My take on Olympic Ice Skating

Despite the fact that Ellie has not been too great of a napper this week, Matt and I have still stayed up way too late to watch the Winter Olympics. Specifically, we have watched to see the Women's Figure Skating Competition. Like any typical American, I tune in for the figure skating competitions. The rest is fine to watch, but figure skating is the most interesting sport to me in these Olympics. (Guess what sport is my favorite to watch during the Summer Olympics*)

Anyway, we loved rooting for the American skaters - Emily Hughes, Kimmie Meissner, and Sasha Cohen. I really only have things to say about two of them. Kimmie was great and all (she is also from nearby Baltimore) but that's all I have to say about her. Now, the other two.

First, Emily Hughes. Don't you just love her? She's so happy while she skates. Just like her sister, you can tell she really loves what she does. I absolutely loved watching Sarah, (her older sister) win the gold in Salt Lake four years ago, because unlike everyone else on the ice, she was having a good time. And she just did excellent. I'm sad that she went pro and didn't compete this time around. But the saving grace is that she has a sister, Emily, who seems to have the same peppy attitude. Emily was a blast to watch and even though she fell, I thought she did a great job. You could tell that she was having the time of her life. I hope to see her next Olympics.

Second, Sasha Cohen. Here's my beef about the media portrayal of Sasha. She won the Silver medal! That's excellent news! In fact, that's the news! Why is it that every news article I've seen has a huge picture of one of her two falls? Yes, she fell. It's true. And, more than likely had she not fallen she would have won the gold medal. But she still got the silver, which is no small accomplishment. From the pictures and the coverage, you would have thought she had disgraced herself and landed in 10th place. No folks, she won the silver and she should be proud of herself. Her Russian opponent also fell, but she let the fall affect the rest of her program - earning her the bronze (again, nothing to be ashamed of). The difference between the two is that Sasha got over it and gave a great performance despite two falls on her first two jumps. What a fighter! I hope that in similar experiences, I follow her lead and pull myself up and keep on giving it my best. Go Sasha!

*Gymnastics, of course. I'm so predictable.