Luge: The slide that binds
Maybe because it was Valentine’s Day, maybe because it was Day Six of being up at 5 a.m. after going to bed at 2 a.m. and being thoroughly (and happily) chained to the Olympics, but I am tremendously entertained by the two-man luge.
The luge: tiny sled, spandexclad human, feet-first down an ice slide.
But wait, there’s more: Throw your drinking buddy on top of you thus adding weight while robbing you of the safety from a low centre of gravity. Now you’ve got something.
Frankly, it is not outside the grasp of my capacity as your Armchair Olympian to pen an entire column from the point of view of the helmet of the second man on the two-man luge. A GoPro perspective, if you will, of the in and outs, ups and downs of the twist and turns.
“What be those grumblings below the surface of my compatriot? Doth he haveth the chilidog last night, perhaps?”
If you believe in karma, I suspect just the thought would smack you back to a life of Gandhi-like intensions. Namaste.
While watching both runs, of which there are two before a victor is chosen, I couldn’t help but wonder how you decide who’s a top and who’s a bottom? Is there a certain je ne sais quoi that makes one a better top than a bottom? Is it the traditional game of shotgun that’s utilized to select positions? Perhaps you draw straws or throw down some rock-paper-scissors.
Apparently, the two-man luge seems to be the sport, over
all the rest, that truly brings family together. Figure skating
has couples sure, but luge seems to be the catalyst for the ties that bind when it comes to sibling bonding. I mean, I love my brother and all but there’s a limit.
The end result saw a gold and bronze grab by Germany with Austria butting in to take the silver.
Speaking of medals, Canada has broken into the double digits with 10 ranking us fourth along with the big guns Germany, Netherlands and Norway.
Team USA is three behind and if their men’s hockey team is any indication of their future of the games… Let’s just say the boys may be seriously regretting cancelling that pre-Olympics meet and greet. Losing in overtime 3-2 to Slovenia seriously puts into question their unity as a team.
Our ladies took to the ice against Team USA on Love Day Eve. Let’s hope that we have another justification for purchasing marked down, heart-shaped chocolates.