Talk about Must See TV -- NBC is hosting the Winter Olympics in Vancouver (opening ceremonies are this Friday night) and aside from watching athletes from all over the world do their thing, it's also an awesome opportunity for some family time and to show-slash-teach your kids about pursuing a dream, self-confidence, overcoming odds, and perseverance.
Too busy doing your carpool, commuting, cooking, etc. thing to know who is even competing in the Games for the American team? Well, we've done a round-up of Ten of the Must-Know Men and Ten of the Must-Know Women to watch for in red, white, and blue (and their sport). So when you tune in, you not only know who is behind the helmet and goggles careening down that unbelieveably scary-high mountain at ridiculous speeds and whose all dolled up doing quadruple-axels on the ice, but you also know who is competing in those sports you've never really heard of (like curling or skeleton, perhaps) that seem to be on during non prime-time hours whenever you happen to turn on the tube.
Now, since you're a time-crunched mom, these are just a select few so you can get the chance to learn at least a little so you can teach a lot. But it should also be noted that there are 216 total dedicated American athletes representing the U.S. at these games, so we say: Go Team USA!
Dish with us: Do you have any Olympic dreamers in your house?
Women
Lindsey Vonn
Alpine Skiing
Tanith Belbin
Doubles Figure Skating
Katie Uhlaender
Skeleton
Ashley Caldwell
Freestyle Skiing
Angela Ruggiero
Hockey
Catherine Raney Norman
Speed Skating
Shauna Robock
Bobsled
Katherine Reutter
Short Track
Gretchen Bleiler
Snowboarding
Rachel Flatt
Figure Skating
Men
Jeremy Abbott
Figure Skating
Shaun White
Snowboarding
Apolo Ohno
Short Track
Chad Hedrick
Speed Skating
Jeret Peterson
Freestyle Skiing
Zach Lund
Skeleton
John Shuster
Curling
Ted Legety
Alpine Skiing
David Backes
Hockey
Steve Holcomb
Bobsled