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With the end of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, it is now time to take part in Canada’s favourite event – Second Guessing.

When it comes to Second Guessing, Canada reigns supreme. A big part of our success over the years is that we always get off to a fast start.

Now, we have to give credit where credit is due. The British got off to a good start in this year’s Second Guessing event. Before the Games began, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after crashing during a training run. He was the fourth athlete in history to die during preparation for the Winter Games, but you won’t find that footnote in British press reports. Instead, the Brits used the tragedy to sell newspapers. The Guardian led the charge, waiting all of two days before declaring Vancouver’s to be the "worst games ever." That’s some remarkable Second Guessing.

However, when it comes to bad-mouthing Canada’s major undertakings, nobody can do it like Canadians.

As was expected, protestors of all stripes tried to use the Olympics as a megaphone to oppose everything from the use of the inukshuk as an Olympic symbol to the displacement of the homeless in order to make Vancouver seem cleaner.

However, long before the Games even began, professional protestors and anarchists took over, doing their best to embarrass the country through violence. Police were forced to arrest 23 people and tear down a highway construction blockade as far back as 2006. More recently, on the day of the opening ceremonies, about 200 protestors threw objects at police, spray painted cars, damaged store windows and vandalized newspaper boxes. It was enough to give Canada’s Second Guessing team a massive lead.

That was just the beginning. Canadians managed to find something new to second-guess every day of the Vancouver Games:

• After the opening ceremonies, we lamented mechanical problems during the cauldron lighting ceremony, but our elected politicians took another approach. Federal Heritage Minister James Moore complained that the Opening Ceremonies didn’t feature enough French. That kind of cultural Second Guessing is worth extra points.
• After the first game of the women’s hockey, in which Canada crushed Slovakia 18-0, commentators asked why women’s hockey is even in the Olympics, rather than what more we could do to help grow the sport. That kind of Second Guessing is both condescending and counter productive. Way to go, Canada!
• During speed skating, television commentators had a conniption when ice-resurfacers broke down, causing a slight delay. Delays at the Olympics? This wouldn’t happen at efficient German, Dutch or Swiss events! That’s a triple-Second Guessing score.
• When Canada’s women’s curling team beat lackluster Denmark, it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. After the game, Danish skip Madeleine Dupont, who missed two key shots as Canadian fans did their best to distract her, cried. At that point the story became ‘Why are Canadian curling fans so rude’ rather than, ‘Is the pretty Danish skip, best known for posing topless for a fundraising calendar, curling’s answer to Anna Kournikova?’ Canada: bad. Bad curler: good. That’s some world-class Second Guessing.

But what truly gave our country the gold medal in Second Guessing was our vacillating press coverage of "Own the Podium." Early on, our press expressed worry that other countries might not like us, because we had the gall to launch a fundraising campaign to help our athletes achieve their best results. Trying to win gold medals was "too aggressive" for a country that should have been happy just to host the games, some said.

However, once it became obvious that Canada was not going to win the most medals at the Olympics, the press changed its tune, criticizing Own The Podium for not helping our athletes enough. That kind of second-Second Guessing is what makes Canada a world leader.

So, in muted support to our somewhat Olympic organizers, I ask you to hold your head high, but not too high. Wave the flag proudly, but not too proudly. We are the Second Guessing champions of the world and there’s nothing wrong with that. Or is there?