Niagara Falls, NY – Happy Monday. Happy Presidents’ Day. I don’t remember if this was Lincoln’s or Washington’s birthday or when they decided to just combine them, but yeah—enjoy the day off. And to the parents whose kids are home from school right here with you: we’ll get through this. Monday after the Super Bowl a holiday. Anyway, here’s what we’re talking today: The Winter Olympics, NBA All-Star Weekend, Fire Chris Drury
The Winter Olympics
The Olympics used to mean something to me—I mean the Summer Olympics, of course, because they seem more for everybody than the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics are still a big deal, I guess, to some people. But now that I’m 47, it’s not. Maybe it’s because I’ve got a million different things going on in my life, so the Olympics just aren’t a big deal anymore. I think it’s because times have changed. There’s no Soviet Union, no Eastern Bloc nations competing to beat the U.S. on so many levels. Plus, we have so many channels now. Back when you only had like five or six channels and the Olympics took up one whole channel, that was worth it. I also have to say, it’s not the same. I’d want to watch it with my kids, but they don’t seem to care. There’s no national pride on the line. I think parents helped create that experience—it was us versus the bad guys. Although the commentators always freak out about the medal count, like anybody’s going to get next to the U.S. total. They try to make China a big-time enemy, but I don’t think it quite works. Eileen Gu decided to represent China instead of the U.S., and I guess that’s a plotline, but it’s not the Cold War. The only thing that’s drawn me in this year is women’s skeleton, at the recommendation of some of my friends. I will try and care more when it’s hockey or some of the other team sports.
NBA All-Star Weekend
NBA All-Star Weekend is trying. Congratulations to the contest winners in the rookie game and the Celebrity Game winner. Special shout-out to the Knicks combo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson for winning the Shooting Stars contest. As for the actual All-Star Game itself, they tried a different format this year with two USA teams and a World team playing in a round-robin format. Despite the USA team’s speed, both USA squads and the World team played in the round robin, and then USA Stars beat the World and pummeled the USA Stripes in the final. I guess this format is slightly better—it allows more players, shorter games, and a bit more competition. I just think All-Star games have changed now that players are such large investments. Nobody wants to get hurt out there.
Rugby
I know you guys sont pay attention to rugby but I do recommend you check out The Rugby Odds—it’s a great show. There’s just so much rugby going on right now that it’s hard to take it all in. I’m talking top-level rugby. The premier non-international competition in the southern hemisphere, which has teams from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and the Pacific Islands—Samoan and Tongan players—but the majority of their games are based in New Zealand, so you can figure it out. That competition kicked off on Valentine’s Day weekend. Meanwhile, the premier international competition is going on in the northern hemisphere in Europe, as the European Six Nations Championship (France, Italy, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland) is underway. Plus, the Six Nations B (Georgia, Romania, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands) which is the secondary European nations, are also playing their games. There’s just a lot of rugby to take in right now, and it’s glorious.
Come back tomorrow, for more Aristotle. That’s all you need to know.
