Let's start with the obvious - as a huge hockey fan, of course Olympics hockey has meant a lot to me over the years. I remember in 2002 watching Canada win gold - more happy that Marty Brodeur and the two Scotts played big roles than I was sad the US lost. I remember even more in 2010 when Canada won again with Crosby's Golden Goal - it was a thrilling hockey game, a brilliantly played one where Devils great Zach Parise scored a game-tying goal at the death. It was a brutal loss as a still proud American at that point.
2014 in Sochi had NHLers playing, but combination of time zones and a pretty feeble US team made it a romp for the Canadians, and then the darkness. The biggest reason I probably tuned out the 2018 games in Pyeongchang and 2022 in Beijing was that the NHL stupidly didn't let their players go. This is the biggest marketing opportunity for the NHL - and yes people get hurt (like Steven Stamkos in 2014 breaking his leg), but still. Anyway, with no NHL players there in 2018 or 2022, adn the games being in Asia so at brutal hours for Americans, I basically tuned those two events out.
But the NHL is back this time, the follow-up for the little appetizer of the Four Nations Face Off last year. We haven't even hit the full stride of the tournament this time around, but just that specter has gotten be more interested in the Olympics as a whole, and I think I've been missing out. It isn't the summer games, but there's a lot special here.
For maybe the first time, I sat and watched most of a curling match (the semis and gold medal US matches in teh mixed tournament). I looked up the rules. The sport is probably a bit too long (the matches I mean) but damn isn't it brilliant strategy on display. I then sat and watched more of the downhill skiing and luge and skeleton and so much more. I'll get to a few reasons why I don't think the Winter Games lends itself to the brilliant the Summer Games does, but all these sports are interesting and more than that, require some amazing athletic feats.
Truly, there is more danger, more death-defying brilliant feats in teh Winter Games, from downhill skiing and ski jumping, to all the track sports (luge, skeleton, bobsled) where ypure' going 70mph+ inches above sharp ice. All of it is just insane. All of it requires such ability to block out the lunacy of what you are doing. That element of danger just isn't there in the Summer Games, but works brilliantly here.
These are the things I love about teh Winter Games, also the idea of just how easy most of the games are to get - just who gets down a hill or track faster, or who can fly longer, or skate faster. But it's where you get outside these more simple ones that the Winter Games starts to struggle a bit more for me.
The judging sports, be it figure skating to all the games lifted from the X-Games into this (the freestyle skiing, snowboarding) just miss the mark for me. Of course, teh athleticism is insane, but much like with Gymnastics in the Summer Games, I can't undersatnd the weird scoring system, I can't really tell visually the difference between a 1080 and a 1200 and a 1440 and what not. I have no real way of saying who is better than who other than listening to the announcers. This all hurts my love of gymnastics relative to how most people see it, and for the Winter Games there's just a lot more of these sports.
Secondly, I don't like that so few of them actually put all the competitors on the field/track/etc at the same time. Granted, it's tough to do in downhill skiing or luge or what-not - people go too fast being the main issue. But it just takes away some of the head to head competition element so present in nearly all the best summer games. There are exceptions of course, and that's why i love the speed-skating (where even in long track at least we get 1v1 heats). It's also why I got so enthralled by Snowboard Cross, which was an incredible back and forth of the four snowboarders going at it side by side trading blows. We need more of these types of events.
Back on the positive side, what this games has oozed is how fun it all seems - the setting in northern Italy is stunning, with such perfect light snow, great chalets and villages. People all seem to be having a great time, no group more so than the athletes themselves who seem overjoyed - probably helps that for the ones that have been to teh Olympics before this much seem like such a relief vs. the still Covid-effected 2022 event. The setting, the coldness, the hot cocoa and everythign else makes me actually think attending an Olympics is more fun at the Winter Games than Summer.
Let's see how my views change the rest of the games over this last week, when the hockey heats up, the short-track speed skating takes over, and we get the bobsled (not sure why that one appeals to me, but have taken a liking to luge and skeleton as well). I may continue this upward trend of interest to the point where I may put out a ranking of Winter Olympic events, or fade away if hte US hockey teams do poorly (granted, that women's team is absurdly dominant so far). But either way, my appreciation and love for the Winter Olympics is higher now than it was ten days ago.
