Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Show Me 'Round Your Snow-Peaked Mountains Way Down South . . .

. . . if you can find any in the southern part of Russia.  The weather in Sochi has been so warm - 61 degrees Fahrenheit - that it feels more like spring at the "Winter" Olympics.  With all of the possibilities for Russian winter sports farther to the north, I don't understand why Putin and his cronies wanted a winter Olympiad at a Black Sea resort. Sochi is actually in a subtropical climate, with an average winter temperature of about 52 degrees Fahrenheit despite cold winds coming in from Asia.  At least events won't be canceled for too much winter weather, which was actually the case in Sarajevo in 1984, causing ABC, who covered those Games,  to air features showing Bosnian pushcart vendors.  
Speaking of the "human interest" stories, I haven't been able to see Mary Carillo's reports, though I liked her story on Russian ballet.  Alas, I missed her feature on vodka; I just hope Bob Costas didn't get too tipsy by sharing a swig with her.  As to whether it can cure his pinkeye, I hope so.  We need you, Bob.  We don't want Lauer!   
As for the sports . . .  I saw a good hockey game between Latvia and Switzerland, a game the Swiss team was supposed to win easily.  But Latvia, the proud homeland of Janis Kipurs ( :-D ), kept the game scoreless and frustrated the Swiss to the point where they were about to go into overtime.  Expecting such an outcome, I changed the channel momentarily to check the weather, as a winter storm ironically named "Pax" (Latin for "peace," which the storm is giving no one) is about to bear down on my area.  I turned back to the hockey game . . . and the Swiss had scored a goal with eight seconds to play in the third period to win!  If it hadn't been shown in an instant replay, I would have missed it completely.  Let that be a lesson to you as well as me:  Don't turn off a hockey game for even a second, as you might miss something.  If you want to get into a sport where you can switch to the Weather Channel for a few moments and not miss anything, watch soccer. :-D 
Meanwhile . . .. First Shaun White, now Shani Davis goes down.  Davis failed to win the men's 1,000-meter speed skating race; he didn't even get a medal.   Ditto Julia Mancuso in the women's downhill. :-O  It looks like the current crop of U.S. winter Olympic team veterans is slowing fading away . . .. Pay attention to the lesser names on the 2014 team.  They're the future stars of 2018 and 2022.

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