Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. I'm not a passionate skiier by any stretch, but living in Norway has given me an appreciation of how passionate Norwegians are to winter sports, in particular Cross country skiing and Ski jumping. Hailing from a rugby nation (New Zealand), it was quite strange to see Norwegians urge their cross country skiiers the way we New Zealanders urge our rugby players up the field.
Oslo is currently hosting the World Ski Championships this year, and over the next 12 days many things will be happening here in this city. The focal points are namely Holmenkollen, where the actual events are taking place, and the city centre, where the medal ceremonies and concerts are held. I hope to pay a visit to Holmenkollen to see some action, and I normally pass through the city centre on my way home. Never have I seen the Oslo city centre so packed with patriotic Norwegians enjoying the event and party atmosphere that they are hosting.
Because I'm not Norwegian and not so passionate about winter sports, I can't really see myself getting caught up in it all. Try as I might, it's just impossible for me to share the same enthusiasm. Watching the replays on TV would be good enough for me.
However, this is a once-in-a-generation thing. How often does Norway get to host an event like this? How often would I be living in the same country hosting a major world sporting event? Where would I even be in 2-4 years time? Maybe I should show just a bit of interest.
Unrelated to winter sports, about 5 hours ahead in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the ICC Cricket World Cup is also taking place. Now I'm a passionate cricketer by any stretch being from a country of the Commonwealth. Give me cricket over skiing any day! The problem is that Norway isn't a cricketing nation, so there's absolutely no coverage of the game here. If I were still living in the UK or even in NZ, I'd have easy access to cricketing coverage, but so far the only way I can keep tabs on how my team (New Zealand, Black Caps) is doing is by visiting CricInfo.
So, who in Norway is even remotely interested in playing cricket? Perhaps we should start a team, once the snow has melted!
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