Avoiding the jinx!

Sometimes I am a coward. Sunday afternoon, I found every excuse I could to not watch the Canada US hockey game. I spent the afternoon in the garage sanding two pieces of furniture that I am making for the cottage. I have this feeling that if I am watching a crucial sporting event, I will affect the outcome. I know that it doesn’t make any sense, but coincidence seems to bear some truth to this superstition of mine.
Friday night, I chose to work in the garage and not watch the Slovakia contest until the third period, and it was then that Team Canada began to come unglued.
Sunday with the hopes of Team Canada coming through with another gold medal, and having Canada have the most Gold Medals ever of a country, I chose the garage as my refuge. I wasn’t going to watch. I wasn’t going to apply my jinx to Team Canada.
My wife would come and give me up dates. One-nothing after the first period. Two-one after the second. I continued sanding. I had reached up to 330 grit paper on the ash. The wood was shining, and would take the stain easily.
I had the radio on as background noise.
Cross Canada Check-Up was asking listeners “If the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team did not win this afternoon, would the Olympics be considered a failure” The sanders drowned out the talk. Canadians were much in agreement that the Olympics were already a success and were not dependent on the outcome of Sunday’s US-Canada game.
And with less than a minute left in the game, she came out and told me I should get inside to see the last minute of play as Team Canada was going to win the gold. I succumbed to the temptation. And with 24 seconds to go the jinx happened. The US tied the game.
I went back to the garage. I swept the floor. I dug out my fishing tackle and began sorting through the lures planning strategy for the coming season. Bassmasters can get you thinking about fishing.
I had just started sorting through a box of new lures that has accumulated in the past several years, when the door to the garage opened and Marnie yelled “Crosby just scored!” I could watch the celebration.
It has been like that for seventeen days.
Twenty six medals....14 gold. What a record for Canada. We may not have achieved the most optimistic goals for our athletes, but our athletes have made Canada proud. And then the closing ceremonies began with cities from St. Johns to Victoria seeing their streets flooding with Canadians celebrating Canada’s performance Sunday afternoon.
Our national anthem was sung 14 times officially and hundreds unofficially as proud Canadians needing no encouragement spontaneously broke into song singing “Oh Canada.”
The Olympic games has created a great pride in our nation. I suspect that when Vancouver bid for the games, the organizing committee may have hoped the games would create a spark of patriotism, but didn’t think our staid, reserved manner would be ignited.
But it happened. The accomplishments of athletes from around the world are inspiring and our Canadian athletes have already inspired a new generation of Canadians to aspire to be Olympians.
And I don’t think Canadians have ever been prouder of our country. Thank you Olympians.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher