Verdict: Summer Olympics still better

With the conclusion of the Winter Olympics, it is kind of sad that the nonstop action has finally come to an end. No longer can I turn on NBC and know that there is going to be some sort of winter contest on. One question that is always asked about the Olympics is which games are better: the Winter or Summer Olympics? Though I do like both, I think the summer games are far more exciting and fun to watch.

Both the summer and winter games have their fair share of exciting, heart-pounding sports. The summer games has the 100m dash, while the short track speed skating competition is always crazy in the winter Olympics.

These two sports aren’t without characters to root for either. Though he was not born in the US, Usain Bolt is a fan favorite in the 100m dash, not only in native-Jamaica, but all over the world including the US. In the 2008 Olympics, he smashed records in that event as well as in the 200m.

Speed skating has American Apollo Ohno, who just recently captured his 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th Olympic medals in Vancouver. Speed skating is a sport where anything can happen as Ohno is well aware. He was in fourth going into the final turn of the men’s 1500 meter finals when two Koreans wiped out and he took the silver.

Speed skating is exciting, but I still prefer watching the fastest men in the world compete against each other for just under 10 seconds. This isn’t the only sport where I hold preference for the Summer to the Winter Olympics. Figure skating is boring and overplayed, which is a terrible combination. The male figure skating is ten times worse than the females just because of the terrible outfits that the men wear. I don’t think anybody enjoys these men in the outfits, but I could be wrong. I doubt it though.

The odd sports in the Winter Olympics are pretty interesting, but they can get old fast. Curling was cool a couple Olympics ago, but now I think they go on for too long. The games take forever and there are no household names to draw viewers. The same goes with skeleton and luge, though they are exciting sports nonetheless. The problem is that they are never shown on NBC at good times. One o’clock in the morning is not a good time to watch skeleton.

In the summer games, beach volleyball is the equivalent to figure skating in terms of being overplayed, but I would still much rather watch volleyball. The swimming is also very exciting in the summer games. Sure, part of this is because Michael Phelps is swimming, but the same can be said for snowboarding with Shaun White. Both sports are great to watch, but are made even better with these icons.

On Sunday, February 28^th, the hockey gold medal game was played in Vancouver. This is one thing that I agree is amazing in the Winter Olympics. The United States hung with the gold medal favorite Canadians, and gave them all they could handle for three periods and overtime. The Canadians outlasted the US team 3-2 in a game that kept all fans on the edge of their seats. Basketball does not bring this type of excitement in the summer games, just because the US is heads above every other country at the sport it seems.   

Overall, though, the summer games are much more fun to me. They rarely lag like the winter Olympics do. So in 2012, when the summer games come to London, I will be much more excited for the games. It’s too bad that the 2016 Olympics are not in Chicago.

Canada beaten at their own game

The most hyped game of the Olympic hockey season ends in an upset for Canada with USA winning 5-3. This time the game was not for a medal, but for pride and respect for the US team. This win was the first win over Canada for the US since 50 years ago. With a bunch of players who are new to the Olympics on the US team, the win brought back memories of the Miracle on Ice, when an amateur US team took the gold away from Soviet Union.   

The game started fast with Brian Rafalski scoring a goal in the first forty seconds of the game. This was returned by a goal from Canada and then another goal by Rafalski, his second of the night.

In the second period Canada scored again to tie it up, but then the U.S. slipped ahead with another goal to end the second period 3-2.

With tensions high, U.S. scores again in the third taking the lead by two with 4-2. Canada then tried to make a comeback with another goal leaving it at 4-3. Then with only forty-five seconds left in the game the US cemented their lead with an open net goal from Ryan Kesler on Canada.

The US team will now advance into the quarterfinals top seeded. Their next game will be on Wednesday against Sweden. This year may just be another miracle on ice for the US hockey team.

Sports worthy of the Olympic dream?

As you may have heard, golf and rugby were recently introduced to be apart of the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Jeneiro. But what sports should be included in the Olympics but are not? I have come up with a few good ideas that the International Olympic Committee should seriously consider.

To fill you in, a sport becomes a part of the Olympics by first being recognized by an International Federation. The sport must follow the Olympic Charter, and must be approved by the International Olympic Committee. Once it has passed all the criteria, it can then become an  Olympics sport.

I think that some traditional American sports would be a good addition to the Olympics. Two good ones would be baseball and football.

Baseball, the American pastime, would be amazing in the Olympics. I already know that baseball is also practiced in Japan so they would most likely be in favor of the new addition.

Football is fun enough to watch in America, but imagine football on a world wide scale with whole new competitors and a new set of tactics. The end product would be explosive.

In my opinion some more fierce sports would be a nice addition to the Olympics, like mixed martial arts, dodge ball, and paintball. MMA would be better than Greco-Roman wrestling, and it involves freestyle wrestling which are two sports already in the Olympics. In the case of Paintball and dodge ball, it would be interesting to watch the intensity of these already very intense sports at the Olympic level.

 A couple more ideas, like poker, tubing, water skiing and an intense obstacle course would be great to see in the Olympics. So if golf and rugby could be in the Olympics why can’t these great activities? These are just a few ideas for the International Olympic Committee to let roll around in their minds.