by The Cowl Editor on February 1, 2018
PCI
By Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Sports Staff
The Winter Olympics are the best kind of games simply because of the sports that are offered. The most significant example is hockey, a sport in which some sort of competitive balance still exists. As compared to basketball or gymnastics in the summer, both of which have been dominated by Americans in recent years, hockey is the most well-known and most competitive sport in the Olympics. Teams from all across the Northern Hemisphere have a chance to win at hockey, including powerhouses Canada, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
In addition to a better competitive balance, the Winter Olympics are also more viewer-friendly because they last for about a month just like the Summer Games, but they have much fewer events, which means that events can be scheduled at times that are best for the most viewers. Being a dedicated fan of the Summer Olympics requires watching almost 20 hours of footage a day, due to the non-stop nature of the schedule. The Winter Olympics have a much more relaxed pace, giving viewers the ability to spend less time watching the television.
Finally, the Winter Olympics are also better because they are usually held in lesser-known cities around the world. The Summer Olympics are held in large, congested, and well-known cities in very industrialized nations. The Winter Olympics are more often held in smaller cities, which are given the opportunity to grow and rise to the occasion.
For those of us who enjoy seeing smaller cities around the world, and for the avid hockey fans, the Winter Olympics are the best games to watch.