To
take a break from poetry and to soften the blow of the end of another NFL
season, I have to say I have finally got into watching some of the Winter
Olympics and I'm enjoying them immensely. Like the Summer Games, they are an example of
sporting excellence at its finest, but unlike them, there is always the added potential
of someone seriously hurting themselves. I have to say that coming top of the danger
scales, surprisingly, is the speed skating. I know it's on a flat surface, and
people are controlling their own transit across the ice, rather than hurtling
down bits of it strapped to a small projectile that offers no protection, like
in other events, but it always looks like someone could easily slip over, have
their arm lacerated by the skate of their passing opponent and die from an
arterial bleed.
I'm not watching it for that reason, you understand, but it does add a welcome soupcon
of scariness.
My highlight so far though, from a purely emotional standpoint, has to be the
reaction of the Italian women ice hockey team when they unexpectedly beat
Japan. A real outpouring of delight, camaraderie and pride, and it was
genuinely beautiful to see.
Contrast
that with the media-trained awkwardness of some of the English Premier League
football players, who answer every question as if they are taking part in a
seminar on boredom, and display about as much passion as a comatosed whale. (In
case you hadn't guessed, I got stuck in a pub with some football fans yesterday
and caught the end of a match on TV.)
And to end this one today - you'll notice I haven't mentioned last night's
Super Bowl. For the first time in a long time, I didn't bother to watch it. Or
listen to it. I just went online this morning to see, out of (a small amount
of) interest, who won. And it's hard to believe, but I feel I did not miss out,
despite it having previously been a huge highlight of my year. I guess my
enthusiasm must have waned this February. I guess that's what happens when you
let the Patriots reach the Super Bowl again...
RC 9-2-26
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