You guys! It’s finally here! The Olympics! YAY! To get you in the mood…..

Upfront disclaimer: I am fully aware of the protests and the situation with the games being held in Russia. I respect the decision to boycott watching the games. This post is more focused on the Olympics in general.

I am an Olympic lover. I love sports in general. I can watch football, college basketball, tennis, heck even NASCAR and be super excited. But the Olympics are the Holy Grail of sports watching for me. It’s a wonderful hybrid for a person like me who enjoys sports and history.

I have no memory of watching the Olympics until 1992. Whether or not we watched it before, I have no idea. But when the 1992 Winter Games came on, I remembered my family being glued to the TV especially when Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal in ladies figure skating. And since then the Olympic Games has always been a viewing staple in my life. While I was at home my family was hooked to the TV. When I was away for college in 2002, even though I didn’t have my own TV in my dorm room, I still somehow found ways to watch the games.

If this blog is still running in 2016, I’ll talk about the summer games then, which I do love. But as this is 2014 and it’s the winter games, that’s what we’ll be talking about.

The Opening Ceremonies, while boring to most, I find very exciting. This is where I learned a lot about the culture of each host country. Plus the parade of nations is how I basically learned geography. Thanks to the Olympics, I was the only kid in my fourth grade class that could name countries that had been part of the former Soviet Union.

There may still be a small part of me that likes to pretend I am a world-class athlete and can represent my country at the Olympics and win a gold medal. For years it used to be skiing. And then I actually tried out skiing for the first time and I realized yeah there ain’t no way I can make it down a mountain that fast.

I love watching so many of the sports. This is probably the only time every four years that I will sit down and watch an entire hockey game. Also when else do you get to watch bobsled, skeleton, or luge? And will someone please explain to me the purpose of two-man luge and why only men compete and what is the benefit of having them lie on top of each other?

Snowboarding is one of my favorite sports to watch because it seems so cool and I wish I could do that so badly. But really I know I can’t so it’s just fun to enjoy. Speed skating can be a lot of fun. There’s this Dan Jansen Visa commercial that gets me EVERY TIME I watch it. Because Morgan Freeman’s voice elicits tears.

Short track speed skating brings out the most adrenaline though. Have you seen one of these races? It’s basically roller derby on ice. People fall. You don’t know who’s going to win. We shout so much at the TV during these races. It’s basically the equivalent of the swimming races in my book. Why? Because the unexpected happens. Exhibit A:

And then there’s the crown jewel of the Winter Olympics. Figure skating. I LOVE watching figure skating. I cannot imagine though how on earth they can do all those jumps and land on one foot on that skinny blade and not break their ankle constantly. But it’s so beautiful to watch. And so much drama. SO MUCH.

Plus every Olympics, there’s always an Olympic crush. I think last year it was either a snowboarder or Evan Lysacek. But as I get older, the athletes get younger. But for now, I’ll be glued to my TV and computer as I enjoy these games and cheer on my country. USA! USA! USA!