I used to cross country ski race when I lived in MN. There is a big community of citizen racers (what they call amateurs). I trained year around with a group – we roller skied and ran (bounded) up hills at night on a local golf course. I was in the best shape of my life (duh).
Coincidentally I am in the Methow Valley in WA this week, which is a great area with over 100 miles of groomed trails, and just skied today for the first time in 2 years due to some personal stuff and then an injury last year. It was SO MUCH FUN! And enjoying the town – feel like I am back with my peeps.
“The Olympics are corrupt to the core. My favorite sports, figure skating and gymnastics, are among the worst offenders.”
I love the Olympic Games but I can barely stand to watch any sport that is scored by judging. Even in the rare instances where the judges are not flagrantly corrupt, the scores are still subjective - leaving the athletes with the task of trying to figure out “what the judges are looking for.” at any given moment.
That’s why I get a lot more excited by the various forms of racing - the first three past the post get the medals. That’s it. Straight forward and objective. Of course the racing sports are still corrupted by performance enhancing drugs, but at least athletes usually don’t have to worry so much about their dreams being shattered by biased, dishonest, and incompetent judges.
I don’t know where else to ask this so… I’m watching the Four Continents figure skating competition (or whatever the official name is). Why is it all but Europe? Google isn’t helping me and I need to know!
I love that thing where they race on snowboards (four at a time). Don’t even know what it is called, but it was new one or two Olympics ago.
Also, an American woman (Sophie Caldwell) tied for first today in a Nordic world cup sprint final! They are really hitting on all cylinders – one US woman is ranked 3rd in overall world cup rankings at the moment, one is ranked 7th, and the woman with the gold medal today is ranked 3rd in just the sprint events. They should be strong contenders for individual medals and in the relay.
Steamboat sent off their Olympians today. For the last several Olympics, I’ve known (at least by name) a few of them since my niece and nephew grew up there and did Winter Sports Club. I remember watching some of the kids in local races when they were 5 and 6 years old, doing Skijoring at Winter Carnival, jumping off the lower jumps.
I anticipate considerable arguing over the TV remote in the days to come because my husband and I only have one TV, and he likes to watch curling for reasons he can’t adequately explain.
I actually feel a little guilty when I watch the Olympics because I’m watching young people who have devoted their lives, sometimes starting very early, to intensely pursuing a sport to the exclusion of all else. I would have been appalled if either of my kids had wanted to do such a thing, largely because it leaves you with no obvious future after your competitive days are over. But I still like watching the athletes, particularly the figure skaters.
One of my best-friends-from-college (who I don’t see very often at all even though she lives relatively close by) has a son who is competing in cross-country skiing. The kid’s father and grandfather both were also Olympic cross-country skiers, and his cousin is on the women’s team…
At least the athletes and everyone else can see their judged scores, the other athletes’ performances, and the other athletes’ judged scores, unlike students applying for admission to highly selective holistic admission colleges.
@Marian Hey, last night’s curling was exciting. The US guy was bumped by the Russian guy and wiped out on the ice. (People really don’t fall much in curling) It was totally an accident and no hard feelings, though.
I’d have encouraged my kids in a minute. You can always finish a degree or get a “real job” later. If they’d been athletic enough to Nordic ski or fence in the Olympics (their main sports), I’d have been all in. And it doesn’t necessarily mean giving up college. I know a women’s fencer for the US who went to an Ivy league. She took a year off from college to train for the London games, and her team took home a medal. It was 100% worth it for her. And she was a kid who came to the sport on her own, from a family with out a lot of money – she just loved it and was driven.
We are friends with the family of one of the Nordic skiers this year who has a shot at a medal. We used to go to coffee nights to raise funds, etc. for her. Now she has sponsors and doesn’t need the support any more. She has been working on a college degree remotely, too.
“At least the athletes and everyone else can see their judged scores, the other athletes’ performances, and the other athletes’ judged scores, unlike students applying for admission to highly selective holistic admission colleges.”
Yup, but except for here in CC, college admissions is not a spectator sport. But it does leave us constantly wondering how and to what extent the adcoms award style points or judge degree of difficulty.
