"I have no words to say what we feel."

Those were the words of IOC president Jacques Rogge, after hearing the news that Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili had died after crashing and flying into a support beam with no padding adjacent to the track.

It is the first death in the history of the Winter Olympic games.

At a speed near 90 mph, Kumaritashvili lost control just seconds from the finish line, becoming just one of many that have crashed on the the $100 million track considered the fastest in the world. He was the only one even seriously injured.

Paramedics were on the scene immediately, administering CPR while blood poured off of the face of the 21-year old.

The images are truly painful to look at.

As the Seattle Times notes, there had been controversy around the track coming into these Olympics:

"The danger of the Whistler track has been talked about for months - particularly after several countries, including the U.S., were upset with restrictions over access to the facility by nations other than Canada, some noting it could lead to a safety issue. Some sliders, especially those from small luge federations, saw the world's fastest track this week for the first time."

One competitor, from Austria, wondered allowed whether the athletes were just lemmings, crash test dummies on the world's fastest, and possibly most dangerous track.

Just today, during the Olympics, it was announced that the course would be shortened, the cut down on the speed.

What I want to ask is: does this further bring into question the future of the Winter Olympics?

Bear with me a little bit here. The most obvious story here is global warming. In case you hadn't heard, Vancouver was trucking in snow to a mountain that had seen none this winter. Sure global warming is not the sole cause, considering that it is an El Nino year and Vancouver is the warmest city to ever host the games. But the average temperatures around the world are going up, meaning there will be a lot of warm cities from here on out.

Another reason is NBC. This year the worst network on television has managed to completely destroy coverage. There is no video not produced by NBC at all. We've already seen the network force YouTube to take video down after a clip of the accident leaked.

Not only is NBC policing the airwaves, the network is staggering its coverage. Seattle, which had the highest ratings in America for the opening ceremonies, was forced to watched a broadcast delayed three hours. Seattle is a little more than two hours from Vancouver and in the same time zone. It's 2010, you can't hide things with delayed broadcasts. I don't care what the reasoning is, that is inexcusable. For NBC and for the IOC.

Beyond television and nature are the more human factors, starting with the USOC. Want to know why the U.S. was so quickly rejected for Rio, even after the president made a personal visit? The world is sick of the USOC. It is a very American-centered organization (as it ought to be), but with little regard for anyone else. Not to say the IOC dropped Chicago to spite the USOC, well, actually, yes I am. New leadership is required. Without strong support from the USOC and serious American participation, I'm not sure the Winter Olympics are the viable.

Continuing with the human element, specifically from the U.S. angle, are the very public issues of Bode Miller. You might say this is overplayed, and it probably is, but the fact is that his well publicized drinking four years ago did not sit well anywhere. It does not help the cause to have athletes seen in that more professional light.

And finally there is safety. Yes, it is an overreaction to say that one incident like this, the first death in more than 40 years of Olympic competition, will cause the Winter Olympics to be dropped. But the fact is that these sports are far more "extreme" than their summer companions. Miller just came to the Olympics from the Winter X-Games. All athletics are dangerous on some level, but these are called "extreme" for a reason. One man was interviewed and said he had never seen someone fly off of a track in 25 years in the sport.

Not only was the accident a big problem, but the IOC's handling of it has come into question as well.

Yesterday, someone died. This wasn't some freak accident. When the investigation is done, they will likely find that his sheer speed had a lot to do with it. That means it has to be considered simply part of the sport. That is not what the Olympics are about. These are not professional sports. Everything about them is supposed to be positive. Life and death should not be in question.

There are obviously many factors here, but watch this closely. I am guessing some things will be far different in Russia in 2014. After that, it will be even more interesting to see what happens. One of the cities up for the 2018 Winter Olympics? Munich, site of the 1972 games, which are remembered little for actual competition. There are only three bids for those games, the lowest number ever. Will they be the last?