It sure was a disappointing way to begin the Olympics. But enough about the boring opening ceremonies. Georgian luge slider Nodar Kumaritashvili as most of you know died in a crash this afternoon in Whistler British Columbia. Know what helps athletes like Kumaritashvili not crash and kill themselves? Familiarity with the track and lots of practice. Herein lies Canada's shame in this. The track was built exceptionally fast. Some lugers say too fast. Johnny read some of their comments today saying with this track they felt like guinea pigs. Practice goes a long way to make for a safe event. In their newfound zeal to top the medals totals they kept the teams from other nations away from the track allowing ONLY Canadian sliders to use it to gain that little extra edge. Several nations including the USA complained for a long time until finally given access. This sad death does make one wonder if lack of prep time was a factor. Also, who designs sharp turns on luge/bobsled tracks with giant unpadded or protected metal beams coming out of them? That's obviously not good.
Time for Jersey City, After Dark
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