Five Ring Circus Comes to Canada

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The Winter Olympic begin in Vancouver Friday.  The Canadian city is one of the crown jewels of the Pacific Northwest, and is a wonderful place for Alaskan-bound cruise ships and for budget-conscious TV and movie producers.

Vancouver's weather is similar to Seattle and Portland, so if they held the Olympics in those cities, few would notice the difference.  But lately, there's been a big problem.  All that winter weather which is typical for the host city has instead been diverted to places such as Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore.  Snow had to be trucked in from elsewhere, so the skiing competitions could take place without downhills taking place on bare ground.

Canada is on a mission to win more medals than anyone else at these Olympics, having pumped tons of money into their national sports system.  And they probably will win the medal count, too.  If not, Ottawa should launch an investigation.  Expect to hear lots of "Oh Canada" at the podium.

One of those gold medals for the Maple Leaf should come in men's hockey, where the Canadians have assembled a massive amount of NHL talent that might prove to be overwhelming.  Enjoy it while you can, because this may be the last Olympics in which NHL players compete.  For this the league is taking two weeks off from its already-long regular season schedule.

The United States has its own team of competitors aiming for gold and endorsement contracts.  Most of them are household names within their own households.  The rest are snowboarding legend Shaun White, short-track speedskating (and "Dancing With The Stars") whiz Apolo Anton Ohno, and this year's It Girl Lindsay Vonn.

Let's talk about Vonn for a minute.  She's been presented to us as this Great American Hope for winning medals in the women's skiing events, which she could very well do.  Unfortunately, she has a bruised shin which might jeopardize her Olympic run.  Should Vonn bow out, all the efforts to make her a star--the NBC commercials, the Sports Illustrated cover of her crouching provocatively, and the swimsuits she wore for that magazine--will have gone to waste.

Facing the possible loss of their meal ticket, NBC will still show plenty of skiing, snowboarding and figure skating in prime time.  (If you want to watch hockey or curling, go to cable.)  Network officials expect not only a loss of viewers (mainly to "American Idol"), but also a big drop in revenues.  That's why ESPN and Fox are considered the front runners to come away with the rights to the 2014 and '16 Olympics.  But does the International Olympic Committee want anything to do with Rupert Murdoch?

So sit back and enjoy the show for the next two weeks.  Maybe by then you'll think of Vancouver as a place to book your next vacation instead of as a stopover on the way to Sarah Palin country.