that a bunch of them are decided by judges takes some of the fun out of it.<\/p>\n
But if you can\u2019t get excited by the possibility of someone falling after jumping off a huge mountain, you don\u2019t have a pulse.<\/p>\n
And when you have a choice of riding down an icy track on your stomach, on your back or jammed in a sled with one or three other people, that\u2019s a recipe for entertainment.<\/p>\n
Still, Neanderthals who can\u2019t look beyond major pro sports have to fill sports talk radio with talk of how the Olympics aren\u2019t interesting because Bode Miller didn\u2019t win a gold medal.<\/p>\n
Um, dude. Another American did. That\u2019s interesting to me.<\/p>\n
None of this keeps me from having my own issues with the Olympics. Like many people, I absolutely detest the television coverage. Well, except for the extensive coverage of curling, especially the cute American team. The women\u2019s team, that is.<\/p>\n
Is it that difficult for NBC to tell us exactly when certain things will air? I mean, \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d and possibly a few other shows are kicking the Olympics\u2019 butt in the ratings, so you would think NBC might let us know when we can watch the things we find interesting.<\/p>\n
With all apologies to fans of figure skating, I don\u2019t need to sit through that while I wait to see snowboarders knock each other down the mountain in snowboard cross, one of my new favorite sports.<\/p>\n
Save the \u201csnowboarders can\u2019t pass a drug test\u201d jokes because they\u2019re the ones bringing home all the gold medals.<\/p>\n
Except for the sports commentators stuck back here in the U.S. They\u2019re standing on the top of the podium for the whining competition.<\/p>\n
I wish we would focus more on the biathlon instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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