Life's Not Fair...or Maybe it's just the Paralympics that aren't?

Okay.
I know that some of you may not be watching the Paralympics like I am.


Hey, today is wheelchair curling and I LOVE curling...
on legs, on wheels, any curling is great to me!

Click this link to check out Paralympic News from Sichi, Russia

But seriously.

I was watching the Paralympics from yesterday....
Yes, I DVR'd them since they are only broadcast LIVE from RUSSIA...

which translates to O-dark-thirty here in the U S of A.

So, as I watched I noticed something...

well, 2 things actually...

that bothered me.

First, and don't get me wrong - I think ALL PARALYMPIC ATHLETES ARE AWESOME!

But, there are 3 categories for the skiing events.
Standing, sitting and visually impaired.

Me, if I had restricted or impaired vision I would not be hurtling to certain death on some sticks...
But I digress...

What bothers me is that the standing class has skiers with either an upper or lower limb issue.
In some cases there is one of each impaired or missing.
Now, doesn't it make sense that the person travelling on 2 legs is going to have a better time down the mountain than the one only using ONE LEG AND ONE SKI???

I mean, really, Super G on one leg at 70 miles an hour???
Can you say TOTALLY AWESOME?

So, my problem is that those athletes are given handicaps...
think golf--- sort of---
in an attempt to even out the field so to speak.

But really, if they can use 2 legs- whether they are real legs or prosthetic...
Why don't they have them run a separate race?

That brings me to the second issue I have...
this is with the sitting skiers.
Well, not the skiers themselves, but again that handicap.

Of course, those with a lower back injury or amputations below the knee will have better abdominal muscles and therefore better arm and core body strength to propel themselves, manage turns, etc.

Why can't there be a more specialized category based on injury level.

Some how it does not seem fair that a person streaking down the side of a mountain on one leg on a
 Super G course should be in the same race as the person doing it on 2 skis with 2 legs.

I'm just saying...

As an avid sports-person I understand that the competition is just that...a competition.
And that for many of the athletes the competition isn't against another athlete necessarily...
but rather against themselves...
to make a better time...
to succeed at a new sport...
maybe even to just finish the event...

This is hard for me...
I guess I wouldn't make a very good Paralympic Athlete...
or parent of one...
or spouse of one...
or friend of one...

Oh, HECK!
They probably wouldn't even let me stand on the sidelines and cheer...

For that matter, BratChild and SIX don't like me to do that...
(but I do it anyway...)

I guess I'll just have to accept that some things will never be fair...
well, not to me that is.

I may not be big... but neither are they

I have STATS!

No, it's not a new exotic disease.
And no, it's not some new-fangled smart phone/book reader/photo viewer/microwave oven/do your laundry magic gizmo thing-y either.

STATS are the breakdown for the viewers who have come to view MY BLOG!
See...

United States 344
Spain 23
Thailand 22
Netherlands 20
Canada 17
United Kingdom 10
Russia 5
Luxembourg 3
Germany 2
Denmark 2

So, as you can see from the above map and detailed viewer demographics... I have someone in LUXEMBOURG who has read ( I hope they stayed long enough to read) my blog!

For those of you in the general populace who have never heard of LUXEMBOURG, it's okay.
Actually, no, it's really not. You really should have paid more attention in Geography back in the 7th grade. You know, the year you had European History? You most likely learned about MONACO and LIECHTENSTEIN too.

I know. You want to know WHY you would have learned about these remote places and WHY I would expect you to remember them.

Well, because they are some of the SMALLEST COUNTRIES in the world!
That's why.

And because the names sound really cool.
And they still have monarchies with Kings and Queens and Princesses and everything.
Like in The Princess Diaries or The Prince and Me- that's the one with Julia Stiles and that really cute guy with the British accent ...

Or like the REAL LIFE romance of Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier of Monaco.



Okay since I brought up these little countries here are some facts you might find interesting... if not you don't have to remember them now either :0)

Luxembourg: Is approximately 999 square miles which makes it slightly smaller than the State of Rhode Island with about half a million people living there. The language is Luxembourgish (really? they couldn't come up with a better name for the language than one that sounds like it's a fancy salad in a ritzy resort?)Along with German and French- which makes perfect sense since those are their neighbors!

Liechtenstein: Is only about 61.7 square miles in size- about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC (which is not a state but a TERRITORY of the United States just like Guam and Puerto Rico)It seems that although they are not big, a lot of immigrants have been moving in there lately... like from Serbia and Herzegovina and Bosnia... probably because the Luxembourgers don't try to exterminate them based on their religions.
(Oh, and the correct term I found for them is refugees of the Yugoslav Wars. Some how I don't think Yugoslav Wars sounds awful enough for what was happening, but hey, that's just me.)

Monaco: This little gem, and I do mean little, is only 3 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC... the place with the Washington Monument and the footbal field sized Reflecting Pool-minus the goal posts .
I have checked several sources and the square footage for THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS...0.7 square miles!
And they have about 33,000 people living there! And about 84% of them are rich people who actually aren't even native Monaco-ans, they just come for the gaming and racing in Monte Carlo and to spend time in homes on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, with all the other rich people.


Now that you see how small these Little Paradise's are - Skiing in the Alps, sunning on the Mediterranean, hob-nobbing at Casinos and Raceways...

Yes they may be small in size, but they make up for it with the WOW! Factor.

Now if I can only find a way to get people from ALL THE SMALL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD to visit my Blog...

How cool would that be?