Lucky Loonie Trick Getting Old

Everyone remembers Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was a classic for Canada, specifically our Men's and Women's hockey teams. Buried at centre ice was a 'lucky loonie' that went on to become a legend when both our teams struck gold. The coin itself even ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. It may have been a mere dollar but it's worth couldn't be measured to the country and for weeks people were still talking about it.

As with anything successful though, it spawned copycats. While it was special the first time, now it is just old and lame, and last night's NHL playoff game in Carolina is proof of that.

The zamboni driver in Carolina decided to bury a US silver dollar at centre ice in Carolina but Edmonton Oiler Ryan Smyth dug it out and tossed it. Another one was put back in after the Oilers left the ice, but the Oilers won the psychological war and ended up winning the game. Was it because of the coin? NO! The coin thing is so lame now, clearly it doesn't work anymore. Here are some of the many lame attempts to copy the Lucky Loonie;

-TENNIS - Canada put a loonie under the court for the Davis Cup in 2002. We didn't win.

-RUGBY - Canada buried one in the turf in Melbourne, Australia during the 2003 Rugby World Cup...We didn't win that either.

-BASEBALL - Someone put loonies in the St Louis Cardinals Dugout during the World Series and how did that work out for Canadian Larry Walker? Swept by the Bo Sox.

-OLYMPICS - In Athens the loonie was buried all over the place but it certainly didn't guarantee victory. So so results at best in 2004.

-CROQUET - I even buried a loonie in my back yard in 2002 to ensure my victory over my neighbour and all it got me was a sprained ankle when I stepped on a ball.

The bottom line is that unless you are a pirate, you need to forget about buried coins. All that a buried coin guarantees, is that if you forget where you put it, you will be down a dollar.

For those of you die-hard Oiler fans out there, no amount of lucky coinage will save your team. Only one team has come back from being so far down to actually win the cup and that was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. The Oilers got lucky in game 5 but will lose a close one back in Edmonton. Mark my words. Feel free to bury as many loonies as you want though.

Until next time remember, no Payne no gain!