I Confess....

That I am totally, utterly, completely, 100% sucked in to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

It happens every 4 years, and it shouldn't surprise me...but it did. Going into this year's Olympics, I figured that I'd just pay close attention to the men's hockey tournament, but oh was I wrong about myself! I found myself engrossed from the very beginning, including the amazing opening ceremonies' interpretation of 1000 years of Russian history.

I'm just amazed at the dedication that Olympic athletes exhibit, even more than the athleticism on display. The commitment made by Olympians to compete at the pinnacle of their sport once every four years is admirable...to say that it impresses me is an understatement. They train and sacrifice time, money, and relationships (arguably). I'm not sure that I'd be willing to do some of these things in order to compete in the Olympics.

I loved watching a 40 year old Norwegian destroy his competition in the 10k bi-athlon.

I'm probably going to stay up late tonight to watch the 15k bi-athlon tonight....thanks bank holidays!

I was up at 6:00am this past Saturday to watch Team USA's men's hockey team play the Russians in one of the most exciting hockey games that I've seen. Katy was a big fan of my choice of a Saturday morning alarm...ha!

I've become very familiar with the Pampers (good timing for diaper purchases for us!), Coca-Cola, Home Depot, McDonald's, and other various commercials that air regularly on broadcasts.

I'm hopelessly addicted to watching curling. This may be due to the fact that it seems simple enough that I think I could compete at an Olympic level curling...very unlikely. Also, it's one of the few events that Team USA is a decided underdog. We're 2-7 as I write this.  The Swedish and Canadian teams are very impressive.

I'm intrigued by the fact that Team USA's bobsled has been redesigned by a BMW engineer, and has been a closely guarded secret.

The Olympics may generally be a good thing for economies in their locations, but they also tend to open parts of the world that may not normally be open to the international community...such is the case with Sochi, Russia.  There are stories of human rights issues, animal cruelty, and bribery in these Olympics. History will be the judge of the effect of the Olympics on Sochi and Russia in a broader sense.

Then there's the 60 degree temperatures, Bob Costas's grotesque eye issue, Vladimir Putin's selfie with Canadian athlete, and a myriad of other content and character stories designed to draw me further in to the 2014 Sochi games...like a really need that!

One more week to go, and it will be full of news, events, heartbreak, triumph and late nights & early mornings...ski jumping, nordic combine, medal rounds of hockey, and women's singles figure skating just to name a few. Katy will be glad for me to quit chanting Rus-si-a! I kinda like their chant.  Maybe we'll get some good name ideas for our baby girl inspired by an Olympian

So.....I confess....I'm addicted to the Olympics!