Daily Image
24-02-2014
Olympic Excitement in Dwingeloo
| Submitter: | Madroon E.J. |
| Description: | Last week, a mildly ecstatic crowd of starstruck locals, and a smattering of awestruck others(*), filled the Van de Hulst auditorium to watch the Dutch rule the speed-skating in the Sotsji Olympics. They had been lured to the big screen to avoid the network being overloaded by individuals watching the event from their offices. Many had brought their little laptops, partly because they would feel naked without, but also because speed-skating can get a little boring for those with the wrong kind of mirror neurons. Although it is nice to head the Olympic medals table, the crushing dominance of the Dutch speed-skaters is a mixed blessing. It makes us look a bit silly to pour limitless passion and resources into a sport that is mesmerizing at best, but does not sport any marketable features like sexy outfits, or the thrill of grievous bodily harm. This 10km event followed the usual routine: records were broken and the winner's pedestal was uniformly orange. The only excitement came from the fact that the wrong Dutchman unexpectedly won. Foreign commentators try to explain the phaenomenon by conjecturing that skating is the only way to get about in winter in the Netherlands. If only that were true; it would be a welcome change from clonking around in our clumsy wooden shoes. In fact, there has been no ice at all this year, even though the rapid disappearance of the Arctic sea ice is deemed to give us colder winters for a few decades. Nevertheless, skating is deeply ingrained in a country that has lots of canals, and where it just gets cold enough in winter for the water to freeze, with very little snow to ruin the black ice. Of course, the entire ASTROJIVE family gladly joins in the fun whenever possible. Just search our AJDI archive with the keyword "skating" (but not "skate"). (*) Throughout the event, a noted Glaswegian was twittering a blow-by-blow account to a breathless world. |
| Copyright: | Madroon Community Consultants (MCC) |
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