Olympic Post #1

posted by BH

After one official day of Olympic competition, I can confidently say these things. Speed skaters and cross-country skiiers are uber-studs, the luge is awesome, and Bob Costas and judges annoy the hell out of me.

On Friday night I switched back and forth several times between the opening ceremonies and the series finale of Arrested Development (one side note here- AD had to face Monday Night Football all season, almost ensuring it's fate. So FOX puts it up against the biggest Olympic viewership for the series finale? Brilliant). Throughout the ceremony, Costas wouldn't shut up. He kept telling us what this meant or who that was, meanwhile, any efforts Turin officials had made to achieve an inspiartional ceremony were screwed up by a guy who really likes to hear himself talk.

Seriously, judging sucks. I heard a commentator say during the women's freestyle that one skier, despite having a great run, probably wouldn't get a high score because she had gone early in the finals. This is really wrong. I know the deal. You want to build drama, and you think the later skiers are going to be better anyway. It's the same in figure skating. If a skier has a perfect run, it shouldn't matter when it takes place. Any event that relies at all on subjective human interpretation is fundamentally flawed.

And in the spirit of things that are fundamentally flawed, I can't think of a sport I dislike more than figure skating. It's like the lady you see at all the big parties. She wears to much perfume, makeup, and jewelry; no one knows who invites her to these things, but she keeps showing up and making herself the show. "OH MY GOD!! THEY JUST COMPLETED THE FIRST QUAD AXLE IN COMPETITION!!" Yay. I'm more excited about cleaning the dog crap in my yard before I have to mow the lawn. This year, following the mess at the 2002 games, the scoring system has been revamped and become far more complicated. When a competition moves beyond a point at which I can figure out who won right after it's over, I lose interest. Sorry, I don't think sporting events should have to be decided by NASA mathematicians.

I'm glad NBC gave us some coverage of the men's downhill practice runs on Friday and Saturday, though it was limited to Americans. I still want to see Herman Maier go at it and the sentimental part of me wants him to be a factor.