February is a great month to be a couch potato. It's still too wintry to go outside and do yard work. But it's a bit too mushy for really good snow and ice sports.

Luckily for us all this is an Olympic year and we can spend the last of winter snugly hunkered down in our La-Z-Boy's watching world class athletes flying down the slopes, spinning on the ice, sluicing down snow tunnels, and launching off jumps. We can root for hometown favorites, long-recognized champs, unknown underdogs, and ridiculous long shots. During the Olympics everybody becomes a sports fan. Our knowledge of bob-sledding and curling is suddenly vast. Ice hockey swiftly fills up the football void. Everyone loves to watch the Olympic competition.

The drama of a contest is partly the reason for reality TV's popularity in…