Olympic Miscellany
I dig the Winter Olympics, even if it's mostly just a bunch of spoiled kids having fun and banging each other in Olympic Village. I heard the word "inspire" four times last night, in the context of, "These athletes will inspire us." Well, I guess so, if you're inspired by, "We weren't rich, but we scrimped, doing two-year leases on our SUVs instead of one-year and only going to Europe once every other year, so I could attend ski camp in Vail six times annually . . .". * * * * * * * According to that link, the Olympics are distributing enough free condoms for each athlete to get 37, and since nearly half the athletes are women, that means every guy has access to about 75 free condoms. And since about 30% of the athletes abstain, the reprobate male athletes have available approximately 100 condoms each. If I were as good looking as Lindsay Vonn, I'd stay bundled up at all times. * * * * * * * I'm
guessing she is, since she's apparently taking every precaution when it comes to germs. * * * * * * * The opening ceremony was pretty warm, compared to normal weather at Pyeongchang: "Surrounded by mountains that catch the cold, Pyeongchang is 'Earth's coldest location for that particular latitude,' AccuWeather reports." Link. I guess minus-zero temps won't be uncommon. * * * * * * * I was glad to see the Russians finally get punished for cheating. It should've happened many decades ago. But then they walked in as a unified group, wearing the same outfit? It made a mockery of the "punishment." Banning the Russian flag seems meaningful, but that's the extent of it. * * * * * * * 28 Russian athletes had their doping bans overturned and 169 athletes who were deemed clean by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will each compete as an “Olympic Athlete from Russia.” * * * * * * * Interesting: "Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore are all participating in their first Winter Games." Link. * * * * * * * South Korea is 14 hours ahead of us (Eastern Standard Time). Great draw for NBC. When it's broadcasting at prime time (8:00 PM), it's 10:00 AM in South Korea, which means they can offer a lot of live coverage. I have no idea what sports compete in the morning versus the evening, but for anything taking place in late morning, NBC can cover it live.
