Countdown to 8.8.08*

So. You may have heard, particularly if you've watched any of the NBC networks over the last bazillion months, that there are some Olympics coming up this summer.

I am, to say the least, quite excited about this. I love the Olympics--winter and summer, I'm equal opportunity--and I cannot get enough of them when they are on. I love the theme song, I love the obscenely overproduced Opening and Closing Ceremonies, I love that the world becomes consumed not just by the glamorous sports--gymnastics or skiing, for instance--but also sports that rarely see the light of a media camera, like archery and biathlon. I love the cheesy/inspirational interview/video/photo montages of the athletes. I love how I become thoroughly attached to random athletes who I have never heard of before and will likely never hear of again. I love how Bob Costas, with his almost hilarious sense of solemnity and gravitas, inspires such divisiveness amongst my friends. (Love him or hate him? Discuss.)

During the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, I was a freshman in college and spent hours glued to the TV at all hours of the day. Every evening, my roommate would come home and I would give her the day's US medal count, as well as the highlights. (Incidently, the '02 Olympics are also linked in my mind to a massive drug bust on our university campus--it was the night of the women's figure skating long program, when Sarah Hughes came out of the woodwork to win the gold--including the dorm room next to Ash's. It was a dramatic evening, both onscreen and off.)

Anyway, I spent much of this weekend watching the Olympic Trials (diving and gymnastics) and am suitably pumped. You can expect many blog posts in the coming months (starting on or around 8.8.08!, most likely). However, I would also like to introduce you to Dan Steinberg, who is a sports writer for the Washington Post. He blogged on the 2006 Olympics from Torino, and it was one of the most hilarious blogs I have ever read. It consisted primarily of musings on a) cheese, and b) the New Zealand ("Kiwi") curling team. These may not sound like the makings of a funny blog, but I spent the majority of February 2006 stifling my laughter so as not to disturb my office cube-neighbors.

I don't know yet whether Dan will be blogging from Beijing--I have emailed him to ask, we'll see if he responds--but I offer you Tales from Turin. I encourage you to start at the beginning, but you can also skip ahead to February 11-ish, when the actual games have begun. (Also, this is a big DUH, but this blog is two years old, so don't go emailing him.)

*T-minus 46 days

UPDATE (2:15 PM): It DOES appear that Dan will be in Beijing, which I discovered from his regular blog...which I don't read regularly. So, yay.