Oh, Canada

s an American citizen who was actually pulling for Team

Canada, the world’s best hockey team, to win gold, all I

can say is that despite the horrible luck which seemed to
follow these games, Canadians should be proud of how they’ve
handled the rather sad situation [of the U.S. beating Canada in
men’s hockey].

You can take comfort in the fact that we Americans would

not have handled it with such class. Don’t worry, you're still
(generally speaking, and like the Brits) better than us.

Perceptively yours,
William Burrus
Prescott, Arizona

[Editor’s note: this letter was received after the U.S. beat Canada

in the preliminary round of men’s hockey. Looks like our “sad
situation” had a happy ending!]

HARD
SUDOKU Solution on pg. 22
Sle Hie

 

 

 

 

 

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© 2008 PageFiller Ltd and Associates www.pagefiller.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

LETTITOR

 

 

 

Worst. Games. Ever.

   

Liam Britten
editor in chief

ell, Vancouver, we sure

screwed this one up.

Despite our best efforts and
years of planning, we’ve given the world
the worst Olympics. Ever. In the history of
man.

At least that’s what the entire foreign

press has to say. The Guardian in the U.K.
wrote a scathing article three days into the
games entitled “Vancouver Games continue
downhill slide from disaster to calamity,” in
which Lawrence Donegan writes that in the
2010 Games, “every nugget of good news
has been followed by the hard rock of bad
news.” He opines that the tag “worst Games
ever’ is fitting for Vancouver’s effort, and
that the problems faced at these Games
overshadowed the problems of the 1976
Olympics that financially ruined Montreal
and the over-the-top commercialism of the
Atlanta Games in 1996.

Do writers like Donegan have any sense of

_ perspective at all? The only problems that

Vancouver encountered werepoor weather,
some protestors, that stupid rising pillar in
the opening ceremony and the tragic death
of Nodar Kumaritashvili during training.

I think we can all agree that
Kumaritashvili’s death was a horrible,
sickening occurrence (especially when
TSN showed his graphic death again and
again on television), but it should also be
remembered that fatal training accidents are

    

not unprecedented in the Olympics; he’s
the fourth to die in such a way since 1964.
Accidents will happen, as will bad weather,
technical problems and civil disobedience
(at least in a democracy). No Games can
expect to be perfect.

Think of it this way; was there a terrorist
bombing in Vancouver? No, so that means
these Olympics weren’t as bad as Atlanta.
Were athletes murdered by terrorists?

No, so that means ours weren’t as bad as
Munich... and the less said about the 1936
Games in Berlin, the better.

Let’s try and keep a little perspective about
these Olympics and what Vancouver could
reasonably be expected to pull off. Sure, we
could’ve tried to create a spectacle on the
level of Beijing, but does anyone want to
spend money on that level for a show? Hell,
the bill for this “cut-rate” Olympics is going
to be bad enough. We can’t control the
weather, we can’t shut down dissent, and
try as we might, accidents are unavoidable.
From an organizational perspective, well
done; in fact, dare I say, best Games ever!
Now let’s get ready for 40 years of debt
repayment!

Your friend in high fidelity,
Liam Britten

Editor in chief

The Other Press

PS. And to top it all off, we beat the U.S. in
hockey... twice. Therefore, these Games are
a success by default!

 

WRITE FOR US!