The Olympic winter Games have fewer sports, fewer venues, fewer athletes and fewer spectators. Consequently, if you are part of the extended “Olympic Family” you are more likely to run into someone you know at the Winter Games than the Summer.

On very short notice, the optimistic son of a friend of mine hopped a plane to Vancouver expecting to find a couch to sleep on and event tickets below face value at the venues. “Mike” and a pal arrived in Vancouver at 1:00am, and caught a couple of hours’ shuteye before they caught a bus up the mountain to Whistler. After the night on the couch, they found that event tickets were not available to the alpine events, but snow board rentals and lift tickets were. They soon found themselves seated at the third turn of the “weasel” on the downhill course, watching skiers fly by.

The following day, in the city, Mike and I attended short track skating, (a sad night for the US, but a happy experience none-the-less) and returned to USA House for dinner. As we were leaving, who should be entering the House but Joey Cheek, the speed-skating gold medalist from Torino who donated his winnings to charity. It turns out that Mike and Joey attended Princeton together, and had a lot of catching up to do.

What are the odds?