Winter Games - So Far So Good

I usually don’t return to a topic the next day but in this case it is justified.  As a freelance writer I often write about sports and sporting events.  I watched NBC’s coverage last night and was pleasantly surprised.  While it was necessarily choppy because of the choices that must be made, the program of events was well chosen.  I particularly enjoyed the 5000 meter speed skating, even though the outcome was already known, the Hedrick story is a very good one and amazing to boot.  His performance was outstanding and was enough to pique my interest in watching his efforts yet to come.

The women’s mogul was exciting if short lived.  I thought Ms. Traa had a good chance of capturing the gold again, and was surprised when France came through a winner.  The luge qualifier was very exciting, I particularly like these speed events as the skill differences between competitors is so small that even the slightest mistake can spell disaster.  The spectators often cannot even tell when a mistake that costs a mili-second is made.

Of course the figure skating is one of the premiere events generating the most interest and yet it is almost completely subjective in its outcome. The American pair completed a throw triple axel, the first time ever in Olympic competition, but we knew at the beginning that they were not considered to be a factor in the medal chase. From my perspective the judges got it right last night, the Russians were clearly the best during the short program.

I wasn’t really planning on watching the televised coverage, but NBC is doing such a great job, for a change, that I will continue to enjoy the Games on their network.