Winter Olympics

I hope most of you out there in blog-land have been able to catch at least a little bit of the Olympics the last few weeks. I missed some of the events earlier on last week but have been watching as much as I can lately, because it's almost over. This Sunday is the closing ceremonies already. There is a sense of sadness and depression once the Olympics are over, at least for me. I would compare it to the experience after Christmas, a family reunion, or some other event that was a lot of fun but ended all too soon. The Olympics are an event that unites countries from all over the world to compete in sports. For two weeks every four years (per season), countries all play the same events in the hope of capturing gold, silver, and bronze metals. All of the world events; fighting, wars, and politics get pushed aside for the hope of worldwide comradery during these two weeks. It doesn't always happen but at least the effort from all is appreciated.

A sport that I've been finding myself more and more fascinated by is curling. Within the United States, it's a sport that pretty foreign. There are curling clubs within the United States but they mainly lie along the Canadian border. I know there are one or two curling facilities in the Upper Peninsula, but not that many (and there might be even more - I just don't know of them). I was lucky enough to get a shot at playing curling approximately ten years ago down in Wisconsin while visiting my sister. There was a curling facility a short drive from where she lived at the time and I don't recall the circumstances that brought us there anymore. But I remember attempting to slide a few stones down the surface of the ice and coming up rather short of the target. The game looks pretty basic but after watching it on TV, it seems rather complex. You have guards, sweepers, hog lines, double scoring, you name it. I have yet to understand the rules and regulations involving the sport but would definitely like to learn more about it. The women's gold medal match is on TV right now and it's turning out to be a pretty intriguing game between Canada and Sweden. Here's hoping for future appreciation for the sport of curling within the United States in the years to come.

Many of the sports featured during the Winter Olympics are quite commonplace in the Upper Peninsula. There are hundreds of cross country ski trails across the U.P. and some are more developed than others. The Noquemanon is a cross country ski marathon that takes place at the end of January every year in the Marquette area. It draws cross country skiers from all across the United States. Ski jumping is also very big. Tournaments are held at the Pine Mountain and Suicide Bowl ski jumping facilities each winter and draws athletes from all over the world. It's not uncommon to see ski jumpers participating in these two respective jumps that have also ski jumped in the Olympics. There are several different downhill skiing facilities across the western and central Upper Peninsula and they often feature different ski races from time to time. The U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is located in the heart of the Upper Peninsula in Ishpeming. Several of the nation's biggest and best skiers have been elected into the national hall of fame.

And then we have speedskating. In Marquette at Northern Michigan University, an education and training facility has been developed for several Olympic sports including speedskating. The United States Olympic Education Center has been established in Marquette for awhile now and not only trains athletes in their respective Olympic sport, but it also allows them to achieve a quality education while doing so. Even though Apolo Ohno was not a part of the speedskating program at the USOEC, he often visited and did some training there. Alison Baver attended the USOEC and in the 2010 Olympics, picked up a bronze metal for her involvement in the 3,000 meter relay. Shani Davis, a long-track speedskater and a former athlete of the USOEC, picked up a gold and silver medal at the recent Vancouver games. Marquette was host to the World Cup Short Track Speedskating event this past fall and also hosted the United States Speedskating Team Trials that solidified the team to represent the United States at the Vancouver games. So all of the faces you see competing on the U.S. Speedskating team were here in the Upper Peninsula this past fall. It just goes to show you that Marquette and the Upper Peninsula play a major role in the Winter Olympics every four years.

With the Winter Olympics coming to a close, it's time to look back on the excitement the Olympics have brought across our nation and the world. The current medal totals for the U.S. are a record for a Winter Olympics and it shows our strengthening power in the winter sports movement. We have medaled in sports that we haven't had any success with for the first time in years. Meanwhile, we continue to show our dominance in snowboarding and hockey. The Olympic games are ever changing and no two events are ever the same for a particular country. Some athletes rise from adversity to capture a medal while others struggle (even some of the favorites predicted to win). It's an intriguing spectacle that occurs every four years. Once the Vancouver games have wrapped up after this week, it's another four-year wait to see stars like Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, and Shani Davis compete for a gold medal. However, it's only two years away until the next Summer Games take place. It'll be here before we know it.