It seems the Winter Olympics have lost some personality. Ratings for this year’s Olympics are well below the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, as well as the 1998 events in Nagano, Japan.

There’s nothing wrong with the site at Vancouver, British Columbia, and we certainly can’t complain about Whistler. If you’ve got snow like Whistler, it makes a nice winter.

I know the Olympics has weird events, but there’s nothing wrong with the luge. It’s fine to slide upside down or backwards, if that’s what you like. We can’t object to the skeleton, either; someone has to make these things interesting.

I think the games still need some amateurs, like the guys who practice on their barn roof. Or the ones who slide down their hills on a grain shovel. Maybe the Olympics needs some old-timers.
Where’s Eddie the Eagle, or the Jamaican bobsledders? Those guys made everything interesting.

The last time I saw the Jamaican bobsledders, they were in Calgary. These guys were pulling their sled up the hill and muttering, “We’ve just gotta get some skids on this thing.” Now all of the bobsledders ride to the top of the course in a truck. I don’t think the Jamaicans would ever do that.

And Eddie the Eagle? Whatever happened to Eddie?

Readers may recall Eddie was the ski-jumper from Great Britain, who became famous for his unorthodox style. While other ski-jumpers tried to land on their skis, Eddie couldn’t be bothered with that. He just landed however he pleased.

Eddie would go flying off the jump and land flat on his back – elbows over teakettle, or right on his head. What should we expect from a guy whose country doesn’t have any hills?

The last time I saw Eddie, he was lying on the ski slope with his arm broken. When the medics rushed over to check him out, Eddie said, “I think I may have damaged myself.”

Maybe the Olympics need some new events to spice things up. The Summer Olympics organizers knew that and introduced beach volleyball to help attract viewers who don’t really care about sports. Maybe the winter games should try something new?

I remember when they added snowboarding for the games in Nagano. This attracted a younger crowd and a whole different group of people.

There was some controversy when the gold medal snow boarder tested positive for smoking marijuana, but they let him keep the medal. The committee decided the boarder didn’t actually smoke dope; he just inhaled someone else’s smoke.

The last time I heard that story it was the other way around. Those marijuana folks seem to work together; some of them smoke but don’t inhale, and the others inhale but don’t smoke.

I don’t know where the Olympics will be held next time, but I hope they pick a country with a keen sense of humor. There’s no point in sliding down the mountain on your backside if nobody comes out to laugh at you.

Readers with questions or comments for Roger Pond may write to him in care of this publication.