Ahhh… the Olympics! The Winter Olympics in Sochi end tonight and I have thoroughly  enjoyed watching as much as possible of them. Sadly for Emmie, she was usually asleep whenever they were on. I have a distinct memory of her loving the summer Olympics, especially the splashing from swimmers and the movement of the ball in soccer.

From what she saw, Emmie didn’t seem to have any real favorites in these Olympics, although she did call the ice skaters “princesses,” and commented that skeleton looked like fun (I agree!).

Before they started, I was feeling very cynical about these Olympics. I really don’t like where Russia stands on a variety of issues, and most of the “news” coming out of Sochi before the Games sounded just awful (dogs, environment, Putin, etc.). I was all prepared to hate the Olympics, or at the very least, feel like ignoring them.

But yet again, the Olympics stole my heart! I love how so many of these athletes are closer to “real people” than the multi-millionaire football and basketball stars we normally see. I love the very real emotion you see. So seldom can you see pure, unadulterated emotion on television anymore. “Reality” TV has ruined that in so many ways.

But how can you fake what you feel after completing completing the 1-2 minutes that you have spent the previous decade and a half or more preparing for? How can you hide the joy at knowing it was all worth it, or the despair in failing that goal? And as viewers, how can we not rejoice with them in victory and grieve with them in defeat?

I’m grateful that the announcers and editors at NBC don’t try to bring in politics too much, and try to at least pretend the sports are as pure as we want them to be. Frankly, I don’t really care if there really are scandals or intrigues behind the scenes. I just want those 2 Olympics weeks every 2 years to be a haven, where I can pretend there can be world peace and where I can see human beings struggling together, and rising above false barriers like politics and nationality to excel.