Despite its collection of world class athletes in a beautiful, natural setting, the chatter from the Winter Olympics seems to be devoted primarily to the weather. One would think that outdoor athletes, attuned to the fickle nature of our environment, would take the weather challenges in stride; nevertheless, a steady stream of comments about ice and snow conditions has dominated the coverage. Some athletes and commentators even imply that more could have been done to insure that skating, sledding and skiing surfaces were in prime shape.
Do any of these critics know of a place on Earth where the weather is reliably predictable or where man has significant control over natural events? Can we ever guarantee that it won't be too warm, too windy, too cold, too wet or too dry? Can snowfall be controlled by human decree, insuring that it will be sufficient but not too heavy? Perhaps it would be best if we held all Olympic events indoors, using climate control and artificial terrain.
Of course, some see God's hand in all of this; micromanaging our Universe, he sets out to favor some athletes by sending along puffs of wind or heavy squalls of snow. We could ask Pat Robertson; he might know why God is venting his wrath on Vancouver.
