Vancouver Winter Olympics

Shaun White looked like he had fun winning the Gold, unlike many overserious Olympians.

I have to say, I've been thoroughly entertained the past couple of weeks by the Vancouver Winter Olympics, watching sports I would never, ever watch at any other time. I mean, when's the last time you watched Short Track Skating or Skeleton and it wasn't an Olympic event? Would they even BE on TV? Didn't think so. But, with the Knicks and Islanders sucking so thoroughly and Baseball only starting Spring Training, the Games have been an agreeable change of pace.

I give all the props in the world to the Olympians; athletes who sacrifice everything to take their shot at being the Best in the World, if only for a moment. It's one thing when you're an Apolo Ono or a Lindsey Vonn with sweet endorsement deals, but it's quite another when you are competing in an event that nobody cares about even in the Olympics, like Cross Country Skiing or Biathlon.

When they do the profiles of the athletes you hear parents talking about taking out mortgages on their houses and so forth. What if you have two kids with world-class talent, like the Kerrigans did? And even with all that, what happens when you DO get that oh-so-hard-to-get Olympic medal? Usually, not a whole lot. You go home, get a lot of "attaboys" and then go get a real job or coach.

The babeacious Canadian Women's Curling Team

The '10 Vancouver games were fun to watch because the Americans did so well. Sorry, Canadians! They really tried hard to dominate and they just haven't. Sucks for you. With 34 medals and more to come, it looks like the record of 36 medals is going to be broken. Way to go guys!

Apolo Ohno is the personnification of cool.

My favorites this time around are definitely Shaun White, the snowboarder who cracked his head open at the Olympic trials and still won the gold, and Apolo Ohno, who personnifies cool whenever he goes out on the ice. He goes out there and he KNOWS he's going to win. His ability to come from behind at the last second to just zip in and win a race is just amazing. I have also enjoyed watching the Canadian Curling team just for their pure babacioiusness.

I didn't really care about Figure Skating all that much this time around; especially the women. Maybe it's due to the lack of compelling personalities on the ice. I've even heard some commentators lament that what Figure Skating needs is another Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan -type controversy. I was glad that Evan Lysacek won over Sore Loserboy from Russia. And I'm not homophobic but Johnny Weir is the most flaming guy I have seen out on that ice in a long time. Just put RuPaul out there on skates in full drag, it'll be less flamboyant!

Even RuPaul in full drag on skates would've been less flamboyant than Johnny Weir.

The US Men's Hockey Team is going for the gold this weekend and I wish them luck. It'll be great and even an upset if they win, but it's like, "OK, our NHL guys beat YOUR NHL guys." It will never match the stunning victory of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team, which IMHO is the greatest sports upset in my lifetime - even more unexpected than the '69 Miracle Mets. A bunch of overmatched and overpsyched college kids beat the world's best professional hockey team. It was like Arizona State beating the Yankees! But good luck guys, I certainly hope you win.

It's actually nice to watch Hockey again, which I haven't really cared about since the NHL lockout a few years ago. It hasn't helped that the Islanders haven't played worth a damn since the 1990's. Maybe their fortunes will improve when the do the Lighthouse Project and renovate the Nassau Coliseum.

Speaking of Hockey, can everybody just CALM down about the Canadian Women's Hockey Team out on the ice -HORRORS! - drinking champagne and beer after winning the gold? Why were people bent out of shape? Because it was the Olympics? Because it was women doing it? Champagne-soaked victory celebrations have been nationally televised after championships in Baseball and Football and even in the NHL. So, can everybody just get over it please?