Karma Happens to Everyone

A version of this article was published by Technorati on 28 February 2010.

At the risk of branding myself a contrarian, I feel compelled to render a reality check on Charles Robinson's Yahoo! Sports blog, Team Canada Ruins McKeever's Dream.

For every egoic force, there is a counter-force. This is called karma. This is what the Canadian cross-country skier Brian McKeever is going through right now. McKeever, who is legally blind, was bumped from today's 50 kilometer marathon, in favor of faster skiers.

This may sound like an odd situation, but here's how it went down. Canada is not normally strong in cross-country skiing. So they fielded a team giving the widest number of skiers the chance to participate. So their best skiers are not necessarily scheduled to ski in every race.

But hold on, over the course of the Vancouver games, Team Canada has posted now six top-ten finishes in cross-country events. New coach Inge Braten made the uncontroversial decision to change the line-up for today's marathon, fielding those he considers his best four skiers (the maximum allotment), thinking, Hey! We could medal here!

This bumped McKeever from the race.

Hannah Teter's Charity Set-Up for Long-Term Good

A version of this article appeared at Technorati on 25 February 2010.

Hannah Teter is a snowboarder. Hannah Teter is cool--man, is she cool. Hannah Teter is a force. Hannah Teter is a kid.

At just 23 years old, Teter has competed in two Olympics, winning gold in Torino and now silver in the women's halfpipe event at Vancouver.

Her charitable endeavors are extensive and well-publicized--she supports a town in Kenya and gives prize money to help Haitians.