For those of you who are not aware of this simple fact, my family is addicted to the Olympics. And when I say "addicted", I mean ADDICTED. The moment we hear the thrilling drumbeats on the television, I do not exaggerate when I say that ALL. LIFE. STOPS. It wouldn't matter if you were going through a midlife crisis and were contemplating suicide, we would tell you to wait for the commercial break. (Perhaps this is unkind of me. What I mean to say is, we would be fully sympathetic and reference you to some sort of psychologist, and then turn back around and continue watching the Games.)
The air-time of these Olympics MUST have been designed with our family in mind. From midnight till about one o'clock in the afternoon, they do not air any of the competition and---as frustrating as this is---it offers us the opportunity to actually get stuff done. But the TV is almost always on, just in case some sort of special extra coverage appears. We don't want to miss ANY detail.
Last night, my mom and I were the few, the faithful, and the brave in the Andrade house, as everyone else was sleeping. We masterfully stayed awake till the very end, watching the Americans receive four medals already! One gold, one silver, and two bronze. The most exciting race of the night without a doubt was watching Apolo Ohno and teammate, J.R. Celski, race in a short track speed skating event. If you have not watched this event, I strongly encourage you to. It is one of the most thrilling during the Games. I will not tell you what happened DURING the race (because you should have stayed up to watch it), but you know that the two Americans medaled. Yay!
During a commercial break (that is the only time we speak), my mom and I discussed the difference between winter and summer athletes. The biggest thing is that all the winter sports are dangerous. They all involve skating over ice on knives or plummeting down a steep slope at speeds that surpass 90 mph or flying into the air at the height of a five story building. And there is always the possibility of dying. In the summer Olympics, the most dangerous thing is probably marathon running, where you can get dehydrated. The winter athletes deal with possible death EVERY time they go for a training run. As I have never been skiing or snowboarding, I cannot say why they do what they do. I only know that the athletes love what they do and always are ready to get back on their skates or skis and defy death again.
