Recently, World Cup Skiing leaders and athletes have been bemoaning the cancellation of several competition events due to a lack of snow. You've read my title -- you know who their usual suspect is: global warming. Yes, this insidious geographic menace is now threatening the livelihood of the world's best snow skiers. According to SignonSanDiego.com, "The season-opening races in Soelden, Austria, in October were wiped out because of heavy rain, and the women's events set for St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 9-10 were canceled because of lack of snow and warm temperatures. The men's races in Val d'Isere, France, on the same weekend were scrapped on Wednesday." That's right, San Diego, the mecca of U.S. downhillers and giant slalom skiers. What's next, the Prague outlook for west coast surfing?
Something caused this aberrant weather. Hmmm, what could it be? My guess is that October, while perhaps a historically cold month in Europe, is a FALL month. So is December 9th, according to my calendar. Why not wait until winter? Blaming global warming for the canceled fall events would be like the New Delhi Cricket Association scheduling the championships during a monsoon month and blaming the weather for matches that get rained out. I confess this is a rather simplistic way of looking at this issue, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Besides, World Cup skiing probably has a smaller American audience than the ESPN Dominoes Championships anyway. No one watches skiing unless the Olympics are on, and that's only if the curling matches aren't televised. Also, there's no ball involved in skiing, and therefore (if I am paraphrasing George Carlin correctly), skiing isn't a sport but instead is an activity. Hey, he said it, not me.
What I don't intend to do is debate the pros and cons of global warming, or even if it actually exists. Al Gore claims it's the biggest threat to our national (ok, world) existence. His former boss echoed the same sentiment. What a convenient truth for them. Call me crazy, but I'll take World Terrorism for $400 Alex. I'm truly more afraid of some fanatic wearing a Dior dynamite vest (as opposed to a dynamite Dior vest...) ruining my day while I'm Christmas shopping at the mall than I am of an iceberg that's 6% smaller than a year ago. That's the world I live in, and Al can join me if he wants.
I just can't stand by and let the environmentalists use the global warming argument in sports as a way to make it more acceptable. I'm waiting for Yogi Berra to say something about climactic change. It's sure to be more believable than anything I've heard so far.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment