OLYMPIC SATURATION...

...you'd better used to it, cos it's here!

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It's interesting watching athletes from around the world do the things they're gonna be doing this week in Vancouver, B.C. And already there's been tragedy, a major technical malfunction and weather that threatens to turn everything sopping wet. On the luge course, one competitor lost control of his sled, careening off the course, and smashed into a big metal support beam located maybe a couple of feet from the track on that fatal "curve 16". He perished needlessly. Is it not wise to put anything you can crash into a couple feet away from a dangerous curve while zipping along at more than 90 miles an hour? Maybe I sound like a wacko here, but hear me out...in TV footage shown today, workers were shown fastening shock-absorbing material onto the support beams, including the one that poor unfortunate Mr. Luger crashed into.

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A lot of good that's gonna do; those post cushions are only about as thick as one of those orange life-preserver vests. I guarantee that if a luger-athlete crashes into a cushioned post at 90mph, unfortunate results will still occur. Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, but for his family, it's much too little and waaay too late. Sometimes I think those in charge of such big events oftentimes display an alarming lack of judgment and common sense. If there's a big steel support beam near the point where a Luger could conceivably fly off the track, didn't someone, anyone, think, "hmmm, could be bad if someone on a Luge-sled crashed into it..." I see this as nothing short of a Drastic Design flaw, along the lines of the "Challenger" disaster. Hint: Isn't the "Luge" supposed to be an outdoor event? This time around, it's inside. Not good. Hope no one else crashes. UPDATE: The starting lines on this ultra-fast luge track have been moved down to reduce speeds, the track itself has been modified, and higher walls have been put in place, all efforts to make the luge track safer.

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A lot is being made of the relatively mild winter in Vancouver, Washington...evidently this is a year in which "El Nino" is bringing in warm air and p-l-e-n-t-y of rain. The precip could drastically affect the results of Olympic Competition, and it would be really ironic if Vancouver actually has to import snow from somewhere else. I personally Hate Snow, and there's no way I'd want a snow-trucking firm to unceremoniously dump a pile of snow on my front lawn. But this is a Winter Olympics, and since the presence of Snow is conducive to said Event, then there should be snow where the Olympics are being held. Hello?!? Vancouver, Canada, is Near Ocean Water. As such, if the Ocean is warm, it'll rain, rain, rain, with the possibility of Really Messing Up The Olympiad. Doesn't anyone think on the lofty International Olympic Committee think ahead about these things?

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It turns out that Washington, D.C., is having the same problem as Vancouver, only in reverse. It's snowed TONS in D.C., and governmental activities are even more sluggish than usual, due to the city's inability to clear the snow off the streets. I propose a solution...let's have all of the politicians set up shop in Vancouver, and relocate the Olympics to our Nation's Capital. I always say, "don't point out a problem without a way to make the situation better." So there ya go. And while yer at it, let's hold the next Winter Olympiad in Siberia. I hear winters are pretty intense there. It'd be great for the athletes, but not for the TV networks, so I guess that wouldn't happen...A Siberian Olympics probably wouldn't be cost-effective. Kinda hard to drive those satellite trucks through Siberian snowstorms...

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Finally, yep, it's been nine days since my last submission. No, I don't have a good excuse. Or even a bad excuse. I should probably fire myself. I guess I'm gonna have to give me a good talking to.