As inevitable as Yankees fans filling Camden Yards for a weekend series, so, too, is the catching of the Winter Olympics bug.
It happens. You have 10,000 sleep-deprived, badly nourished media types and 21 days of contact -- it's like a pool of gasoline waiting for a match.
I knew it was going to catch up with me when a Canadian journalist lumbered onto the media bus and made this public service announcement: "I've got the flu."
Everyone rolled their eyes. No one threw him into a snow bank.
That day, he was everywhere I was, interviewing athletes, pecking away at the keyboard just behind me, putting money into the Coke machine. He was even on the second media bus of the day.
The hammer fell less than 48 hours later.
Even though I had both flu shots, something was attacking me.
Wobbling around, I remembered the "Howdy-do" welcoming bag given to each of us by the Vancouver organizing committee. Rummaging through it (stale gum with a Maple Leaf on each tablet, a Snickers bar rebranded "Believe," a mouse pad, tourism junk) I found two cellophane wrapped boxes.
COLD-FX
Official Cold and Flu remedy of the 2010 Winter Games
Eureka!
And the wrapper had this assurance: Cold-FX is the only cold and flu remedy to have received the Certified for Sport designation from NSF International--a designation recognized by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport and VANOC (the organizing committee)
The wrapper told me how great these pills were and it was signed by Dr. Jack Taunton, chief medical officer of VANOC.
Wow! What's in these miracle pills and why aren't they available back home?
It's ginseng, North American variety.
ABC News found that Cold-FX appeared to have some value, but it was tested on only 323 adults.
Still, the stuff is flying off the shelves here, and the company says it can't be bothered with the U.S. until it can meet Canadian demand.
I've gobbled a box and can report I still feel like every muscle in my body is in some Dark Ages torture device.
Maybe this stuff only works on Canadians.
So I am back to Sudafed, which contains pseudoephedrine, a substance that was added to WADA's list of banned substances on Jan. 1.
The crime? It's a stimulant that boosts performance.
I'm sure my bosses hope it kicks in before the Olympics ends.