The Olympics are serious; some athletes train their whole lives to be there and win.  Everyone’s on edge and emotions run high. However, as a spectator, sometimes  I’m more inclined to take pleasure from the weirdness than the glory.  I definitely don’t mean any disrespect to the men and women who work so hard at their crafts, but I wonder how some of the sports (especially in the winter games) even became events in the first place.

Curling and biathlon are the first two that come to mind.  The former apparently originated in medieval Scotland and the latter as a form of training for Norwegian soldiers.  So, I guess I can understand how they came about in the first place, but I’m still puzzled as to how people decide to pick either up today.  Also, I may be way off base, but firing multiple rifles in the middle of the snow-covered mountains doesn’t sound like the best idea.

In addition to actual events, I found an article that offers more random tidbits about the glorious games.  My favorite listing might be the official mascots of this year:  Quatchi (a sasquatch) and Miga (half orca, half kermode bear). Not to mention, their unofficial sidekick is a non-mythic Vancouver Island marmot named Mukmuk.  Awesome?

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