View From The Ditch Bank

SPILLS, CHILLS AND THRILLS.---Well, as you know, the Olympics ended two days ago. I have kinda watched or otherwise kept up with the Olympics for many years now. But I did more watching, keeping up with, this year than I have in years past. Not counting the normal opening ceremony, the Olympics opened with a Russian Luger crashing to his death in a practice run, and ended with Canada winning the gold medal in Hockey. I didn't watch the hockey game. To me, it's kinda like football, only worse. If you don't understand it, and aren't really into it, it is not interesting. I don't watch football, either. But I digress. U.S. ski stars, Lindsey Vonn and Bodie Miller both won gold. On the skating rink, Evan Lysacek, Shani Davis won gold while Apolo Ohno metaled, but not gold. Shaun White won another gold medal on the half pipe and Australian member of the church Torah Bright also won gold in the half pipe. South Korean Kim Yu Na was breathtaking on the ice, skating to Olympic history. Even to my uneducated eyes, I knew she had won. Now I know that an axle is a part of a vehicle,single, double and triple toes obviously refers to the front part of the foot, and a salchow has to be some kind of food the skaters eat to make them stronger, but I still knew she had won. And I had to cheer Canadian skater Rochette who won a bronze medal competing just days after her mother died from a heart attack. I have mentioned just a very few of the medal winners, but there was also the spills. Lindsey Vonn, who won a gold and a silver medal, also had a bad crash,but only breaking a finger, may Lugers crashed as they sped down the track, many skiers beside Vonn had horrific crashes, there were spills in figure skating and on the fast track, heartache for the Netherlands Sven Kramer, who was sure to win gold, until his coach signaled him to change lanes. He did and was disqualified, because he was in the correct lane to start with. His coach made the mistake. There were crashes on the half pipe, and on the slopes and on the ice. There were also extreme moves made on the half pipe and on skies, moves and twists and turns that had never been done before in the Olympics. Crashes that the athletes walked away from, that would hospital me for months, if not kill me outright. These people are extremely conditioned. There were only two doping situations, both for stimulants in cold medicine and considered minor in nature, warranting only a reprimand and to individuals not in the medal bracket. I enjoyed this Olympics more than any other I have ever watched, and have heard several people I know, as well as many on the TV shows, say the same thing. Having said all this, I wonder if future games are heading for tragedy, with the athletes trying more and more to do twists and flips and go faster than ever, until they reach a point of no return, as the spills will be so severe that they take away the thrills. Death in the games, as well as in other events, ( racing, rodeo and other sporting events) is not a new thing. But I fear that it is going to become more common as the athletes push the envelop to develop acts that not only tempt death but end in death, at every corner. And I think that would be a bad thing for the games. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank.