In my house the Olympics are a big deal. Daytime competitions are recorded to be watched later, daily medal counts are tallied, and singing the National Anthem is just part of the Olympic hysteria. The best part about the Winter Olympics is watching sports we southerners never have the opportunity to watch. My favorite two are snowboarding (both snowboard cross and the half-pipe) and curling. In Olympics past, curling was this weird sport that used brooms and big round stones on ice. This year it became the fad sport everyone talked about—besides Shaun White revealing his new trick on the half-pipe and the big US-Canada showdown in hockey. It seemed everyone I talked to watched curling and Shaun White snowboarding. The Norwegian men helped all the hype by wearing some very loud pants that drew a lot of attention.
Curling is similar to Bocci Ball (or Boule, if you're French). The object of the sport is simple—have the closest stone to the very center of the target after all the stones have been played. The strategy is what makes the game. The more I watched, the more into I got. It is exciting seeing a triple take out (moving three of the opponents stones out of play using just one of your stones) and hearing the skip (team leader) yell to the sweepers as they create a path in the ice for the stone to travel. During the final match between Norway and Canada, the crowd, feeling the excitement of the game, spontaneously erupted into "O Canada!" during the final end (round of play). I loved it! I enjoy the fervent way people celebrate their athletes during the Olympics.The Olympics are about bringing the world together through sport and competition. We, as a nation, cheer on our athletes as they compete for us. In a few more weeks, the glory of the games will pass from people's thoughts until, four years from now, when the winter games return to action in Sochie, Russia. And we look to London for the summer games in just two years.