The Olympics- Snowboarding and My Age

I enjoy watching The Olympics. That is how I think of them as being The Olympics, capital T, capital O shiny and bold.

I'll watch virtually any Olympic sport for at least a few minutes. I don't care what it is, it could be the most ridiculous event ever (no I am not going to make some gratuitous cleveland bashing comment, so Ezzie and The Shmata Queen can just relax).

After all it is The Olympics so it means that it is time to set aside preconceived notions of what the world is like and join in the brotherhood of mankind. Or if nothing else it is time to watch some of these competitions and wonder who made up half these games and what can I do to get a piece of the action.

Speaking of action I had a good time watching the Snowboarders. That just looks like a hell of a lot of fun and certainly it is something that I would love to do. One of the things that I love about living in LA is that we are only a couple of hours away from the mountains so it is not out of the question to do a daytrip. I have friends who spend their weekends skiing/snowboarding around Big Bear/Arrowhead and or Mammoth.

Sooner or later I'll join them, but before I do I have to figure a few things out. Primary on that list is translating snowboard lingo into something that makes sense.

I listened to a few of the interviews and found myself wondering what the hell they were saying. The interviews were conducted in English but some of the terms sounded like Greek to me.

I shudder to admit this because it just makes me sound like an an old man, but the rules of the blog are the rules of the blog.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I am all over the snowboard events. Did you know Shaun White has a similar heart defect as my Anth does? Very interesting. That's why he wears the mask incidentally...can't breathe in cold air. But I digress...I am not sure I could DO it..having both feet restricted makes me about as squiggy as a non-stop flight to Heathrow. But boy, I love to watch it man! I had caught the X Games this year...and I was so impressed with mahself since I knew all the major riders at the O's...awesome stuff that half pipe.

Unknown said...

Maybe this could help ya dude...don't be such a hoedad!

http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/snowboardinglanguage.asp

Stacey said...

Z, how interesting about Shaun White and his heart! I loved watching him yesterday. I felt so bad with his initial performance!! But he came back strong and got the gold! I am SO proud he is one of ours!!!

BarbaraFromCalifornia said...

Well, if you watched curling for more than a few minutes, I might wonder!

Chaim said...

I havent been excited about the olympics in quite a long time. BUT the winter ones are way cooler (no pun intended) than the summer ones. The snow events are all very cool. Jack - did you attend anything at the 84 summer games in your hometown?

Unknown said...

I think I am a luger at heart, as opposed to a loogey-er.

MC Aryeh said...

Another vote for the luge. Coolest thing ever...

Fatma said...

I listened to the audio, I think I understood what its about!
About the olympics, am I getting the wrong impression or are the judges for ice skating not being fair to the participants? I know the Russians are good but nobody else seems to be winning apart them! I watched the Luthianians and the French, they were breathtakingly good! Its just not fair!
I haven't watched the snowboards, sounds like fun, be getting a rerun on saturday so...
This morning after greeting the listners and wishing a Happy Valentine's Day, the Radio news reporter started the news by stating the number of cases of divorves recorded for the year 2005: 1500 for a million person living Island! I thought it was hilarious!
Fitèna

Jack Steiner said...

Hi Z,

It is pretty cool stuff. I suspect that this is similar to other ventures, you can't think about it. You just have to do it. P.S. thanks for the link.

Staceleh,

He is pretty special, or so the commentators tell us.
Barbara,

You never know what is going to catch your eye.

Chaim,

In '84 I was gone for most of the summer so I missed a lot of the games. I wandered through the Olympic villages and saw many things. My high school was used for practice by the track team and at one point the basketball team.

I did attend the games in Atlanta. It was very cool.

GT,

I trust you. ;) Skeleton looks more inviting to me too.

Z,

Remind me not to stand downwind. ;)

MC,

Duly noted.

Fitèna,

I haven't really watched much of the figure skating so I cannot comment, but I understand that the Russians are always strong in this.

Unknown said...

Most people avoid it on principal ;)

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