THE 2026 WINTER OLYMPICS BEGINS TONIGHT!

As many of you know, I adore the Olympics! Both the Winter and Summer renditions. They each have their own attractions for me. But since my favorite sport in either Olympics, for my entire life, is Figure Skating, I’m a tad more partial to the Winter ones.

So I’m excited that the Games are finally starting tonight. So I’m excited that the Games are finally starting tonight. [Note: Technically, some of the actual competitions, such as in Curling and Women’s Hockey, began as early as yesterday morning! But the Opening Ceremony takes place tonight.]

In case you’re not as into them as I am, but still want to be aware of a few facts about the proceedings, there will be ninety-three delegations, consisting of almost three thousand international athletes, who will compete in one hundred sixteen events across sixteen sports! Whew. (Now go impress your friends with your new sports knowledge!)

But I actually wish that they were due to begin on February 20th instead. That’s because there are several scheduling snafus already. And they are all big ones! Here are the issues I’m already worrying about, not just for me, but for everyone:

The first major conflict is…the Super Bowl! That football Championship, which is celebrated by even non-NFL fans everywhere, who are all down to party for the occasion, is this Sunday, during what is also the second day of Olympic competition!!! And the extra-weird thing is that…they’re both on NBC! That means that if you care more about winter sports than you do about two teams you’re more than likely not a fan of, you have to quickly pay for Peacock to see most of the Olympics on Sunday. And the commercials are the big thing on the Super Bowl, so you won’t want to switch away during them! That means you can’t watch anything else for lo those many hours. And let’s not forget that the coverage for this massive yearly football event goes on all day!!! Coverage is broadcast from early in the morning till late at night. So good luck to all of us sports fans with that.

Next up is Valentine’s Day, which is on February 14th, of course, and falls on the Olympics’ middle Saturday. If you have a significant other, I really hope that the two of you are on the same page about sports-watching, as Mr. X and I are! We never care much about Valentine’s Day, anyway, and would especially hate to go out for it on a Saturday night in any year, so staying home with the Olympics is just fine with us. But a word of warning to the guys, especially—most of you will not be that lucky to have your girl want nothing for Valentine’s Day, and to not even have it mentioned when she’s wrapped-up in sports! So I also send good luck to all of you with this dilemma.

And that weekend gets only worse—that day of celebrating love comes right smack dab in the middle of the NBA All-Star Weekend, which takes place over all three nights of that weekend!!! First up is the stupid Celebrity Game on Friday night, (I really can miss that one, as can all of you guys,) and Sunday brings the actual All-Star Game, in which my boy, Luka Doncic, is the top vote-getter. But the most special part of the festivities, to me, is the all-important All-Star Saturday Night. I live for that night! Even more fun than the featured Slam Dunk Contest is the Three-Point Contest. I love it! So, that night will be the biggest problem for me. I have sixteen timers set at once on my DVR, but the overlapping sports specials are still going to be a major conundrum for me because I watch just about every second of the Olympics, so I either need to stick toothpicks in my eyelids to keep them open twenty-four hours a day, or just get very behind in my Olympics-watching schedule!

And, oh yeah, all of the basketball stuff is also on NBC! Those peeps are most likely going even more nuts than I am this month!!!

Lastly, for some of us, (mainly me,) there will be several missed show openings and pre-Oscars screenings.

But oh well. The Olympics are the most important to me. (But I will try to also watch the Super Bowl so I can review it for you next week.)

And now you know why you won’t be hearing much from me for the next two and a half weeks, although I will still be publishing a few columns during that time.

I also plan on tweeting a bit, @MajorCelebrity, as we go along. But please be aware that I may often be hours behind the action, since so many of the competitions are on at the same time as each other. Still, someone needs to make the announcers aware of their (I’m sure to be many) mistakes, and, as always, that job falls to me. I won’t shirk that responsibility.

And now I wish us all a wonderful Olympic Games! May the best men and women win! And there be no injuries!