Day thirty-eight

The Winter Olympics have begun, and I must confess that I don't have much interest in the games themselves. In general the Olympics typically don't capture my interest, but the Winter Games in particular tend to pass me by. Some people flat out hate the games, but I can't muster enough energy to even hate.

I tend to think a lot of people have trouble taking interest in the Olympics when they come around. Tape-delayed events, many sports to which most people would pay no attention otherwise, and athletes that we only ever hear about in regard to the games leaves little for people to take much interest. In the United States, we like our star athletes but there aren't any right now, unless anyone manages a breakout performance.

It doesn't help that the media reports coming out of Sochi, Russia have made it abundantly clear the Russians have been woefully unprepared for housing the athletes and the media alike. Stories of unfinished hotels and bees in the food have been flooding out, although not the water, ironically, unless you don't mind it being toxic and "beer-colored" when it actually flows.

I heard someone say on the radio today that the Olympics is the host country's opportunity to put on their best face for the world. If that's true, it makes me wonder how we ever feared that the Soviets would conquer the world.