ACL Recovery and Olympic Frustrations

Hello there. Week 3 is coming up this Tuesday and so far it has been a roller coaster ride. As you all know, I'm a perfectionist and I'm competitive. Neither of these traits are helpful to recovering after surgery. I learned the hard way that too much too fast hurts, a lot. I was being a good patient and doing what the therapist and doctor said, but my knee decided that it wasn't ready for all that, so we took a step sideways. My sister reminded me that its more of a sideways move than a step backwards during recovery because I haven't lost anything, except for my pride. That being said, the main distraction from my recovery has been the Olympics.

Here is our list of Olympic Frustrations:
#1. If DVR was not created, we would not be able to watch the Olympics. It appears to be 2 minutes of Olympic coverage per 30 minutes of commercials. Also, these boo hoo stories of all the athletes get kinda old.
#2. Mute comes in handy too. The commentators need new writers. Or, if they're writing their own stuff or doing improv, they should be fired on the spot. A few of our favorites: "like riding on a magic carpet of ball bearings" when referring to the snow conditions of the downhill track, "the weight of the great sliding nation is on their shoulders" when speaking about the Swedish bobsled team and "the amazing athletes of the great island nation of Jamaica" when referring to the Jamaican bobsled team. Did they mean "the amazing ganja smokers of the tiny island of Jamaica"?
#3. Holding the WINTER Olympics in the humid subtropical climate of Sochi. Max temperature is set to reach around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, real conducive to snow sports. Does anyone else wonder why the snow conditions have decreased to "ball bearings"? Also, shouldn't we be questioning why 18 of the worlds top skiiers can't even make it down the Super G course due to snow conditions? Or the poor performance of the elite snowboarders on the halfpipe which was melting as we watched?
#4. The reporters who get into the faces of the winners (or losers) until they cry. For example, Bode Miller. His brother died this past year from a seizure which happened 8 years after he sustained a traumatic brain injury while racing motocross. The reporter asked not one, not two but three provoking questions which eventually led to Bode breaking down on live TV, which was evident he did not want to do. There is no reason to treat people this way just to get "a story". They should be ashamed of themselves.
#5. Most frustrating of all, I cannot count the amount of times we've heard athletes born in one country, but representing another. For example, a speed skater named Ahn Hyun-Soo skated for Korea in the Vancouver games has since changed his name to Viktor Ahn now represents Russia in the Sochi games. Does anyone else see a problem with this? Also, who do the Reed's have fooled? They were born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and reside in New Jersey, yet the represented Japan?

C'mon world, make some rules.

I know y'all would rather see awesome pictures of Alaska but for the time being, my views have been of my living room. I'm hanging in there and hope to post some pictures soon from the Fur Rendevous and the Iditarod. We may take a trip to Talkeetna as well. We're ruled out Fairbanks for the Ice Festival as an 8 hour drive of 12 hour train ride would not be so great for my knee right now. Thanks for all the positive thoughts and calls over the past few weeks.

Now back to the Olympics that we have fast forwarded and muted.