At Least We Have the Olympics
Young Bill Young here. I really, really, really don’t like the winter of 2009-2010. I usually like snow, but that Christmas Eve blizzard completely destroyed my holiday plans. And that last snowy blast that hit OKC put me way behind at work and at home.
At least we have the Olympics. I tend to watch the Winter games more than the Summer games because I’m a skating fan. Plus, track runners just can’t match the speed of those downhill racers. And then there’s the luge! It’s a rush to watch!
Want some reading to go along with your Olympic televiewing? How about The Winter Olympics: An Insider’s Guide to the Legends, Lore and Events of the Games? Author Ron Judd provides a history on each competitive sport, along with key figures, rising stars, judging info, anecdotes, and fascinating facts.
For the youngster in your life, there’s Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics by Sue Macy. Spectacular photography is coupled with Macy’s prose to give young readers a Winter Olympics 101 experience. Plus, there’s a foreword by ice skater extraordinaire Peggy Flemming.
Speaking of ice skating… if you’re a fan of ice dancing and you don’t like Britain’s Torvill and Dean, then we need to talk! You may be too young to remember the stunning performances by this graceful and athletic pair, but you *can* check them out on You Tube. Here they are dancing to Bolero at the 1984 Olympics. A Gold Medal performance. Priceless!
And here they are at the 1994 Olympics, where they were robbed (robbed, I tell you!) of the Gold Medal.
In Torvill and Dean: The Autobiography of Ice Dancing’s Greatest Stars, the athletes tell their own story, complete with all of the chaos and conflicts behind the scenes. For youngsters, try Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean: Ice Dancing’s Perfect Pair by Franny Shuker-Haines.
OK, that’s my Winter Olympics reading list. And let’s just end this by saying, GO TEAM USA!!
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Quick comment. I absolutely adore Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, but you have the description of the Bolero incorrect.
“Dean is the matador, and Torvill is his cape in this Gold Medal performance.” – This is description should be for their Paso Doble, Original Step program that they skated before the Bolero.
Bolero is Romeo & Juliet style Free Dance program they performed where they play star-crossed lovers who scale a volcano and then throw themselves in at the end.
Best.