I am nearly obsessed with the Olympics. I love the Olympics. Since the year 2000, I have watched nearly every event of every Olympic games. I don't know why. I don't even like ice dancing, but I watch it. The only events I haven't seen a lot of this year are curling and ice hockey, the former because it's on at awkward times and the latter because I just can't watch thirty hockey games. We've got about fifteen hours of Olympic games currently on our DVR box, with more pouring in each day. Nothing else is getting done around the house, because we have to watch the Olympics.
I find the Olympics comforting. I'm not sure why. Katia thinks it has to do with the fact that the Olympics bring the whole world together—if everyone can be in the same place and get along and play games like curling and go sledding together, maybe there's hope for us after all. I think that's part of it. But there's something else—something I can't explain—that just comforts me. I'm not sure what it is (hell, it might be Costas), but when I flip on the TV each night and downhill skiers zoom by the camera I immediately feel content. The only problem is, in a few days, it will be gone. Then I'll be forced to wait another two years until the 2008 games in Beijing.
Wouldn't it be great if you could buy the entire 2006 winter games on DVD? Or how about select events in the iTunes Music Store? I'm not the only one to think about this (see Mat Honan on the subject), so I'm sure someone at NBC has considered this as well. What's the holdup? Is the IOC preventing this from happening? I'm sure there is plenty of money to be made from selling copies of the games in various formats—I know I would buy a copy. Until then I'll have my DVR recordings, which I'll hold on until the last moment, when episodes of 24 and Smallville will force them to be deleted.