The Sadist and the Olympics

I'm usually not a big winter Olympics fan, but I have to admit, I've been hooked these past couple days. The USA women's hockey team has been pretty exciting to watch. It's a confidence booster to watch muscular women skate around and kick some ass. It's a shame that women like this can't be role models for young girls, as opposed to waifs like Britney Spears. I've also watched some downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, luge, figure skating, speed skating, and (hold your breath for this one) curling. I only watch figure skating for one reason - the falls. Having ice skated before, I can respect the talent it takes to pull off the moves; however it's much more fun to watch them fall. I think secretly, most people watch figure skating for the falls. So, I guess you could call me a Sadist. :)

Finally, I got great pleasure last night from watching Bode Miller miss the gate in the slalom. He is exactly the opposite of what an Olympic athlete should be. First of all, he admitted to skiing drunk. Anyone that has skied before knows how stupid that is. Once the public became enraged by his comments, he changed his story and said you couldn't ski drunk. Nice save... Then, he started accusing other athletes of doping - Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, and the best one - Jesse Owens. He has acted like a pompous ass in Torino - staying out late drinking and missing inspections in the morning. His cocky attitude is finally being served. He missed a medal opportunity in the downhill and yesterday he D/Q'ed himself from the downhill combined when he split a gate on the first slalom run. How fitting. He does seem a bit humbled by his mistakes. I say, too little, too late.