Another problem with the Olympics

Aside from the arguably more important problems with the Olympics that concern matters political and commercial, something I've noticed recently is that one of the reasons I don't join Jeannette for more Olympics viewing is that too many of the sports are just excruciatingly boring to watch (and the worst part is that they tend to show the boring bits and not the potentially exciting bits).

Now that I've taken time to think the matter over I've realized that watching top athlete after top athlete complete the same course makes for uninspiring viewing.  Unfortunately for the Winter Olympics, this seems to characterize most of the sports (hockey, curling, cross-country skiing [and derivatives], and snowboard cross being the main outliers). There's no drama.  And, most importantly, there's no real competition.

What's worse, is that not only do they insist on showing boring downhill run after boring downhill run, but they tend to focus on the final runs rather than the qualifiers.

This approach is problematic for at least two reasons.  Firstly, the efforts  of hundreds or thousands of Olympians go uncovered.  Secondly, and more importantly, by focusing only on the best athletes inexperienced viewers aren't shown the full range of athletic talent at the Olympics.  The fact that the best skiers routinely land their jumps would be even more impressive if we were shown the world's 30th-60th best competitors in the sport failing.  Furthermore, for those sports where style points are in play (and lets not even get into the issue of the overall classification of these events as sports) the distinction between the first and second best skiers in the world is often almost impossible to spot, while almost anyone should be able to spot the differences between the first and sixtieth skiers.

So it seems that not only have the Olympics given us many reasons not to watch for moral and political reasons, it's also the case that they just don't put on all that great a show.

Oh, and I also really don't like watching teenagers and young adults risking serious life-long injuries or death just to entertain me on a grey winter's afternoon.

Cameron - 15
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 609

-Today I walked outside and immediately wondered if I even needed a coat. Once I started the car I realized that it was still -16.5, but it was about 10 degrees warmer than the previous morning and certainly enough to feel the difference.

-Apparently today was budget day.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that CBC did push back, or at least appeared to, push back Olympics coverage to do some budget coverage.

-I think we may need to head to the grocery store tomorrow after work.

-Over the course of the past few weeks I've been trying to sell Jeannette on the effectiveness of Shirley Temple's performances in her many childhood movie appearances.  I think I finally convinced Jeannette that Shirley's movies are still entertaining.

So it definitely felt a little weird when this morning Jeannette emailed me to let me know that Shirley Temple had just died.  Definite bummer.

Cameron - 12
Neil - 0

Apparently I'm the only one here who doesn't like figure skating

Just like yesterday, Jeannette has been watching the Sochi Olympics today.  And just like yesterday the cats have been spending more time watching with her than I have.  Apparently, they're much more willing to sit through ice dancing than I am (especially in circumstances when gold and silver have already been determined and we're just waiting for the three worst teams to determine whose going to get bronze).

Cameron - 10
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 608

-Apparently it's -29 with the wind chill at the moment.  Because I haven't been outside (except when I reached out to grab the paper this morning) I'll have to take Environment Canada's word for it.  Of course, as we're in Regina it's quite sunny.

-Though the Olympics aren't my thing (actually, I quite dislike them), we've been a pretty Olympics oriented house since Jeannette returned home from work yesterday evening.

Because of the time difference I'm not sure if anything but tape-delayed replays will be available this evening.  If so, maybe that will be a good thing as most of the available content has already been viewed by the Olympics-watchers of this household.

-While Jeannette's been watching the coverage of the Olympics the cats have been hanging out on the foot of the bed.

Sometimes they were more clearly cuddling.

Has the more or less devolved into an excuse to post cat pics?  And, if so, is that a problem?

Cameron - 8
Neil - 0