A Burden to heavy to bear!

The Canadian Olympic Committee is having a wee problem at the moment, seems that they can't find anyone willing to carry the flag into the opening cermonies in February. The general excuse thus far has been that those athletes asked have said that they perform shortly after the opening ceremonies and thus want to remain focused on the task at hand and not of the ceremonial sideshow.

There is also the jinx factor involved, superstitious athletes are fearful that carrying the flag will somehow render them a lost cause when it comes time to count the medals. A quaint little opinion, except for the fact that Canada has not exactly been a world power at the Olympics over the years. Featuring flag bearing atletes or not.

It's a bit surprising that no one seems to be inclined to carry the nations flag into the competition, especially as none of the folks wearing Canada's colours, ever seem to have a problem picking up a sponsorship cheque or Sport Canada pay envelope. Not to mention taking advantage of the few endorsement deals that may come their way from time to time.

It used to be that carrying the flag was an honour that most any athlete would gladly take on, selected as the one person that the nation felt embodied the spirit of the competition and our athletes. If we are to take the lead of the slacker generation, we'd be best to change the lines of O Canada from Stand on Guard for thee to Pass the buck for thee.

As with any bureaucracy there is apparently no shortage of paper work involved in picking a flag bearer, which perhaps could account for the shortfall of applicants. Who wants to spend time filling out forms, when there are the sights of Italy awaiting.

Ah but hang on there Canada, there may be some hope from the hog line. Canada's curling team has suggested veteran curler Russ Howard as the guy to carry the load. If nothing else he could ensure that we get our team through the ceremonies quickly, he could yell out Hurry, Hurry as we enter the stadium and if he wants he can hang around some of the events, should we get shut out in the competition he could chant sweep, sweep.