1. Cool that XC skiing has evolved enough that they get what cycling got 100++ years ago: massed start and what we now call Madisons are great fun to watch, and still athletically valid. Back in my day XC skiing was 100% endurance time trials. The hard core purists loved it, but beyond boring as a spectator sport. Imagine if track and field's 10k or marathon were run as a time trial. Who would watch it besides true believers? 2. The US XC team includes children (and maybe grandchildren) of guys I and I'll wager Ben bike raced against in Northern New England in the 70s and 80s. Massive Kudos to the current USA team members, and their parents. And gawd I'm old. 3. Thank you DVR. The NBC network coverage here in the US is a series of commercials interrupted by a few minutes of sport.