Argh

I am such a hypocrite.

After telling my parents that I had almost no interest in watching the Olympics, I’ve watched at least one event every single day this week. I have to admit, it’s partially my roommate’s fault since he’s really interested, but also mine since I refuse to leave the room. I’ve mainly watched curling (my roommate’s favorite), but I’ve also seen a bit of downhill skiing (watched Lindsey Vonn’s gold medal and Julia Mancuso’s silver), snowboard halfpipe (Shaun White’s gold medal), and of course, John Shuster’s rampant choking for the men’s curling.

Unsurprisingly (well, to myself), I’m enjoying curling. I already am a fan of shuffleboard and bocce, so I suppose this is a no brainer. However, my surprise has been in emotional I’ve been during all the events I’ve watched. I don’t mean that I’ve been drawn to tears, but rather that I’ve been treating the Olympics like I’d treat a Twins game. I discuss game strategy with my roommate during curling matches. I cheered when Shaun White finished his 2nd run during last night’s snowboard halfpipe, even though he had already won the gold medal prior to that run. Seems pretty silly to cheer something that didn’t matter, but I did. I was nervous during Lindsey Vonn’s gold medal ski run last night, even though I was watching a tape of the event. I’m going crazy here.

In White’s case, I cheered because of how difficult his 2nd run was, along with his double McTwist 1260 at the end of the run. His first 3 tricks were pretty amazing to watch, and to finish the double McTwist 1260, he had to throw in a quick 180 spin to complete the trick and his meaningless run. This was the same trick he slammed his face into a halfpipe just a few weeks ago (you only need to watch the first 20 seconds), so you had to figure that he might be a little nervous about the trick.

(Video has been loading awfully slow for me here. If you’re impatient, right click on the video and select “Watch on YouTube.”)

But that didn’t stop him, he saved it for last and landed it. With that run, White improved his score, even though he had already been guaranteed the gold medal. The fact of how awesome his run was, even when he was just showing off, was why I cheered for a meaningless run.

Another case came during the women’s downhill for Lindsey Vonn. Like I said before, if I had been thinking, I could have just looked online and found the results instead of watching the women’s downhill skiing. Instead, I chose to stick with it, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a bit mean, but I saw several crashes and I loved them all (probably because none of them involved American skiers). As my other roommate suggested, I was enjoying it for the same reason I can watch NASCAR: crashes.* Due to the toll that the course was taking on the women, I was legitimately nervous during Vonn’s run. How stupid is that?** Oh well, like my girlfriend would say, I’m hopeless.

* How coincidental. An AFLAC commercial with the duck snowboarding and Carl Edwards (NASCAR driver) was on right after I finished that sentence.

** Again, I only say that because if I had looked online, I would have known that Vonn did not crash and won the gold medal.

Speaking of my girlfriend, I’m starting to develop a crush on USA women’s curler Nicole Joraanstad (how is she American with that last name? Also, she’s the blonde in the picture below). I’d feel bad for admitting this, but Abby demonstrated her crush for Drew Butera during TwinsFest, so I think I get a freebie today. If you will, do me a favor. If you know that the USA curling team is on TV, notify me immediately. I’ll even be willing to change the channel from Mythbusters for her.