Connor Carrick is probably never going to be considered the very best at his game. There's nothing wrong with that; there are a ton of hockey players out there, and to have already made it as far as he has - playing professional hockey for three years now - is pretty remarkable in its own right.

So you could say Carrick has a unique perspective on the Olympics; one many of us will never have. Sure, there's the typical livetweeting everyone does...

... But then, there's also this.

When you think about it, that really is insane.

But it's in that first tweet, "the training done with no one watching," that's a really good way of looking at this. Every four years, these athletes dominate the world's attention for a two-week span - and then that's it. Sure, the diehards in their respective sports will follow their careers during the in between, but for the most part, these are athletes who toil in relative obscurity - especially when you compare them to someone like Carrick who, at this point in time, is still just an NHL hopeful.

Carrick knows what it's like to work at his craft and have the spotlight on him throughout it, so it takes someone like him to just really appreciate all the hard work that goes into these Olympic sports, and how little recognition is relatively received for all the blood, sweat, and tears they require.