Thursday night I am left with one of those tough decisions. I’m in one of those situations in which no matter what decision I make, I’ll end up wishing I had made another choice. And no, unfortunately, I don’t have to choose between having a date with Jessica Simpson and Jessica Alba. This decision involves the remote control, priorities and my addiction to reality television.

The dilemma happens once every four years. For three weeks we are treated to the mystique and drama of the Winter Olympic Games. As exciting as they are, the Olympics inevitably fall right in the middle of the most explosive time of the television year.

This is not a good mix. How am I supposed to decide between ice dancing and CSI? For crying out loud, this is not a choice I am capable of making. Both have intrigue and an inherent sense of danger.

Did you see the Chinese skating tandem on Monday night? The poor girl who weighed roughly 27 pounds was tossed 15 feet in the air and landed square on her knee. I was thinking Willis McGahee in the Fiesta Bowl all over again. Luckily, she finished the routine and the pair actually won a silver medal.

If I watch the Olympics too much Thursday night, however, I’m going to hallucinate and imagine Bob Costas being murdered with a bobsled. Grissom and gang will come solve the case and first accuse Shaun “The Flying Tomato” White, before arresting Bode “The Disgruntled Gate Straddler” Miller. It’s never the first guy on CSI.

That’s the problem – my attention span is way too limited when I know other must-see TV is only a click away. Not to mention that there is a thrilling college basketball game on ESPN, where Marquette and Georgetown mix it up. (The Hoyas are for real and Marquette’s Steve Novak is a mix of a giraffe and J.J. Redick.) The Bulls are also hosting Iverson on TNT. With all this going on, I’m on the verge of a Quin Snyder-level breakdown. Heck, VH1 is adding fuel to the fire by having a rerun of the best reality show this side of Laguna Beach with “The Flavor of Love,” in which Flavor Flav is put in the Bachelor role, and instead of roses he awards clocks. No joke.

How does a guy choose?

Thankfully, FOX is relieving some of my stress by opting not to run a new episode of The OC.

(No, I will not be starring in the sequel to Brokeback Mountain anytime soon. The OC is not that bad. Give it a shot.)

If you haven’t been keeping up on things, Johnny the surfer dude committed suicide last week. I can’t say I was all that disappointed. I never liked that guy.

The Daily is actually giving me my own blog that will start up within the next week online. I’ve been told nothing is off-limits. Scary thought.

I may not make it through the night with these life-altering decisions. I probably won’t watch any of these options, and end up at some watering hole jamming out to the college band Rubicon Crossing. At least I have an excuse not to study. If I keep this up, there is no doubt I will still be enrolled at Iowa State the next time the Winter Olympics roll around in 2010. Maybe I’ll still be blogging, too.

– Brent Blum is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.