Can someone please tell me whatever happened to the Winter Olympics? Perhaps it’s an optical illusion, or the hallucinations of a prairie boy who’s fed up with living in the polar vortex, but is that a palm tree I see before me beside one of the venues in Mother Russia?
Who would ever dreamed that it would be warmer there than it was in Los Angeles where they played an outdoor hockey game last month? I exaggerate only slightly. There’s very little snow on the ground, except for the artificial stuff they’re having to pump onto the snowboarding and ski venues. The TV types are doing their standups outdoors, without a parka or gloves.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since the Winter Games were held in a place that was truly a winter city. Nagano in Japan might have been the closest, and that was 16 years ago. Heaven knows we live in a virtual world these days. If you want to create a lake to impress world leaders, just write a big cheque and it will appear.
The cheques that Mr. Putin has written to impress the world in Sochi are the biggest we’ve ever seen for the Olympics. So here’s a thought. Why don’t we build some real mountains on the southern prairies and have the games right here some day?
Hey, both Manitoba and Saskatchewan have shown that we’re capable of staging world class events and having a good time. We love hockey and curling more than anyone on the planet, and we have managed to turn out some darn good athletes in all the events.
And it is winter out here, in case you’ve forgotten. Why not own the podium in the ‘Land of Living Skies’? It’s time to dream big.
I’m Roger Currie
