Sunday, March 9, 2008

Chandra, again

I love the Olympics, and can find it in my heart to enjoy almost every sport that falls within its purview, Winter or Summer (not that a few haven't tested me over the years, like trampolining or synchronized swimming, and there are sports that don't belong, like tennis). Without waxing rhapsodic on my reasons (I have to save some blog ideas for August), I have enjoyed the Olympic Games ever since I was young, even as I acknowledge its problems (gigantism, corporatism, nationalism).

Readers of the Chicago Tribune are fortunate to have Phil Hersh covering the international sports beat. This is a guy who, despite being from the backwater of international sports, has been named among the most influential in the world by a German publication. But even Phil can't cover everything.

So I only just found out that the great cross-country skier Chandra Crawford won again last weekend, this time in Finland. I won't reiterate what I've written before, but I'm a big fan of her attitude and approach, and so am thrilled for her success. As I wrote before, I was in her hometown last year on vacation, so I have that extra connection to her. (That was absolutely a joke.)

Anyway, it's fun to be a fan. I love sports, and it's so easy to get disillusioned. But corporate greed doesn't seem to have taken over X-C skiing, not yet, and I'm not inundated with minutia about the sport, so I can still enjoy it and the people in it. May I continue my relative ignorance, and continued good luck to charming Chandra.

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