Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Jamaican Bobsledders slide from novelty to farce As a native of the Caribbean, I find nothing endearing about the way the Jamaican Bobsled team is providing tabloid fodder for amusement worldwide. Let me hasten to clarify that I fully appreciated the novelty of having a team from one of our tropical islands participate in the… Read more.
Women’s Snowboard Cross Snowboard Cross, like short-track Speedskating, seems like little more than roller derby on ice. Only instead of on skates around an oval, they compete in this sport on snowboards down a mountain. But the real drama was in watching to see if Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States would finally exorcise her… Read more.
Men’s Hockey Given all of the media hype, you could be forgiven for thinking that today’s qualifying game between Russia and the USA was for the gold medal. And the way the U.S. media and few Americans in Sochi celebrated after the USA won (3-2) only added to this mistaken impression. To be sure, it… Read more.
Dear Readers, As improbable as it seemed when I launched this weblog, today marks the 9th anniversary of The iPINIONS Journal. Remarkably enough, I enjoy writing my commentaries even more now than I did back then. It might be a little more challenging, but I have no doubt that I’ll be doing so for at least another… Read more.
Men’s Super-Combined Upsets continued to abound…. Not only is Bode Miller America’s most decorated Alpine skier, he’s the defending Olympic champion in this event. What’s more, after finishing out of the medals in the Downhill, there were great expectations that he would vindicate his skill and fame by capturing one here. He finished 6th. Remarkably,… Read more.
Women’s Cross-Country 10k Classic I continue to marvel at the way Cross-Country events are bringing out the best of the Olympic spirit – complete with competitors displaying unbridled grit during races, as well as the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat after them. Again, if you have yet to watch any of the Cross-Country events,… Read more.
Men’s Speedskating 1000 (long track) Shani Davis is one of the most accomplished athletes competing at these Olympic Games – highlighted by his gold-medal wins in this event at the 2006 Torino Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Therefore, he could be forgiven a little chip on his shoulder watching far less accomplished athletes get lucrative commercial endorsements that… Read more.
Women’s Ski Jumping In my Day 1 commentary below, I mocked the way the International Olympic Committee was “gilding the lily” by adding so many redundant events (like Team Figure Skating) to the Winter Olympics this year. This is why I feel so incredulous that the (mostly male) members of the IOC forced women ski… Read more.
Women’s Super Combined I got a lot of fatuous, politically correct flak for declaring that it’s more exciting to watch men compete in Slopestyle than it is to watch women. Flak, incidentally, that made about as much sense as getting flak for declaring that it’s more exciting to watch men race down a regular slope… Read more.
Men’s Downhill This is easily the premier event at the Winter Olympics, much as the Men’s 100m is at the Summer Olympics. A better analogy, though, might be to assert that the Downhill is to ski racing what Formula One is to car racing. This clearly makes the former inherently more dangerous, but it also looks… Read more.
