I suppose the Olympics are noisy: the wild crowds, the rhythmic helicopters, the smooth newscasters, the frosty sounds of carved ice or fanned snow. It’s probably a hell of a cacophony, but I haven’t heard any of it. Oh, I’ve been watching the Olympics all right—I’ve been sold on the winter event since I eagerly watched Tara Lipinski seize the gold in 1998 at the Nagano games.

Word on the Street finds out your favorite part of the Olympics.

Ever since my family made it a nightly activity to watch the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, I’ve been enthralled with the Olympics. There’s not a single event in the world that could bring together as many various peoples and cultures to form a single, cohesive marathon of athletic prowess and national pride as the Olympics.

The news recently broke that NBC will likely lose money on the Winter Olympics. I don’t understand. Yes, it kind of makes sense that the country is in a bad place economically. But that cannot be the only reason why. I need to ask: Why the hate? I read an article for class earlier today that posed the following question: What kind of person would leave the television on with no one watching?

Michael Phelps is hot. Now, when I tell people this, I’m always surprised about the negative reactions I get. Is it just me, or has Phelps suffered from fair-weather fans of his attractiveness? I didn’t hear anyone calling Phelps ugly when he was on the medal stand. What’s not to like about the greatest Olympian of all time?

Mere mention of the Olympics conjures up many images, from sheer athleticism to Olympic medals to Michael Phelps at the Beijing Games. Two years later, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, begin without marquee names. The Olympic flame arrives in Vancouver on Friday, and the games begin with opening ceremonies (broadcast on NBC at 8 p.m. Central time) and qualifying rounds of ski jumping.

So Michael Phelps apologized—and he got his sponsors back. Over break I had the pleasure of watching a commercial where Phelps got a solid 1.5 seconds of airtime, with nothing to say whatsoever about Phelps’ earlier pot scandal. Of course, all of the pretending in the world won’t fool anyone into thinking Phelps didn’t take a healthy rip from his bong, but the better question remains: Why do we still care? Perhaps the most reasonable answer is that we simply shouldn’t care.

The first Olympic Games in the Western Hemisphere occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, simultaneously with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, more commonly known as the World’s Fair of 1904, which happened on the grounds of Washington University in St. Louis as well as throughout Forest Park.

Once upon a time, the Washington University football program was of the highest national prominence. The Bears played against the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska. Their famous Olympic stadium, Francis Field, was scheduled for a major renovation, including an increased capacity of 50,000 people. It’s almost a fairy tale, as Francis Field [...]

Although relatively new to wheelchair sprinting, Washington University instructor Kerri Morgan will be in Beijing starting Sept. 6 for the 13th Paralympic Games in that sport.