A few words about the Olympics

Just a few words on the Olympics.

First, I hate when the Olympics ends. When the IOC guy says, "I now declare this Olympics closed, and call upon the athletes of the world to meet again in four years in (insert city here)" I feel real sadness. I invest a lot of emotion into the successes and failures of a bunch of people I don't normally even know exist, and I genuinely miss that involvement. Plus, now we're stuck watching the rest of the closing ceremonies.

I will be happy, though, to get my evenings back. And all those hours spent watching curling.

Curling. How is it I missed this sport for all these years? Official description of curling: slide a hefty stone over some ice and try to be closest to the center of a circle. Some helpers will use a broom to (wait, don't fall asleep I'm almost done) guide the stone until it stops. What curling actually is: a game of complex strategy that even after a hundred hours of watching on TV with knowledgeable commentators, you will not understand, but which you will not be able to tear yourself away from due to amazing shotmaking and unbelievable drama. Yes, I love curling. I think one person described why it's kind of caught on. It seems like something anyone can do. I even looked up local curling clubs. There is one in South Euclid but I really have no intention of trying it. I have a lot on my plate, and who needs to spend money on the latest in Norwegian curling pants? I think I'll remain content to be a spectator.

Anthems. I love 'The Star Spangled Banner.' It's the most rousing anthem I've ever heard. It's distinct and energetic and it's a great song, even though more than half of Americans cannot sing it over it's full range without going into falsetto or just mouthing the high parts. But at the end of the men's curling finals, when the game was pretty much in hand, the crowd of about 5,000 spontaneously burst into 'O, Canada,' and it was beautiful. I cannot imagine a U.S crowd bursting into 'The Star Spangled Banner.' And for a few minutes I felt envious that we didn't have an anthem that was so lovely and so easy to just start singing as 'O, Canada.' then I remembered we do. We have two actually. 'God bless America' and 'America (the Beautiful).' Either of those would be perfect for an impromptu serenade. Both are lovely and both are easily sung by all but the worst of us. I prefer 'America' personally, and some have suggested that we make that our national anthem but I don't agree. Our current anthem, despite its unsingability, and despite the fact that it's written in waltz time, is perfect. If you cannot sing it, then just mouth the words like most of the rest of us.