The winter olympics is upon us..

There are two events that happen in the world that most people in this country don't care as much about as they should. The World Cup of Soccer and the Winter Olympics. Now before anyone jumps on me about how Figure Skating is watched by everyone in the country, I will say that is true but that is one event. Olympic Hockey is great to watch and we have a great team this time around but I doubt that will get most Americans off their routine of shows like Figure Skating will. The skiing and speed skating is great but if our two favorites don't win, the press really will pile on them. Remember Bode Miller? He was supposed to be the guy last time around and the press absolutely killed him. Apollo Ono and Lindsay Vonn have the weight of the country around their necks. Lindsay Vonn is injured and yet she is still expected to perform this weekend. She has been the best skier male or female this season. I hope she delivers the goods and puts the U.S. on the map in Olympic skiing. Not since Picabo Street has there been such high expectations. Ono has a chance to make some history. NBC is hoping for a bonanza with both athletes and hope that Sascha Cohen can deliver in figure skating. The Hockey team has its hands full because the world is pretty good. Russia and Canada are the favorites but usually the Fins, the Swedes, the Czechs, do damage in the tournament. It should be fun, but the Canadians are under so much pressure to win since the games are being held on their soil. Sid the kid can achieve Gretzky like status with a gold medal. His Russian counterpart Alex the great has pressure on him to deliver too. Russia has not been the same since the Miracle on ice. They need this as badly as Canada. That is my Olympic preview folks.
Now let me speak from the heart. What kills the Winter Games for me is the X games. ESPN has decided that the traditional winter sports are antiquated and therefore creating an event for extreme/ crazy athletes would be better for the country. And guess what they were right. don't you want to see people riding downhill on bikes in the snow racing? How about snowboarders going so high that they can touch the sky and then crush their faces when the hit the snow bank? Shawn White is more famous than Apollo Anton Ono. Now I know the Olympics have added some of the extreme/crazy events and Shawn White has a gold medal, but the X games have already stolen the thunder of these games. We hear about the X games athletes all year and every year. We only hear about the "normal" winter Olympic athlete every 2 -4 years. It is sad. I will watch what I can. Plus this weekend you got the NBA all star game and Daytona 500. And Danica going for history... Great timing for an Olympics huh...