CANADA, WHAT ELSE CAN HAPPEN?

NAGANO,JAPAN - When the Canadians claimed they were going to win more
Winter Olympic medals than the U.S. they weren't just blowing smoke.

Well, maybe one of them was.

When Canada's Ross Rebagliati had to return his snow-boarding gold medal
because he tested positive for marijuana (pending an appeal), you
remembered your last Olympic trip to Asia. You remember Ben Johnson fleeing
town after his sample turned aquamarine. You again saw Canadian Olympic
Association chief Carol Anne Letheren, this time claiming that Rebagliati
was in fact the victim of second-hand toke. "The positive finding was due
to the time he spends around marijuana users," Letheran said.

Funny, no one has seen him around Pauley Pavilion lately.

Anyway, the Canadians' medal edge over the U.S. shrunk alarmingly from 4-0
to 3-2 Wednesday, and Picabo Street has only just begun to ski.

Our neighbors to the north are not taking this well. Dave Perkins, of the
Toronto Star, suggested his nation should change the national anthem to "O
Cannabis." And apparently somebody forgot to tell Rebagliati that you're
supposed to ride the halfpipe, not smoke it.

"I think snowboarders already have a bad image," Canadian women's hockey
player Hayley Wickenheiser said.