Hiatus Over

Sorry about going MIA. Back when we clinch.

Working Out The TV

I think I've had the TV on non-stop since Friday night. NBC is doing a fabulous job with these Olympics. It's easy to follow and understand what you're watching at a given time. My only complaint is a little too much beach volleyball. It's fun to watch, but I'm having more fun with some of the more obscure events. The first medal event was women's air rifle shooting, a sport that would seem boring and very obscure, but I was amazed by it. They're shooting at a target no bigger than a nickel! The middle of the target, worth 10.9 points, is roughly the same size as a period on a newspaper. I knew nothing of the sport before watching, but by listening to the commentators and a quick visit to NBCOlympics.com, I felt like an expert (not that it's a terribly complicated sport, but NBCOlympics.com is great for learning quickly about any event). I was oohing and ahhing right with the commentators as someone would score a 10.8. Each event just flows from one to the next too. It's excellent, not to mention it's helped me forget all about the Twins losses on Friday and Saturday. I did, however, manage to pull myself away from the Olympics to catch the 8th inning on of today's game. It's just a good thing Canada won the game for us, 'cause if it went 15 innings and then the Twins lost, I would have really been angry. Think of the events I could've missed!

Now excuse me. I have to go watch Russia and South Korea in handball.

...Or Maybe Not

If things keep going like they have been with the Twins, this blog might quickly become Olympics full-time. The first time I checked the score, I was done. I hate to be pessimistic, but 8-2 is a lot and, I mean, the Opening Ceremony only comes along every four years (well, two kinda, but whatever). Katie Couric was annoying, but Bob Costas more than made up for it. I don't understand the pregnant woman or that weird sculpture thing, but it was at least entertaining. I must say though, the Olympic torch kinda looks like something that would be outlawed by most countries. It had to be said; you know you were thinking it.

A Programming Note

I, being a fan of all sports, even sports I have never watched and know nothing about, naturally love everything the Olympics has to offer. And with NBC and its assorted networks broadcasting Olympic coverage basically non-stop in the coming weeks, I will likely have the TV on 24 hours a day, and will likely miss many days of sleep. How this may affect my Twins watching remains to be seen. I may have to fire up the TIVO, or get the picture-in-picture going. Or perhaps I could take part in the time-honored tradition of flipping to Fox Sports Net during commercial breaks and quickly flipping back just as NBC returns from commercial. Tonight this should be made easier, since NBC and KSTC are just one channel apart on my cable system. From then on, it may get more difficult. No doubt, watching all these Olympic games will be a test of my endurance and stamina, but I feel I am up to the task.

So over the course of the next few weeks, expect a mix of topics here. I likely will write about what I saw during the Olympics today as well as whatever I can scrape together about the Twins.

Finally

One minute, the Twins are beating up on everyone who crosses their path, and then you look again and they can't beat even one of the worst teams in the league. But no reason to complain, because they won today. I called Morneau's second home run, but no one was there to witness this excellent prediction. Santana wasn't quite up to form tonight; just seven strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Dreadful, just dreadful.

Now we play Cleveland, which could have a huge impact on whether or not there's a pennant race come September. The truth is, while I loved the pennant race last year and I thought that having it come down to the wire last year made clinching so much better, I'd rather have us clinch early on. That way, I don't have to pull out my hair worrying about the status of the team.