Winter Olympics Musings

So far it's been mixed news for the U.S. Winter Olympic team, which is actually better than the reviews Harrison Ford got for his latest movie. For starters, I was surprised by the halfpipe competition in snowboarding - how did Carrot Top win a gold medal?

Ha ha! I am just kidding, of course. Shaun White, called the "Flying Tomato" for his long red hair and his knack for getting airborne on a snowboard, is genuinely happy for the victory and, in true southern California fashion, hopes his medal will be a babe magnet - he hopes to meet figure skater Sasha Cohen. Go for it, dude! :-D And kudos to Chad Hedrick for his speed skating victory.

Other American athletes have been less successful so far. Skier Bode Miller lost in the downhill, placing fifth, and his fellow teammate Daron Rahlves, another strong contender in that event, finished tenth, losing the gold medal to. . . a Frenchman! Apolo Anton Ohno stumbled in his heat in the 1500-meter short track speed skating race, an event he won at Salt Lake City, keeping his composure but being eliminated anyway. And Tony Benshoof, the Home Depot employee, went to Torino to be the first American single luge medalist and apparently will return home still just a Home Depot employee, having missed the bronze by a fraction of a second. I know the most important thing is to take part, but. . . Benshoof still works for Home Depot.

Maybe Tony can drown his sorrows in a brewski with Georg Hackl, the German luge champion whose bid for a sixth Olympic luge medal came up short. Hackl, who works on his sleds in secret to keep people from figuring out how hew makes them go so fast, is retiring after these Games. Okay, Georg, now that your career is just about over, you gotta tell us. . . . How do you speed up your sleds? :-D

Here's wishing U.S. female luger Samantha Retrosi a speedy recovery from her horrible luge accident. :-(