BRRR It’s Been C-C-Cold Lately

You know, it’s been pretty cold outside the past few days. Cold enough to make a young fellow wonder just why on earth he continues to stick around the upper midwest. Then he realizes that he doesn’t have much choice at the moment, as moving would cost a fortune he has not yet earned. Maybe some day.

This cold weather reminds me that the Winter Olympics are going on. Unfortunately, I haven’t watched any more than a few minutes of the events. It looks just as cold there as it is here, and I don’t need anything reminding me how cold it is outside.

Bryant Gumbel made a funny about the Winter Olympics the other day. A lot of people got in a tizzy about the following sentence: “So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention.”

I heard Gumbel’s remarks in their entirety, and while I don’t take issue with his racial remark so much, I do take issue with his Thomas Paine quote: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” In quoting Paine, Gumbel suggests that Paine thought this of the Winter Olympics, which is of course absolutely preposterous because Paine could have never even heard of the Winter Olympics. They didn’t begin until the 20th Century, and as you may know Thomas Paine was around in the late 1700s and died in the early 1800s. Shame on you Bryant Gumbel for your slanderous remarks.

In the past, I haven’t watched the Winter games as much as the Summer games. I get pretty excited about the summer games, particularly the track & field events, but for curiosity’s sake only I tend to watch Bobsledding, Luge, and other sports when I have the opportunity. Curling seems to be a fascination among many people these days. Why? I’m not so sure. To think you can get Olympic Gold just for sweeping ice in front of a sliding stone. What will they come up with next?

Stay warm.