Andy And The Winter Olympics

(CBS)  Written by Andy Rooney

The 21st winter Olympic games started last Friday in Vancouver, Canada. I love watching the Olympics. I went to the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid a long time ago. I heard they didn't have enough snow in Vancouver; maybe they should have brought some in from Lake Placid.

Every four years we get a chance to see the best athletes in the world compete against each other. They are always counting how many metals each country gets. The Olympics were never supposed to be your country against mine of course.

Figure skating is an unlikely Olympic event but its good television. It's sort of a combination of gymnastics and ballet. A little sexy too which doesn't hurt.

The downhill skiing and speed skating for men and women are great events. You might complain about some of the announcers but the cameramen do it just right. They never miss a fall.

The dullest Olympic sport is curling, whatever "curling" means. Two guys with brooms sweep the ice in front of another "athlete" who pushes a flat, round stone towards what they call the "The house".

I like ice hockey, but it's a frustrating game to watch. It's hard to keep your eyes on both the puck and the players and too much time passes between scoring in hockey. There are usually more fights than there are points.

The biathlon is baffling too. It's a combination of skiing and shooting - which don't go together at all in my mind. The contestants carry rifles. They ski for a while, flop down and shoot at a target, then they get up and ski again. I don't know why it's an Olympic event.

Why would they give rifles to skiers? They don't give them to hockey players!


Written by Andy Rooney

[Glider2001]

Keep on truckin, Andy. Maybe one day you should do a piece on people who write whiny comments.

[smartsstk]

Congrats Mr Rooney,
as slow as you may be, you're still running circles around two with whom you managed to tap a nerve; A dingbat of the highest caliber who needs to Put a Plug In It. Same with the Fork Writer.
Perhaps there should be an new Olympic Event called The Andy Rooney. The event where contestants attempt to write and think simultaneously. Andy wins again!

[austex03]

Andy, you were over in Europe reporting on World War II, surely you must have heard of the legendary 10th Mountain Division. They were on skis and carried rifles. How could you disrespect the memory of the courageous men who served in the 10th Mountain Division by denigrating Biathlon. And if you need more to recant from a position that is so whining, then go to Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum at [e-mail] -----------note that two of the surviving 10th Mountain Division members will be speaking this Wednesday February 24th. And if that still isn't enough, get the Heroes of Telemark on DVD and watch it again. Rifles and skis were an integral part of the European fight.

[Turbo2Pete]

Rooney, you're a dingbat.
Biathlon is an Olympic event of the highest caliber, These athletes have to be at the top level of TWO sports- Cross-country skiing, AND Riflery. Both are physically demanding activities.
I'd like to see you hit a target the size of a quarter 50meters (that's 150+ feet) away... At a relaxed heart rate, never mind after running a mile or more.
Why is it an Olympic event?... Because it's a long standing traditional sport originating in switzerland... Same reason we see Greco-Roman wrestling, Ping-Pong, and many others.
The shooting sports have some 17 disciplines in the Olympic games. Shooting is the second largest after gymnastics (If you want to pick on why should a sport be an Olympic event, why not gymnastics or skating? these are both often subjectively scored, unlike the other games where you don't need a 'judge' to pick a winner)

[clwill00]

Dear god, isn't it time to pull the plug on him? He just whines and moans about things about which he has no knowledge. Get his tail out to a curling rink and try it, it's really hard, and a very cerebral sport if he'd bother to learn about it. And biathlon is all about how hard it is to shoot when you're heart is going 160 beats/minute. His heart couldn't muster 160 beats an hour...

Really, CBS. Put a fork in him. He's done.