Olympic Wrap Up

As February comes to a close, so do the Olympics. I can't help but take a nostalgic look back on what has transpired out in Vancouver

I must say it's been amazing watching world class athletes 24/7/2 (that's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 2 weeks). I must say I love the new "extreme" nature of the games these days. Say what you want about whether or not they are "real sports," but the world is a much better place with Shaun White's Double McTwist 1260 and Speedy Peterson's Hurricane.

USA Hockey took me on a wild ride of hopes and expectations. I got my fill of Nordic Combined to last me another 4 years. The Night Train (choo choo!) came through in the clutch, and speedskating never offered a dull moment.

My quest to be the most graceful person on the planet was shattered in a in a matter of minutes, as Kim Yu Na raised the standard beyond mortal reach.

And curling...ah, curling...I will say I have missed it in the last four years. I'm gonna put it out there right now - I will curl before the Sochi games, come hell or frozen water with colored rings. People will think there is a concert going on in my living room, because I will put the rock in the house like nobody's business. Alright, enough bad curling puns. I think I hammered that one home enough. Ok, seriously, now I'm done.

The thing about the Olympics is that normal people in average physical condition are confronted with athletes in peak physical condition achieving goals set years ago and trained for with countless hours of intense physical labor. The reactions tend to be two-fold:
1) This makes me feel so lazy.
2) This inspires me to go work out.

People who I talk to who say #1 are invariably sitting on a couch. And eating something. Whatever level of laziness they are at in their lives, I'm gonna go ahead and guess they were pretty much that level before February 12th, and they're gonna stay that way now that NBC goes back to being a 4th place network.

People who say #2 - I admire your outlook. But I also have news for you - there's a family of networks called ESPN. Between ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, and ESPNClassic, you can find people who are super athletic and inspire to work out all the time! So don't lose the drive now!

As I walked by a TV tonight and saw the closing ceremonies, so many questions ran through my head. But I think two questions are on every one's minds.
1) What will Scott Hamilton do for the next 4 years?
2) How awesome would it be to see him during everyday activities? I mean picture him at, like, an ice cream store. "Here it comes...the triple scoop of vanilla...into the WAFFLE CONE! Oh, what grace, and he's adding NUTS! I am just SO thrilled to have been a part of this Ice Cream experience today! The Sundae is COMPLETE!" He brings so much energy to ice skating commentary, why wouldn't he bring it to ice cream commentary too?

Fare thee well, winter Olympic athletes. It's been a pleasure. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.