Torino 2006!

Every time the Olympics roll around, I promise myself that I won't get addicted. I won't stay up until midnight watching curling. I won't get obsessed with ice dancing. I won't wake up from dreams about winning gold medals in figure skating. I won't devour every tidbit of knowledge I can glean online about obscure athletes in obscure sports, and I most certainly will not harbor crushes on speedskaters, let alone hockey goalies.

And without fail, every time the Olympics roll around I become completely obsessed. All it takes is about seventeen minutes of watching the TV coverage before I have picked out my favorite competitors, favorite uniforms, favorite sports ... I don't know what it is in particular about the Olympics that gets me, but every two years I lose two weeks to the television.

I love the Olympics for what they represent: sportsmanship, unity, dedication, endurance, and overcoming obstacles. It's for reasons like this that I get teary-eyed watching Cool Runnings. (Don't even get me started on Rudy. It isn't even about the Olympics - for chrisssakes it's about Notre Dame, and I'm a Buckeye, no less! Yet I own the movie and it's a safe bet to make that by the time the whole stadium is chanting "Rudy," I am bawling like a toddler who has just lost her pacifer. Pathetic! Absolutely pathetic!)

Right now, this website (NBC Olympics Dot Com) is on my favorites because this year, like every year, I've become downright stricken with Olympic fever. In fact the minute I finish this post, I'm turning on the television to catch some hot curling action.

My favorite part of the website is the athlete profiles. Do yourself a favor and check out Shaun White (the gold medal snowboarder, also known as the Flying Tomato) and this section titled Q&A, which is a very refreshing read. It's not often athletes at the top of their fields are so self-deprecatingly funny. I'd love to hang out with him just to hear these quotes for my own ears (especially the one about the panda suit).

The travel-related part of the website is the Country Profiles section. It's like a mini-Lonely Planet-esque guide to each country participating in the Games, and it is always good to know the background of your favorite skeleton competitor. Which reminds me, I gotta turn on the TV. That is, right after I finish wiping away the Rudy tears.