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The Daily Dose/February 12, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
HIGHER, STRONGER, FASTER: The Vancouver Olympics begin this weekend. We don't really care too much about them, either, although they do have the advantage over the Summer Games of having humans wipe out at really high speeds on skis and while riding sleds.
What The Hell's Going On Here?: One problem we have is that 30 people have already been caught doping and been told not to bother making travel plans to Vancouver. There will be others caught at the Games, of course, and if you think the World Anti-Doping Agency is getting every single cheater you are higher than some of the athletes. They don't. So some cheaters get caught and others don't.
Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: As we feel obliged to do from time to time, we state that professional athletes should be allowed to out whatever they want into their bodies. They are anyway. You should not expect them to do anything less than do whatever is necessary to get the most out of their bodies. If everything is legal than nobody is cheating. Criminalizing it is not eliminating it. So let's stop trying.
Can We Talk About Athletes, Please? As public service, the Bottom Ten staff, having little enough to do during the offseason, have come up with three athletes not to watch for over the next fortnight or so:
Aichiwawa! Hubertus Von Hohenlohe, Mexico. The only Winter Olympic athlete in Mexico's history, Hohenlohe is descended from European royalty and is, at least according to him, still entitled to be called Prince. He is an alpine skier and not too good of one apparently. He is appearing in his fifth Olympics, and his first since Lillehammer in 1994.
Insert Fave African Phrase Here: Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, Ghana. Another skier from a traditionally warm country, Nkrumah-Acheampong is nicknamed the Snow Leopard. He attempted to qualify for the 2006 Turin Olympics, but transportation difficulties prevented him from arriving at the Third World Qualifier in - get this - Iran in time. Not too surprisingly, Nkrumah-Acheampong would be the first Ghanaian to participate in the Winter Games.
Is Eddie The Eagle Around Here Somewhere? Robel Teklemariam, Ethiopia. A cross-country skier despite representing a country where he is obliged to use roller skis to train when he's actually there, Teklemariam has lived in the United States for over 25 years and is appearing in his second Olympics, providing the Ethiopian Ski Federation can raise the bus fare to send him to Canada.
At Least Their Uniforms Will Fit Properly: Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky, Israel. The Zaretsky's are siblings who were born in Minsk, in what was then the Soviet Union, emigrating to Israel when they were children. They are entered in, and probably will not win, the ice dancing competition.
An Opposing Viewpoint: The zany liberals are doing a good job of making Vancouver seem like Beijing. Canada has refused entry to some journalists they thought might be rabble-rousers and not say how great everything is and they're making a fuss about billions of dollars in cost overruns and how the homeless are being bothered and moved out of their usual environs.
Yeah, Well, You Know: Vancouver proper has a population of about 580,000 and an estimated homeless population of between 2,500 and 3,000. That's not too bad. I mean, from time immemorial there have always been people people with flexible housing situations either because they're misfits and were unable to provide for themselves or because they didn't want the responsibility attendant with providing for themselves and were unwilling to. There isn't a whole lot you can do about it.
On The Other Hand: When you live on public streets you sort of have to expect to be shooed away when company comes over.
Department of Irony: It's not too bad a time to be homeless in Vancouver, either, because at least it's warm, with highs in the 40's. In fact it's so warm that organizers have had to import snow for skiing events.
FunFact: Ice hockey, a Winter Olympic staple, was first contested in the Olympics at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium.
Seamless Transition To Dry, Technical Matter: Canada, represented by the Winnipeg Falcons, took the gold medal at the Antwerp Games, followed by the United States and Czechoslovakia.
He Shoots, He Scores! And Scores! Hockey buffs are not still talking about the scintillating competition at the 1920 Olympic hockey tournament. Nine of the ten games were shutouts, and the average score was 9.8 to .1.
USA! USA! The United States defeated Switzerland 29-0 in the quarterfinals and Czechoslovakia16-0 for the silver medal.
Fly In The Ointment: Canada defeated the US 2-0 in the semi-finals.
A Leisurely Affair: To accommodate the sports played on ice, the Games began in April and didn't end until the equestrian events were concluded on September 12. Most of the events were held in August.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter...Or Maybe This Is A FunFact: Canada is hosting the Olympics for the third time. Montreal hosted the 1976 Summer Games and Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Games.
THE SHORT AND SIMPLE ANNALS OF THE POOR: On this date, in 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is born in Hardin County, Kentucky.
3...2...1...Blastoff: Man's first interplanetary probe, Venera 1, is launched by the Soviet Union on this date in 1961. Venera 1 would pass within 60,000 miles of Venus, however it failed to send back any data.
Thanks For The Memories: The second impeachment of a United States president concludes when the US Senate acquits Bill Clinton on this date in 1999. Clinton had been impeached in December, 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was acquitted by a 55-45 vote on the perjury charge and a 50-50 vote on the obstruction of justice charge.
The Way We Were: Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate. He was acquitted by one vote on three charges in 1868.
Thought For The Day: Everything has to be created, and we are the artists. - Deng Ming Dao, 365 Tao.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Martin Van Buren ran without a running mate in the 1840 United States presidential election as his Vice-President, Richard M. Johnson, was not renominated by the Democrats. Van Buren lost the election to William Henry Harrison.
Today's Stumper: The trivia question will return.
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