Olympic Fever?!?

Is anyone else "suffering" from an acute case of Olympic Fever?!?

What is it about the Olympics that makes us suddenly interested in every sport--yes, even curling! These sports that they come up with are just so odd. I find that I often have to go to one of the hundreds of Olympics websites just to figure out what they're doing. Curling is, I must admit, one of the oddest sports in the Olympics. It seems to be an awful lot like shuffleboard on ice. One of the more ridiclous parts of the sport (in my opinion!) is that that for some reason there are FIVE people on the team. I've seen three in action and the other two seem to just be hanging out by the "bulls eye". We seem to see a lot of curling here in Denmark as the only Danish Olympians this year is a women's curling team. So, with any luck, by the end of the 2006 Olympics I may have half a clue about what they are doing out there.

There also seems to be an alarming number of ways that you can speed along an ice chute. The bobsled, of course, which can be done in pairs or in big groups. And then the luge, which I believe is a pairs or individual sport... this time done on a rather rickety looking sled with absolutely nothing but spandex protecting it's passengers. Finally, there is the most ridiculously dangerous version of the sport, the skeleton, where the individuals are sprinting along face first with only spandex to protect them on a very heavy sled that they can't even steer. Does this make sense!?!? I just found out that this sport wasn't even allowed in the Olympics until 2002 because (DUH!!) it was considered too dangerous.

One thing that the Olympics never falls short on is pain and suffering. Of course, we all seem to have an absurd fascination with the blooper moments of the Olympics. One of the greatest "blooper" moments I've witnesses thus far was the spill taken by Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao during the long program. The pair was forced to take a five-minute pause after Zhang Hao crashed heavily in the splits position after a failed throw quadruple salchow. Yes, we all saw it several times. How in the world that woman got up and completed the program nearly flawlessly is a mystery to me. This is the type of thing that we seem to see time and time again in the Olympics though. The amazing mind over matter compulsion to compete against all odds and overcome all kinds of tragedy to succeed. Somehow (and I really don't understand this) the pair ended up with the silver, so I guess it paid off.

There are lots of these victorious moments. I find that it really doesn't matter to me who wins and loses. I still find myself tearing up at their tears, sobbing to their national anthems, and going wild with delight and awe at broken records and fantastic feats. I guess it really is one of the very few times when it seems that we are a united world. Not in a hokey or weird way, but just in a really nice way. Regardless of how bizarre those opening and closing ceremonies get with their odd mascots and crazy "artistic" displays, we'll always have the raw emotion of sport in the middle. In a way it always makes me feel sad that I never embraced a sport of my own, but in a few weeks, when the Olympics are over, that feeling will pass... until next time.