Day 588: Olympic Coverage – Sliding Sports

So, I’ve been sledding in the Alps. I don’t mean to brag… but it’s something that I have done… and it’s really run… and it’s pretty difficult. If traditional slope sledding was in the Olympics, it would be extremely impressive. But, instead… we have the trifecta of boring: Bobsled, Luge, and Skeleton. Now, I’m not saying these sports aren’t dangerous. As we all know, sliding sports are very dangerous… but so is Russian Rolette and that isn’t an Olympic Sport. I know, it’s a brutal comparison and I thought about omitting it… but it articulates my opinion in the matter beautifully. These games don’t seem to need a lot of skill to play and the players have very little control over the outcome. They just slide down a tube of ice and hope they go really fast. I’m just saying sliding sports, as a whole, seem so be less about skill and more about overcoming fear, not unlike skydiving and bungee jumping.

For this reason I would expect to see more Curlers opting for the more lucrative sliding sports… its basic physics, right? The more mass you have… the faster you’ll slide down hill… covered in a sheet of ice. After all… remember the American team as a tendency to recruit football players to fill out their four man bobsled team… why? Because they are skilled bobsledders? Or because they can run fast for a quick start and have a lot of mass to aid in getting a faster time? Oh wait… maybe they are skilled bobsledders after all.

Street luge is where it’s at ladies and gentlemen. Head to head races down streets where they cannot utilize rounded corners to help in banking turns.

Here is an idea… let’s turn the luge into a fear factor event. Participates have to correct flags on their way down the track. The racer with the most flags and fastest time wins!

Day 587: Olympic Coverage – Cross-Country Skiing

Seriously folks, I am deeply concerned for Cross-Country Skiing as a whole. While watching the very treacherous 2x15 Kilometer (Standard and Freestyle) I was inundated by an overly dramatic announcer saying things like, “This event is suicidal” or “Can you believe it?” It was all very dramatic.

Now, before I continue, I must admit, that I firmly believe Cross-Country Skiers are the most impressive over all athletes in the Winter Olympics. They are incredible… but apparently, they are also incredibly dim. Eight people did not finish this race. Three of whom were internationally ranked and were considered to be medal contenders. And the three of them actually led the race for a while… but alas… they could not keep up their own pace. Their pace was so unrealistic that they dropped out of the race! Does anyone else find this concerning? Olympic athletes not knowing how to pace themselves? I don’t know about you guys, but if I’m going to enter an event in the Olympics, I’m going to make sure I’ve done it before from beginning to end. Shouldn’t a racer of this level know their limits in order to complete a race successfully?

Incidentally, all 88 competitors competing in the Men’s 20 Kilometer Biathlon completed their race. Apparently, the excitement of firing a gun is enough for some athletes to push through the pain.

Anyway, I kind of wish the American’s were more competitive in Cross-Country Skiing… but you know how it is… why ski when you can drive? When will NASCAR we part of the Olympics?

Day 586: Olympic Coverage - Curling

I think it’s pretty obvious that I champion the rights of pregnant women… but I am a little perplexed by Kristie Moore, the Canadian Curler, who is competing in Vancouver five and a half month pregnant. Now, I am definitely not questioning Kristie’s right to participate while pregnant in the games… but I can’t help but question Curling’s validity of an Olympic sport when its participants can be five and a half month pregnant and still be considered to be in Olympic level physical condition.

Coupled with this, has anyone noticed what many of the non-prego female curlers have been wearing on the ice? It’s pretty hard not to notice because they are wearing black mini-skirts. Seriously, in 1988, when curling first made its Olympic debut in Calgary I thought it was pretty boring… but now? It definitely has my attention… I don’t know what the object of the game is, but apparently inappropriately dressed women are required to roll around on the ice. How this sport hasn’t taken off in the States I will never know.

Now, Curling freely admits that it is not a sport of intense physical conditioning… it is more of a strategic sport of skill and accuracy… like bowling, shuffleboard, bocce ball, horseshoes and lawn darts… incidentally, none of which are Olympic Sports… but maybe they should be. Depending, of course, on the average hemline of the athletes uniforms.

Day 585: Olympic Coverage, Part 2

So, this is my first Olympic viewing experience outside of the United States… and it’s been… well… educational to say the very least.

The first lesson is this: Europeans enjoy different sports than American’s. Actually, scratch that, most of the world enjoy different sports than American’s. But this shouldn’t be a big surprise, right? After all, I’m sure we all know America’s national sport, Baseball, only ranks 7th in worldwide sports viewership, with about 500 million fans. Or maybe you don’t know. What in the world could be more popular than Baseball? Well, I will tell you:

1. Futbal/Soccer, there is no secret that American’s are way behind the 8-ball when it comes to accepting soccer as a legitimate sport. But, with an estimated 3.3 – 3.5 billion fans worldwide, we’re not just behind the 8-ball, but completely out of touch with reality.

2. Cricket, with an estimated 2 – 3 billion fans worldwide, I would assume I could find one person to explain the rules of this sport to me… but alas… I must run in the wrong circles.

3. Field hockey, no… not Ice Hockey… FIELD Hockey rakes 3rd with 2 – 2.2 billion fans worldwide.

4. Tennis, with 1 billion fans.

5. Volleyball, with 900 million fans.

6. Table tennis (ping pong), also with around 900 million fans.

That right folks, table tennis, the Olympic sport that prompts every American to ask the question, “but why?” is more popular than Baseball.

So, that being said, it shouldn’t surprise you that I’ve seen more Ski Jumping this year than Figure Skating.

In fact, Figure Skating is only aired live here, which is around two or three in the morning London time… yet Ski Jumping, Biathlon, and Cross Country Skiing isn’t just aired live, but also repeated during the day… in it’s entirety. This includes all qualification rounds and final rounds.

I’ve seen entire qualification rounds of ski jumping multiple times. I watched the entire 2x15 Kilometer Men’s Cross Country Skiing Pursuit competition without interruption… yet, I’ve only seen about two complete Figure Skating performances. The afternoon after the Figure Skating Pair’s medals were awarded the 24 hours coverage we’ve been “enjoying” in London dedicated a thirty minute block to Figure Skating… as you can imagine, 30 minutes was really only enough time to show the three medal winning couples… nothing else. It was sad.

I want my NBC.

But there is a silver lining. I plan on joining a Ski Jumping fantasy league next year… it’s going to be sweet!

Day 584: Olympic Coverage, Part 1

Olympic seriesSliding sports - tubing & frozen turkeyCoverageSki jumping fantasy leagueWhy Americans are not good at cross county skingBetter cross country skingAre skirts really the best curling uniform?Cross country sking - people dropping outPregnant curlingNow, I’ve been giving NBC a lot of grief over the years. Like an Aztec priest, I’ve been predicting their slow and steady decline… due mainly to three practices the network can’t seem to get away from:

· Cancelling excellent shows prematurely, like ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ and the ‘Black Donnleys’
· Championing horrible shows for unknown reasons, like ‘Joey’
· Renewing tired shows that have already run its course… multiple times… like ‘ER’ and ‘Law and Order’

And of course, NBC has shown their complete and total ineptitude with the Jay Leno & Conan O’Brien debacle… a subject I plan to cover in this blog soon.

But for now, I must put my distrust and misgivings for NBC aside and thank them from the bottom of my heart. And for my fellow American’s, you should thank them as well.

Thank you NBC for sheltering us from the horrific boredom that is the Winter Olympics.

Day 583: The Birth Experience, Part 8: St. John & Lizzies Doctor Visit

A very notable difference about our birth experience in Atlanta and London is the selection process of doctors. At least in regards to the order in which things are done. In Atlanta, we chose a practice of midwives that matched birthing philosophy, YET, the midwives were practicing at a hospital that didn’t match our philosophy… although we were ultimately successful in our mission, these philosophical difference turned out to be rather counterproductive, which will become more apparent as The Birth Experience continues.

However, in London, we simply picked a hospital that shared our birthing philosophy, and in turn, the hospital staff who shared our philosophy just happened to be part of the deal. A concept, at least for me, seems to be extremely productive.

The relationship between practice and hospital as two separate entities either in tolerance or contention of each other’s methods, as in the States, does not exists since in London these two entities are one in the same.

This relationship became very apparent when, due to our late booking status, the midwives requested we meet with one of the hospitals “Consultant Obstetricians”. First, I should point out the term “Consultant” is given to the highest level of doctors in the UK. Second, doctors of his level abandoned the formalities of white jackets and titles like “Dr. Gupta”. Third, they live up to their position as “consultants” rather than dictators... I mean doctors.

Our consultant actually greeted us in the waiting room and personally took us to his office. Please note my choice of words: “Office”. Not, examination room, but “office”. Although there were some examination equipment present in his office. We all sat, talked and got to know each other. The consultant took a very quick history of Serena’s first successful birth, listened to Gilliam’s heart beat, and assured Serena she would be very happy and have a very successful second birth no matter how she chose to deliver.

Most importantly, the consultant answered Serena’s 100 million dollar question beautifully. At the time, Gilliam was not in the correct position… so Serena threw out a question regarding hospital policy and breach births. Since most medical schools, in the States, no longer teach more complicated natural childbirth techniques, breach births and delivery of twins almost always end in c-sections, and hospitals are pretty up front about their opinions in the matter.

But, rather than visiting that topic directly, our consultant first listed all the various options and techniques that can be used in aiding a more complicated health delivery, both naturally and surgically. He admitted that the hospitals stance on the issue was that of a c-section, but he also noted his personal feelings on the matter was not in line with the hospital boards… and basically told us that it was our birth and that we had complete and total control over it. If Gilliam progressed as a breach baby (which he wasn’t) the hospital would in no way force her to have a c-section since all of their staff is also trained on alternative natural delivery methods.

In the end, Serena walked away very happy and confident… and the experience of meeting the consultant was one of the most refreshing medical experiences of my life.

Second, or course, to my wisdom teeth extraction fiasco… which is another story for another time.

Day 582: The Birth Experience, Part 7: St. John & Lizzies Hospital Tour

Now, as this story continues to drag on worse than a James Cameron film, you’ll find our experiences with St. John and Lizzies, in London, was the polar opposite than that in Atlanta. The first, remarkable difference was the hospital tour. It was actually conducted by one of the hospital’s midwives, rather than “The Love Boats” own Julie McCoy.

And of course, the tone of the tour was completely different since the woman giving the tour was also one of the women who actually deliver the babies. Completely intuitive to our desires, she guided us through the various services at our disposal in the delivery room. She showed us not only the bed, but also the birthing tub, the floor mats, and the enormous beanbag pillows. Our “tour guide” never once made an assumption as to how Serena would give birth, but simply focused on her options, always adding the phrase, “which ever you prefer,” to her sentences. Furthermore, the midwives reminded us to call ahead when we were on our way so they could fill the birth tub just in case and also introduced us to their aroma theory and music options. The tour was a very welcome change.

Also worth noting was the absence of IV trees or fetal heart rate monitors in the delivery rooms… at least from what I noticed.