I think I like it because it DOESN'T seem like sports, unless you watch the hockey games (which I dont). If you're into the competition angle, the ski races are just dumb because you only see one skier at a time and they are all going exactly the same speed, so you have no idea who "won" until you look at the scoreboard. But I love watching the giant slalom anyway - it's just astonishing that anybody can turn at that speed! The cameras zero in on them and you can see every muscle flex; their bodies are practically horizontal in one direction, and a fraction of a second later they are horizontal in the OTHER direction, all at 60 mph, all the way down the hill! Yikes!
You'd probably like the sardonic description in one of the Slate podcasts on the subject of ski jumping: "... beautiful, breathtaking and kind of boring...combines all the unique qualities of the winter olympics: the looming shadow of imminent physical trauma, highly specialized and otherwise completely useless equipment, and subtleties that are virtually invisible to the audience and incomprehensible to the layman." All true, but I still love watching them fly. And, strangely enough, I think the commentator did too.
I never thought of "useful in combat" as an important criteria for rating sports events. But, oddly enough, the winter Olympics do have an event that I can only assume is based on ACTUAL combat skills from WWII - the biathlon. I can't think of any other reason to combine two events as divergent as skiing and shooting! What next: swimming and javelin throwing? Pole vaulting and chess?
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You'd probably like the sardonic description in one of the Slate podcasts on the subject of ski jumping: "... beautiful, breathtaking and kind of boring...combines all the unique qualities of the winter olympics: the looming shadow of imminent physical trauma, highly specialized and otherwise completely useless equipment, and subtleties that are virtually invisible to the audience and incomprehensible to the layman." All true, but I still love watching them fly. And, strangely enough, I think the commentator did too.
I never thought of "useful in combat" as an important criteria for rating sports events. But, oddly enough, the winter Olympics do have an event that I can only assume is based on ACTUAL combat skills from WWII - the biathlon. I can't think of any other reason to combine two events as divergent as skiing and shooting! What next: swimming and javelin throwing? Pole vaulting and chess?