When I came across EuroSport on our TV I was doubly excited. First, it is one of the only English language stations we get so I can actually watch something for more than a few minutes without getting confused about what is happening. Although I suppose even if it wasn’t in English sports are one of the few things you can watch without having to understand what they are saying. By the way, one thing I have found I definitely can’t watch and enjoy is game shows, which is too bad because they are always on. It might be one of the most difficult things to watch actually because the whole thing is based around verbal questions and answers. There are a couple different game shows I would love to know what is going on. There is one German language one where the contestant always ends up very emotional and crying. It almost seems like they are being reunited with a long lost relative, but have to play some game to try to figure out who it is. Maybe it was the inspiration for Fox’s “Who’s Your Daddy”.
The second reason I was excited for EuroSport was that I was sure I would be enjoying good soccer all day long. That was silly of me. Sure, they are crazy about their football like we have been led to believe but I should have realized the US focus on only a handful of sports would not fly over here where almost everything is viewed on a more global scale. Except for a few highlight shows once in a while there are no random games on since football is only played on the weekends and EuroSport is very proud of its live coverage of sports. It seems like the channel’s goal is to scout out any European Championship or World Championship of any sport and air that. I happen to think they use the word ‘sport’ way too generously.
For almost the first entire week, my day was filled with the World Championships of biathlon. If you don’t watch the Olympics or didn’t own the Winter Olympics game on the Commodore 64 you may not even be aware that the two events that comprise the biathlon are the natural pairing of cross county skiing and shooting sniper rifles. These races are not sprints either. They can go for four hours sometimes and are amazingly dull for something that involves firearms. They also will sometimes cut to an event a good 10 to 15 minutes before it starts to give the announcers time to introduce the favorites and talk about the heated rivalry. The first time I watched, I was actually fooled into thinking something great was about to happen. With races that long, somebody invariably pulls ahead and the announcers are just left apologizing the neck and neck showdown that never transpired.
Being that it is winter; the action does not stop at biathlon these days. I get a daily dose of at least a few hours of ski jump, slalom, bobsled, skeleton or the dreaded figure skating. These are the mainstream sports. Other championship sports I am getting my fill of these days are snooker, bowling (not like pins and bowling alley; more like bocce ball), ballroom dancing, and motorcycle balancing. I don’t know how else to describe that last one. The dudes just take a little motorcycle on this obstacle course and essentially bunny-hop around from one object to the next, stop, lift one foot off the pedal, and move to the next. So although I don’t necessarily understand the sport, I understand the commentators and that’s enough to keep me watching.
Ummm...hello. How could you not like figure skating? My personal favorite is the 36 hour motorcycle race across the desert.