Am I the only one getting sick of the winter Olympics?

We have a niece who was a top Oz figure skater, & is now a coach, so my lady has a special interest. We regularly watch Oz & world titles.

For me an hour of watching someone aimlessly skating around in circles, trying to look interesting between the jumps that apparently decide the winner, is more than enough. After that I am fervently hoping for a refrigeration failure will melt the ice, & cancel any more such stuff.

Then we have all those fools, in their bulky ugly winter woollies, sliding down hill on one or 2 bits of wood, again jumping in the air, spinning & rolling about, again to please some judges. WE have to watch them, so we don't miss any skating.

Of course I always have my doubts about sports that require some judge/judges to tell you who you should think was best. The thought that a few dollars or favours might have a major effect does come to mind, & examples are known. But in those bulky winter woollies they all look gawky, certainly not attractive. If I am going to watch aerial twisting & spinning, I would chose the gymnasts & divers, who are at least graceful while doing it.

Still congratulations to the Ozzies who have earned medals, & those others who have done their best, I just wish I didn't have to watch them.

//I just wish I didn't have to watch them.//

Then don't.

I'm not so interested in the figure skating, though I was very impressed with that German pair a few days ago. But the skiing and tobogganing is good to watch.

//But the skiing and tobogganing is good to watch.//

And the ice hockey, snowboarding and even the curling... it's pretty much all good. Except for the bloody ice-dancing. How is that even a sport? They should replace it with husky sled racing, which apparently used to be in the programme but was dropped many moons ago. After all, they have equestrian in the summer games.

I was a 7 year old boy at the winter Olympics in Lake Placid in 1932. My uncle was the artist in charge of the designs in the ice for the figure skaters. Athletes came to town and looked for a place to stay. Nobody made much of how many medals each country got. It was all about the athletes. The Stevens boys won a bobsled event and went back to work in their garage next day. It was a lot of fun. In 1936 there were the Nazi Olympics in Berlin with national rivalry, Goebbels inspired torches and other glitz. As far as I am concerned I was at the last genuine Olympics in Lake Placid in 1932.

I was sick of the WO even before it started. Like the other Olympics, it's the same boring, boring, boring repetition of sport, which is as much fun as staring at a blank wall. The Australian obsession with sport - 99% of Australians are only spectators; Australians are very good at letting other people amuse them and do everything for them - accounts for about 80% of the country's problems. Australians are capable only of spectating while everything passes them by.

//The Australian obsession with sport - 99% of Australians are only spectators//

When it comes to winter sports, that's probably true. There is a distinct lack of snow and ice. Still, they're enjoyable to watch.

Toni Lavis "//I just wish I didn't have to watch them.//

Then don't."

You are obviously a bachelor, [or a wife beater].

//You are obviously a bachelor//

Correct.

Jesus mate, does your missus chain you up in front of the telly or something? Couldn't you just go outside and water the garden or something?

Hi there DAVID F...

The '32 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, must have been a magnificent sight for a seven year old boy David, especially as your uncle was involved in an official capacity. Watching as you did the Stevens boys win their Bobsled event, must have left an indelible memory with you in many, many ways, not the least of which, of being able to enjoy viewing legitimate amateur athleticism in it's untainted form.

Rather than pursuing the 'filthy lucre' that has become the hallmark of the modern Olympic movement. Which is apparently riddled with corruption and allegations of drug cheating in momentous quantities. Personally I've no interest in the Olympic Games full stop! That would change immediately, provided all Olympic activity was to be returned to true amateurism - right across the board, less sanctioned expenses of course.

Tony it does appear you are a bachelor.

Unfortunately my knees won't allow me to stand for very long, & I use most of that time flying my remote controlled planes.

Perhaps it is that she was deprived of TV for 20 years, living on the yacht with none, or in the islands with none, but my lady can today actually watch those inane morning shows, infested by ladies with long, straightened, blonded hair, & no brains.

For me, I am restricted to a kitchen chair, or driving a couple of my cars for extended periods, if I want to be pain free. Unfortunately I can see the lounge room TV from my computer, & hear it from my work bench, where I work on my remote control planes.

My old escape of working on my cars is no longer feasible as even a couple of hours of leaning over a fender invariably means at least a couple of days unable to walk. Today by the time I have been down under & back up the half dozen times it takes to do an oil & filter change, I almost need someone to use the engine crane to get me up again. Woe is me, it's a tough life, although much better than the alternative.

We did have an agreement that the lounge room TV was only used on alternate days, but that generated too many sour looks. Having to sit through & try to ignore some horrible soapies is a cross some of us just have to bare.

Hi there HASBEEN...

Mate I do "hear you", and your situation. I can't walk to our letter box now. So it's either stay in bed, muck about on the computer or watch TV. Suicide has been well and truely on the front of my thinking for quite some time. It's my dear wife's the trouble. I've attended many of them when I was a copper and some aren't so pretty to find in situ, unless you're professionally immune to the situation like the police. And of course my first wife committed suicide, therefore I don't want my current wife to confront such a dilemma?

So my lot is a little like yours, my only hobby is somewhat static; it's numismatics. And providing help and coaching students, who're doing units of criminal law for their degree's - Or Criminal Justice Diploma's students. Better than nothing I suppose - Oh medication: - I've been on Ordine 5 (50mls) & Kapanol (50mgs).capsules (Both Morphine ) AM & PM for over ten years now for pain, and as it worsens - I can only go 'up'!

Worn out old warriors old mate. I don't think I'm as bad as you, I wouldn't be dead for quids just yet, but a few problems.

I've been on steroids for about 12 years to control an autoimmune problem, but have it down to a low dose. I bruise at the slightest touch, but that is improving. They won't replace the knees unless I can get off the steroids. Talk about catch 22.

The third heart attack didn't do the lungs much good, so get am out of breath by the front gate, 70 metres, if I forget & don't walk slowly. It is a race between the lungs & the knees to see which stops me first.

I can still drive my cars, although about 400 Km is it in a day. The ladies car is really bad, 25Km to town is too far in it, horrible French thing. Can't handle the passenger seat in most front drives, with an offset foot well, but am OK in a big ute.

I recently found a thing called Vital 3. One of those things you would expect was bulldust, if someone you trust had not recommended it. Before it pain built up very quickly when I lay down, making sleep a problem. It has done nothing for walking or standing, but I can now lie pain free, making sleeping so much easier. Just 3 drops in water each morning, sounds too simple. If it is a placebo I don't mind, as it works for me.

My criteria is driving. If I can't get in a car, & go visit the kids, or a mate a couple of hundred kilometres away, it will be time to consider if it is worth the trouble & pain. I hear what you say about those left behind, but as long as it is not too messy, it may be best for everyone.

Dear Has been, I gave up my car when I moved into the retirement village - no longer trust my reflexes or my judgment of distances. Miss the car very much. Hope you can keep going safely as long as you can.

Hi David, you have my sympathy. Reflexes are not a problem, I can still do a lap of a course, or a gymkhana along with the best of the younger, [30/40s] in my car club.

Losing concentration & getting tired are more a problem. I stop much more regularly for a coffee, & a walk round the car than I used to even 10 years ago.

On one of my regular trips I pass with in about 5 Kilometres of a small town after about 140 kilometres. I find it worth the time to detour to have a coffee at a great little coffee shop.

Fortunately when retired we have the time to do these things, to overcome any loss of ability to keep going when tired.

One entertaining aspect of the winter Olympics was a sheila named Linsey Vonn who sprouted that because of Trump she would not visit the white house after the games. She failed to get a medal hence is not invited. Hilarous!

Hasbeen, I had to chuckle as I was reading your comments, (not about your comments) but I had this sudden flash of us older farts being the two old farts in the audience on the 'Muppets Show'. I thought those two guys were great always laughing at Kermit and taking the piss, I felt quite good after watching them. I would always walk away with a smile. As for the winter games, guys I could not care less if they got rid of ALL sports. And I empathise with some of you, if I could break the TV around the times any sports are played, I would, but then I would have no TV. You see I too have no choice. I thought my wife was smarter, but she follows most of these ridiculous endeavours better known as 'sports'. Out of respect I've tried to suffer through it, to no avail. I have disliked sports for that long that I tell my wife if I have to even listen to it I will do so in the hope that things go wrong or people get hurt and the like. I say to her now that's worth watching. I found that if I watch sports in the hope that things will go wrong or there are major upsets and the like I can actually tolerate it for a little time but then I still have to remove my self or I'll go mind numbingly nuts.

Dear Hasbeen,

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

Dorothy Parker

I'll drink to that david f.

Actually ALTRAV,I love sports. Football & cricket at school, with a bit of running thrown in, but I grew out of that sweaty stuff fairly quickly.

I decided it was better to play sports where the motive power was provided, & you supplied the finesse to control it.

I don't know if flying fighters off an aircraft carrier qualifies as a sport, but it should at least in peacetime. It is about as much fun as you can have, & get paid for it.

Motor racing is another sport with the effort supplied, but you would probably be surprised at how fit you have be to handle 400 miles or more around Bathurst.

Yacht racing is fun, but so is just sailing off into the Pacific to find the romance of the South Pacific.

Show jumping & eventing is another where most of the effort comes from your partner, although a cross country gallop takes a lot more out of you than you would expect. There is something very special here, when you have to develop a partnership, & convince another mind it wants to do what you want it to.

I have done them all, but I am not a spectator. About the only things I ever watch on TV are the motorbikes, & I have never ridden one, so can only imagine what they are doing, or show jumping & eventing, where it is the beautiful horses I love.

My lady can actually watch soccer, which quickly sends me out to do the mowing.

Toni Lavis,
> And the ice hockey, snowboarding and even the curling...

I'm not so interested in ice hockey and snowboarding. I'd have liked to see curling, but Channel 7 seem to be reluctant to show it.