Better Olympics Experience: Vancouver vs. NBC

During basically every commercial break of the Olympics, Morgan Freeman's voice informs me that if I use my Visa Card, I have the chance of winning the opportunity to attend every Winter Olympics for the rest of my life. This commercial not only has me using my Visa Card exponentially more, but has made me think...

Since the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games, it's been a dream of mine to attend the Olympic Games, either summer or winter (summer preferably, refer to Summer vs. Winter Games). But especially watching these games, I got to thinking would it really be worth it?

Yes of course it would be awesome to be there while everything is taking place, maybe catch an event or two, and to walk around as history was being made...but I realized that, especially with these games in Vancouver, nothing is centralized.

All of the skiing,snowboarding,and other mountain sports are taking place in Whisler, British Columbia. A quick Google Maps search will show you that from downtown Vancouver to Whisler is 1 hour and 51 minutes. I don't know about you, but that seems like a far way to travel, assuming you're from out of town and don't have the luxury of a car. Do they have transportation to these events? I sure hope so. And I'm not blaming Vancouver for this, it might be the closest mountain. And I also assume that other Olympic host cities have also had to deal with this problem. Just in my mind, I picture the ideal Olympic games having all the venues all in one area (yes, I realize this is basically impossible, but hey a kid can dream).

For me, I feel like a trip to the Olympic games would result in only seeing 1 or 2 events. There's just no possible way to see much more than that considering the distance and many events occurring simultaneously.

Now don't get me wrong, I would NEVER, repeat, NEVER turn down a chance to go to any Olympic Games, but I feel that in order to have a well rounded Olympic experience, I'd rather be watching it on TV, flipping back and forth from snowboarding on NBC, curling on CNBC, and hockey on USA. I mean, by watching it on TV you get all these cool camera angles. Consider the luge or bobsled, where basically each camera shot last 1 second long as a luger speeds upwards of 80 to 90 mph by. You get to see the whole run, while if you're there, you're standing at one section of the track, noisemaker of choice in hand, as the luger comes around turn 12, almost hits the top of the wall, and within a second or two is further down the hill where you can't see them anymore. It just seems obvious to me which option is better for actually watching the sport.

But if I had the choice to see one Winter Olympic event, it would be Hockey, which I think I can safely say is my favorite event of the winter games. It's one of the best events to see live, because you can see all the action, each competition lasts several hours, and it'll always hold your attention. USA and Canada both dominated yesterday in their respective games; I'm crossing my fingers for an eventual showdown between the teams.

Looking back on this entry, it might come off that I have a real hatred of the Olympics and those who attend.I don't hate the Olympics in any way shape or form, maybe this frustration is because I am envious over the fact that they're at the games and I'm not.

Whatever the reason, it's not stopping me from watching the coverage of events or from using my Visa card to try and fulfill my dream of being at an Olympic games.

Thanks Morgan Freeman.