Howdy from Dee Cee!

Hey, I dig your little pictures in yesterday’s WashPo (1. bald, 2. with hat, 3. with hat and goggles). So much, in fact, that I’ve made them into a little flip-book.

It gives me something to do when I’m bored at work: Brrripp! Hat goes on. Brrrripp! Hat comes off. Brrrripp! Hat goes on. Brrrripp! Hat comes off.

And so forth. It’s even more entertaining than it sounds!

Say, here’s a real question for ya…. Are there now or have there ever been any Winter Olympic events that did NOT involve either snow or ice? I’m assuming not, but I wouldn’t mind knowing for sure.

I suppose that when one is talking about winter sports, the idea is that they are sports which require snow and/or ice, and not simply sports which are, for whatever reason, typically played during the winter months. I mean, we don’t really think of basketball as a winter sport, even though that's basically when basketball season is.

Conversely, most of the events in the summer Olympics could conceivably be done at any time of the year, as long as there isn't snow or ice on the ground to slow you down or trip you up.

Am I overthinking this? Does this really matter? Does anyone care?

Please enlighten me on this one.

Yours,
Jukebox Joel

This is the perfect antidote to the Hedrick-Davis brouhaha.

Dan,

I've been dipping in to your missives from time to time. Honestly, I don't know where to begin. But I have to say, if nothing else, it warms my heart that the good people at the Washington Post have recognized solid blogging/video/cheese talent when they see it. I bet it beats poring over reams of data showing financial contributions to Al Gore's 2000 campaign.

Sincerely,

Russ Tisinger

P.S. The new Balsa Gliders record comes out this summer. You're still the #1 fan.

This is a great story for those who are feeling a bit jaded hearing about Bode, Shani and Chad.

In answer to the question about sports in the Winter Olympics without snow, I'd suggest this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_olympics#Discontinued_sports

Besides those sports currently contested, the Olympics also included (at one time or another):

Discontinued sports

Military patrol, a precursor to the biathlon, was a medal sport in 1924. It was also demonstrated in 1928, 1936 and 1948, and in 1960 biathlon became an official sport.

Demonstration sports

Bandy, a sport briefly described as "ice hockey with a ball", very popular in the Nordic countries, was demonstrated in 1952 (could return to Winter Olympic Games 2010).

Ice stock sport, a German variant to curling, was demonstrated in 1936 and 1964.

Skijg, skiing behind dogs, was a demonstration sport in Sankt Moritz 1928.

Sled-dog racing contests were displayed in Lake Placid 1932.

Snowshoeing (2002)

Speed skiing (1992) (could return to Winter Olympic Games 2010)

Synchronized skating (2002)

Winter pentathlon, a variant to the modern pentathlon, was included as a demonstration event in 1948.

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