Just wondering how many of you follow and what your sports are. It's probably a little different here in Canada as most of the country just sees it as a hockey tournament under the name Olympics. If anyone read the last SI you'll know what the mens hockey means to us. To give you an example, of all the people I've asked so far say winning the medal count but silver in hockey the Canada has failed. If we win only 1 medal but it's a gold in hockey it's a huge success. I don't think anyone outside of Canada can truly understand what's at stake. If the mens hockey team wins anything but gold they will want out of here as soon as possible. Although I am pumped up I will admit at least I'm not as bad as many who will contemplate suicide if we lose. Just as an example there were 3.2 million tuned in to an announcement show in fall just to here who made the team

It's all about ice skating over here. Kramer has his first gold medal, already. Have to see what our women can do later tonight. I don't think that we'll get much on the men's 500, 1000 and 1500 meters, but Kramer should have a good shot at the 10000m.

That's about it, though. We're competing in all kinds of things. Usually there's a surprise that catches the entire country off guard, like the female water polo team did at the last summer olympics when they won gold.

Ps. I hope for that North Korean speed skater that he doens't have to compete against a South Korean... If the poor man loses, I can see him get executed.

Well here in America it's all about... uh...

Well... nothing really specific. I mean, upsetting Canaduh' for the Gold in hockey will be nice, but we're just waiting for 2012 Basketball 🙂

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I have to admit I haven't watched much of the Olympics for years, if not decades.

I used to like watching ice-dancing. (I've always enjoyed traditional ballroom dancing, long before "Dancing with the Stars" was a figment of Hollywood imagination, and that grace on ice skates blew me away. But I didn't consider it "sport.")

But I'll be honest. I don't like the Olympics much. I can't stand the nationalist [strike]pride[/strike] crap that goes along with it. If people want to celebrate amazing athleticism, that's fine and good. But these people are not great athletes because they wear a particular color of uniform. They're great athletes because they have amazing dedication and talent and other virtues. Not because they're americans or norwegians or canadians or whatevers.

The last great moment in Olympic sport may have been when Jesse Owens told Hitler to fuck himself. But despite that, no one's learned the lesson. Every Olympiad since has been awash in nationalism. From the absurdity of medal counts to the coverage of the Dream Team to Munich to Moscow to Los Angeles to Bob Costas...I'm sick of it all.

Sorry.

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Women's ice skating is one of the most beautiful things on the planet. Everything else I'll skip.

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I don't totally get what bothers you so badly here. I asume you don't celebrate when Jared Allen sacks Rodgers. He's a better athlete than anyone else playing the DE position right now. Why is it so differently for a country to stand behind an athlete than a fanbase within a country supporting a team/sporter.

If anything, foreigners should be annoyed by how the US approach sports. At times I really feel like the NFL wants to keep it "America's Game" and stop it from going global, for whatever reason. Same goes for just about every single other sport, apart from the Yankees, maybe, who have a huge fanbase all around the world as a result.

Hockey is it.

But I love everything about the Winter Olympics.

I am sitting here right now... Waiting for the Canadian Men to hit the slopes in Free Style (Moguls)

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I love the Olympics, snowboarding, skiing, skating...

I really like everything, even figure skating. I constantly have it on during the day.

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Cheering for (or against) a team is not the same as cheering for (or against a nation. Nations are political entities. Teams are not. The two should not be confused.

And save for team sports, which IMO arguably don't belong, the Olympics is a place for celebration of individual excellence, discipline, and commitment.

And I agree, foreigners should be annoyed by the US approach. The US is among the worst of the nationalists when it comes to the Olympics. I frankly detest the way that "our nation" approaches the Games.

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WOW. I am not getting into this. You both have GREAT POINTS

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