The Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver have FINALLY begun. I have been sooo excited for these games to start because, well, I LOVE the Olympics. I don't know what it is about them, but it's 2 solid weeks of non-stop sports. And I love sports. I'm not exactly the most athletic person (well my dad says I have the ability but no desire...which is true. I'd rather organize) but I still have a great love and passion for the world of sports. For those of you who know me, you know that I am a ridiculously big New York Yankees fan and love anything baseball. But I am warming up to other sports. I swam and played water polo in high school and played softball and (very briefly) soccer when I was younger. During the Summer Olympics, I will watch it all. Same with the Winter Olympics. But I have a worry associated with the Winter Olympics.

The Summer Olympics are generally more popular and many people I have spoken to prefer them over Winter. And by the numbers, the Summer Olympics are a bigger event. In Beijing, over 200 countries competed. In Vancouver, only 82 countries are represented, with a good handful of these countries only sending one or two athletes. It's understandable though. Not all countries have access to winter terrain, but everyone can go run on a track or jump in a pool. My worry with the Winter Olympics is that they are so much more dangerous. At least that's what I think. Between the tragic death of the mens luger from Georgia and the numerous crashes I've seen in speed skating and skiing, it's scary. These people have guts. I could never tell myself that "ok I'm going to go down this icy track at 90 mph and get out of it unscathed." No, I'm a scaredy cat, completely. In fact, right now NBC is doing a highlight on how high risk the Winter Olympics are. Nice timing, eh?

Despite my worry, I really can't take my eyes off of it. In the beginning of my fascination with the Olympics, it was strictly figure skating, because that was my mom's favorite. So we would watch that. But now I watch it all. For instance, right now I'm watching women's moguls where American Hannah Kearney just won Gold. I think the American's first gold of the Games. The first of many I hope. Next up is Apollo Ohno in speed skating and well I love him. Of course. haha. In fact, figure skating is the one sport where I only have a mere interest in this year. It's not because we don't have a strong team (it's an ok team) but because everything else seems so exciting to me. I was watching women's hockey this morning. That's right, I watched hockey. What is this world coming to?!

On that note, I think that's what I like most about the Olympics. It's the world. Literally the World Championships. It's the whole world coming together for a bit of friendly (at least it should be) competition. Everyone is invited and no one is discriminated. It's the ultimate networking event (sorry just had to throw in some PR-ness). And someday I will be there, either as a spectator, employee or both. I want to so bad. I am strongly considering going to London 2012. I will try even harder for Sochi 2014 and I will be at Rio de Janeiro 2016. That is what I want to do. The more I think about it, the more that I know that I want to work with the Olympics. Either with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Of course, the USOC is closer to home (it's in Colorado) than the IOC (Switzerland). We'll see. The next few years should be fun.

And I'm done. Happy watching! Go Team USA!!