Winter Olympics 2010

Well, it's time for Olympic action once more! This year the Winter Olympics are in Vancouver, and we were treated to a very unique, creative, but somewhat mediocre opening ceremony before the torch was lit by the greatest hockey player who ever lived, Wayne Gretzky. Unfortunately, there was a slight (okay, not so slight) mistake. Apparently, something malfunctioned and one of the big columns that was supposed to rise, well. . . didn't rise.

Prior to this, the head of the International Olympic Committee gave a speech grieving the tragic loss of 21 year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian luger whose Olympic dream was cut short when he flew off the Olympic luge track at 90 miles per hour and into a metal pole. Georgia was greeted by a standing ovation as they walked into the stadium, and there was a moment of silence during the ceremony. Surprisingly, this is the fourth person to be killed in a Winter Olympics.

Despite this horrific occurrence, the Vancouver Olympics went on as normally as possible, and as of last night the USA had 4 medals - 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze - giving us the most medals so far in the 2010 Olympics. The speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno won the silver, thanks to two Koreans who wrecked on the final lap (If they hadn't crashed, Korea would've gotten the gold, silver, AND bronze!) Our only gold was won by Hannah Kearney, a mogul skier.

There's a wonderful, vicarious thrill watching skiers hang suspended five stories above the snow, do an insane trick and land without breaking their back, or simply glide down the mountain at 80 miles per hour. There's nothing like it, is there?


Undoubtedly, the reason for our wonderment is the daring, recklessness, and seeming disregard of danger that is required to jump off a huge ramp while going faster than a car on a highway, or hurl yourself onto a downhill sheet of ice while lying defenseless on a tiny, aerodynamic sled.

The people who knowingly, willingly do these crazy things are not like us. They are different. They appear to have an indifference to injury - or even death.

Without these people, who flirt with death on a regular basis, who by rights shouldn't even be living, we would not have the Winter Olympics. Thank God for all those crazy people, and GO USA!