I'm not one to go for the old hocus-pocus conspiracy theories and all that, but I am starting to wonder if the Vancouver games aren't cursed - or at least extremely unlucky.
Follow:
First the luger is killed.
Then the Opening Ceremonies are plagued by some weird screwups - Native leaders don't show up on time, causing discombobulation in the head of state box, the big cauldron malfunctions, the Olympic flag ties itself into a knot when it's hoisted.
Then we hear about that poor figure skater whose mom came to see her and dropped dead.
Then we had the shuttle bus driver who died at the wheel and might have taken a bunch of passengers with him if a fellow bus driver hadn't grabbed the wheel.
Then you had an experienced coach f**cking up unbelievably and causing his 10,000-metre gold medal favorite to be disqualified.
Then we have the bizarre situation of the Dutch bobsled captain who forced his team to drop out of the games out of fear for his safety (granted it's related to the same run that killed the luger, but no one else was dropping out).
And now, while it isn't directly Games related, nonetheless the death of Andrew Koenig occurred in Vancouver, during the Games.
I'm trying to think of a Games that has had such a bad run of luck (I'm not counting single events like the Atlanta bombing, or the special case of Munich). If you look at that list, little of it has to do with the organization of the games, or the venues -- the luger death, yes, though even then it's been noted that the luge run had been in use extensively before the games.
Oddly enough, I was discussing this with my mom two days ago, and I said I was going to consider the games "cursed" if one more death occurred. Then Koenig happened.
Alex
Follow:
First the luger is killed.
Then the Opening Ceremonies are plagued by some weird screwups - Native leaders don't show up on time, causing discombobulation in the head of state box, the big cauldron malfunctions, the Olympic flag ties itself into a knot when it's hoisted.
Then we hear about that poor figure skater whose mom came to see her and dropped dead.
Then we had the shuttle bus driver who died at the wheel and might have taken a bunch of passengers with him if a fellow bus driver hadn't grabbed the wheel.
Then you had an experienced coach f**cking up unbelievably and causing his 10,000-metre gold medal favorite to be disqualified.
Then we have the bizarre situation of the Dutch bobsled captain who forced his team to drop out of the games out of fear for his safety (granted it's related to the same run that killed the luger, but no one else was dropping out).
And now, while it isn't directly Games related, nonetheless the death of Andrew Koenig occurred in Vancouver, during the Games.
I'm trying to think of a Games that has had such a bad run of luck (I'm not counting single events like the Atlanta bombing, or the special case of Munich). If you look at that list, little of it has to do with the organization of the games, or the venues -- the luger death, yes, though even then it's been noted that the luge run had been in use extensively before the games.
Oddly enough, I was discussing this with my mom two days ago, and I said I was going to consider the games "cursed" if one more death occurred. Then Koenig happened.
Alex
