Let The Insanity Continue: More of the XX Olympics!

Oh, did you think one post would cover it? Not a long shot. In fact, had I not been laid so low with the little evil bacteriophage and its friends, there would have been tons of postings going on ad nauseaum! Oh, yes -- much to say on this!

The Olympics is an ongoing source of amazement to me. The diversity, the fitness, the insanity of the participants is just... well... astounding! What kind of nut must one be to dress in a lycra suit, wear an enormous helmet and then run on ice, throw down a little tiny fiberglass sled that barely holds you and zip along at 85+ miles an hour? Head-first on your belly or feet first on your back - take your pick! And the accidents - some day I really WANT to be an EMT at the Olympics! The athletes took some spills that would make any EMT really put his or her training to the test! Not that I wish that on anyone, but if you have to crash into things, let me be one of those who assists you out of it!

So the insanity of the Olympics goes on. There're some new things... skiing across the country and then stopping to shoot a gun... what is that? And curling - I did not see that but enough people have described it to me that I don't feel any particular loss there. But hand over the flaky stuff - ski jumping, pairs skating (that is a sport - ice dancing is not), individual skating, skeleton, luge, bobsledding, and the amazing speed skating. I love to watch the speed skaters. They all start out as though they are taking a stroll in the park... la la la la, laaaaa laaa laaaaaaaaaa... and then as the race progresses, everyone becomes more and more cutthroat and vicious and the pack is all over each other to get in front. The skates themselves are more like weapons - the boot is streamlined and the blade - good gods that blade is 16" - 18" long! The ice skaters have heavier boots but the blades are much more proportionate to the boot.

Of course, the ice skater is a totally different animal than the speed skater. Ice skaters are dancers with modified shoes. Although I found I had little interest in the ice dancing (the music and the sameness of everything was just a yawner) but the pairs skating - yow! Nothing like tossing your partner about, twirling, jumping, spinning and then holding her up by the pubic bone - cringe, cringe - all looks terribly athletic to me! And having seen some of the spills that pairs skaters have taken... that is a sport! Ice dancing... not so much.

Speed skaters are not mistaken for ballerinas with dangerous footwear. The footwear is much more dangerous, yes, but the body types are completely different! Where an ice skater is streamlined and graceful, speed skaters have normal torsos until you reach the hips and buttocks and thighs and then suddenly it is all solid muscle and considerably overdeveloped. The thighs are huge. Their buttocks are very rounded and protruding quite a bit more than the average person. They are rather disproportionate in build - the upper body looks like anyone... but the bottom portion is Arnold Schwarzeneggar on steroids! Staggering.

I've still a week's worth of watching to do (it has all been recorded on the ReplayTV - love that technology!) so don't expect that this will be the last post. This is just the last post for this moment!