Guts, Glory, and Gold

So the Winter Olympics have come and gone... and I must say that I was very surprised at how much of them I actually watched this time around. Maybe it's the fact that I am getting older (and wiser)... but gone are the days of watching the winter games solely for the figure skating. But like I said before, I am older (and still wiser), and when watching the games I noticed just how much the Winter Olympics differ from the summer games, and I don't just mean the snow.

The Winter games are one big party! The summer games have always been the big money makers. There is almost always more stress put on the athletes to perform to higher expectations. Can you imagine what would have happened if Phelps hadn't performed the way that he had? Or how about the toddlers China was parading around under the guise of "Gymnasts"? The world takes the Summer games more seriously. But I really took joy out of watching the athletes in Vancouver have FUN. Of course they were there to compete, to win the gold, to prove they were the best. But they were having a good time doing it.

With that being said, I do feel that the host city plays a crucial role in the atmosphere of the games. The 2004 games in Athens seemed like a back yard barbecue compared to the Beijing games. And I have a feeling that Vancouver is going to look like a college keg party compared to the games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

Also, comparing the winter sports to the summer sports is like comparing driving a Ferrari to driving a golf cart. The Winter sports make the summer sports look like sissies. The danger factor is amped WAY up in the winter games. Snowboarding, slalom racing, skeleton, luge, short track speed skating. For example, racers in skeleton and luge were reaching speeds of 90 miles per hour. I am not even sure that my '94 Honda will go that fast...

American speed skater JR Celski received 60 stitches after he crashed at Nationals and cut his leg with his own skate. But that is nothing in comparison to the death of 21 year old Georgian Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili. Who died after he slammed into a steel pole during a practice run.

The Winter games have been in a slump over the last decade, but the Vancouver games put them back on the map. And though not all sports at the Olympics (both summer and winter) are death defying ratings grabbers... table tennis (more commonly referred to as "ping pong")or curling for example... they still grab the attention of the world.

Click here for a complete list of Olympic Sports.