Phil Sheridan: A job well done, Canada

VANCOUVER - There comes a time to tip your toque, and our good friends in Canada deserve our respect for hosting, and excelling in, a memorable Winter Olympics.

They got off to a tragic start, endured a few bumpy moments. But in the end, these Games were a smashing success for Vancouver, for Canada, and for the thousands of athletes who competed - from the top of the podium to DNF.

Canada's athletes won 14 gold medals, the most ever by a single nation at a Winter Olympics. Eagles fans will take special delight in the banner headline in Sunday's Globe and Mail:

"The Gold Standard."

It helps to wait until after you have the gold to make such boasts. Meanwhile, the United States won the overall medal count, essentially, because we led the world in finishing third.

Seriously, it was a great Olympics for the host country and for its blustery neighbors to the south. American athletes have risen to the elite level in sports that belonged to the Austrians, Dutch, Germans and Norwegians for decades: Nordic combined, anyone? How about Alpine skiing and speedskating and bobsled? A generation of Americans - Billy Demong and Steve Holcomb and Lindsey Vonn and Shani Davis - have elevated the U.S. programs from cutesy participants to legitimate powerhouses.

With every international event like this, there are lessons we can learn or choose to ignore. These Olympics were no different:

Death is not an acceptable outcome.

The immediate official reaction to the death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was pitiful, as the International Olympic Committee, Vancouver organizers and luge federation scurried to avoid responsibility. That's unfortunate, but it is more important for all of them to take appropriate action to prevent future tragedy.

"Higher, faster, stronger" is supposed to refer to human achievement - not the sliding tracks, ski hills, and half-pipes on which the athletes compete. Kumaritashvili's death resulted from a combination of things: his own inexperience, the dangerously fast track, the decision to limit training access to that track, and the admission of less-qualified athletes to the Olympics in the spirit of inclusion.

We like the idea of Georgian lugers and Jamaican bobsledders adding flavor to the Games, but it stops being a novelty when someone gets killed.

Lesson: The arms race toward faster tracks, higher jumps and riskier stunts has to be slowed down. You can't make these sports completely safe. Even the athletes who choose these thrill-seeking pursuits don't want that. But you have to make safety a higher priority than entertainment value.

The snow isn't the only thing that's white.

It really isn't anyone's fault that the Winter Games are mostly events that were invented in northern regions. Nobody has deliberately excluded people of color from participating. But it really feels that the Winter Olympics are a lot like Major League Baseball before integration - we're seeing competition that is limited by the absence of a significant percentage of the population.

There is no quick fix internationally, and geography does play a factor. Some countries never get snow. Many African nations have bigger problems than the dearth of ski facilities and skating rinks. South American nations, especially Brazil, play a huge role in the Summer Games but are largely absent in the winter.

In the short term, the U.S. governing bodies would be smart to expand access and recruiting in nontraditional areas. If that makes you cringe at the hint of political correctness, go ahead and embrace the less lofty ideal of American dominance. As China, Japan, and South Korea commit more resources to developing Olympic athletes, the United States would be foolish to let this accidental segregation continue.

Lesson: Shani Davis should not be the only African American kid who gets a chance to speed-skate at a high level.

Sorry, Gary Bettman.

There is no way the NHL commissioner can pull his league out of Olympic participation. Not after the superb tournament that showed off high-level, passionate hockey to an international audience. It would be stupid and self-destructive, although that didn't stop the league from shutting down for the 2004 season.

Imagine being the man, and the league, that dashed chances for a USA-Canada rematch in Sochi in 2014?

Lesson: Hockey is a great sport. Many of us knew that already, but here's another thought: It was a little distressing to note that the U.S., Russian, Slovakian and Swedish teams did not have a single Flyer on their rosters. Mike Richards (Canada) was the only career Flyer in the tournament.

Whether that's because the Flyers really are as narrow-minded as some fans think or they simply haven't developed enough Olympic-caliber players, that doesn't speak well of them. And it might help explain the lack of Stanley Cups.

Just 19 months until London.

Light the torch and let the Games begin.

Lesson: The Olympics are excessive and illogical and entirely worth it.