Two Comments on the Olympics - Sort Of

#1 With the change from analog to digital broadcast signals for the television we got a few new "bonus" channels. One of them is all Olympics all the time. Sort of a waste of airwave space if you ask me, but you didn't ask, so oh well. Sometime back months and months ago while flipping channels I found the sport for me. Skeleton. You know. Where you run for all you are worth in a skin tight outfit and a monster sized helmet then jump on a tiny little sled with razor sharp blades to plummet yourself down an icy shoot of death. I don't sound excited you say? Okay. Maybe not but still, it just might be my sport anyway. If you get a chance, watch the skeleton this year at the winter olympics broadcasts. Those people have some wobbly, jiggly butts. Yep. They fly down those icy tracks with their backsides wiggling all over the place and the camera crew catching it on tape, broadcasting the live image all over the world. I think I could fit in with this crowd. I have just the right kind of back side for it. As do 98% of all Americans, so I may have some stiff competition when you people catch on like I have. #2 The Luge. I lived in Salt Lake City before the Winter Olympics there in 2002. In fact, Brian and I could have graduated college and left two months before the games, but strategically took a longer path to graduation so as to allow ourselves to be present during the games. We both volunteered and had an amazing experience, but I digress from the point of this post. In the pre-Olympic times, there was lots of road construction. I mean LOTS. The entire state of Utah was redone I'm pretty sure. They turned the freeways which now in some places are six lanes wide into two lanes just barely wide enough for a Ford Focus to drive safely and then told diesel trucks to go right ahead and use the roads. They lined the two lanes with concrete barricades for ten mile stretches with no emergency lane or anything. It was T-I-G-H-T. I lovingly referred to I-15 and I-80 as the Luge. I felt it took the white knuckle skills of an Olympic athlete to drive every day. I hated it. This lasted for, what, about five years? It was terrible. I actually remember seeing on the nightly news the announcement that overnight this massive project would begin. The next morning drive was bad. And it kept right on being bad for five years. With all the wild snow storms and deep piles on the sides of the roads here in February that brought the Nations' Capitol to a screeching hault I have to say I felt like I was right back into the Salt Lake Luge event right here in Virginia. The snow piles were in some places over ten feet tall by the time the plows had moved all the snow to the side of the road. When you came to a stop light you had darn well better stop and wait for the green light because there was NO WAY you knew what was coming up the street. The roads were super tight and in places cars had to wait to drive past each other on the roads. Both sides of the road were lined with a vertical wall taller than the roof of my car. Did I mention I LOVE my 4 wheel drive truck? It felt like the luge in the little car. That's all I have to say about the Olympics. Haven't watched a single event. I used to care. Not sure what happened. Anyway, I'm off to find a local skeleton team to join? Anyone in?