Important of tournament stack variance?

[stussy2k]

Yea, i understand that you should generally play opposite to your oppenents style. When i get moved and i see that a few of my steals are called off, i know when to put the breaks on. But the key part of my question is about stack variance. Is the up and down stack a normal occurance? Last two tournaments, i was crippled early, made it back, crippled some more, and then ran good. And i finished in the final table (2nd and 4th respectively). I was wondering if this is generally normal for tournament players.

I think that you have to play looser early in a tournament while the blinds are cheap, and then tighten up slightly(not as much as your opponents because you want to steal). I find that if you keep stealing, the people will eventually get tired of it, take a stand at the wrong place, and BAM, you take em out. Feel free to comment on other tournament strategies.