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Olympics
Posted By: Sam, on host 64.140.215.100
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2006, at 09:30:26

The Summer Olympics are winning in the current Reader Poll. This seems unfathomable to me.

I suppose if you're not into figure skating, you're out of luck for a lot of the Winter Olympics. I do, but never mind: the Winter Olympics also has aerial jumping, where athletes go to high speeds and high altitudes and do some of the craziest things it's possible to do with the human body. There's also the short track, which is the most fun racing event due to the hazards of wiping out and taking people out with you. Also, the strategy and nimbleness required to outmaneuver your opponents is much more visibly apparent than in pretty much any other racing event. Then there are the mogul and snowboarding events, which are kinetic and dazzling.

The Summer Olympics has swimming. Swimming is great for swimmers, but is it really a superior *spectator's* sport? You don't wipe out when you're in a swimming race. You don't do aerial flips in the middle of it. You don't strategize about how to cut by your opponents by weaving into the inside of a turn. All there is to see is everybody staying in their lanes and either going fast or slow. On close races, yes, it can be exciting, but so can any other close racing event. Then there is diving, an event where athletes perform a stunt and try not to splash too much. Sure, it's fun to watch, but the ski jump stunts are faster and more contorted, and the snowboarding half-pipe is comprised of *many* such aerial moves. And, frankly, it impresses me more if you can do a triple twisty flip and land steadily on your feet than if you can do a triple twisty flip and land IN THE WATER RIGHT BENEATH YOU.

So, people who answered Summer Olympics, what were your reasons for doing so?

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