Day 14

The Headline in the Sports section of The Province read 'Bravo Joannie', but I kinda like 'Joannie Loves Quatchi' myself. Day 14 at the Vancouver Olympics was yet another amazing day to be a sports fan. There was drama. There was suspense. And there were tears. Many, many tears. And I'm only speaking for myself. The Joannie I was referring to is Canada's Joannie Rochette, who was competing in the Ladies Figure Skating. As most of you know, her Mother flew in from Quebec last Saturday, and died suddenly in Vancouver General Hospital on Sunday. She skated the Short Program flawlessly on Tuesday and then broke down and cried on her coach's shoulder. Thursday night at the Pacific Coliseum was the Free Skate. I have previously made fun of women falling all over the ice in the Pairs competition but it was a magical night for most of the women on Day 14. There were some amazing performances. None more emotional than Rochette's. Hers wasn't flawless, but on this night, under these circumstances, it was spectacular. The crowd were on their feet when it was over and, unlike during the Short Program, she was able to keep herself under control. I wish I could say the same for myself. She ended up winning the Bronze Medal, and I'm sure her Mother was watching over her from somewhere beaming with pride. Yu-Na Kim from South Korea skated flawlessly while Canadian coach Brian Orser looked on. She took the Gold Medal by a wide margin. Mao Asada of Japan took the Silver.

Both the men and women played their semi-finals on Day 14. In the Women's, Canada got past Switzerland 6-5 and Sweden beat China 9-4. In the Men's event, Canada beat Sweden 6-3 and Norway beat Switzerland 7-5. The Women's final is today and the Men's final is Saturday. When asked if he was excited to be in the Gold Medal game, Canadian skip Kevin Martin said "Yep, yep, YEP, HURRY!!"

Probably the most anticipated event on this day was the Women's Ice Hockey Final, featuring the two dominant teams, the US and Canada. There has been some trash talking going on in recent days. Women can be bitches. That's all I have to say. Let's just move on. It was a very exciting and intense game. Canada ended up winning 2-0 with Marie-Philip Poulin scoring both goals and goaltender Shannon Szabados doing everything except a double back-flip with a triple twist to earn her shutout. The Canadian women celebrated while the American women cried. It doesn't get any better than that.

The Gold Medal our Women's Ice Hockey Team won brought us to a total of 8 Gold Medals tying us for first with the US and Germany. That's pretty impressive company. We have a really good chance of at least three more, but I don't want to jinx it so I'm not going to get any more specific than that. Although we haven't necessarily 'owned the Podium' this Olympics, I think we've done very well. I still don't know who came up with that stupid phrase. Having said that, when I have diarrhea, I tend to 'own the Immodium'. Okay, now that was just unnecessary. Forget I even said that. Or had diarrhea.

The reason I created The Easy Chair Olympic Blog was because I wanted it to be like my own journal, a souvenir from the Games that I could look back on. (Incidentally, for weeks I had planned to call it "The Armchair Olympic Blog" and I was mortified when I saw that exact heading in The Province two days before the Opening Ceremonies.) I had no idea if anyone would actually read it, I just thought it would be fun. It's not like I was trying to become the second coming of Edgar Allan Poe or anything, but the fact that I have is just a bonus.

Well we are only 3 days away from the end of this amazing ride. It's a ride that I'm very reluctant to get off of. On the bright side, this Legacy will last forever and many people around the World will look very favorably upon Vancouver for years to come. And perhaps even more importantly, we will be even more proud of this fine city in this spectacularly beautiful Province. While they may extinguish the torch, they will never extinguish the torch in our Hearts. Hmm, maybe I should be writing Hallmark Cards.

Day 15 has two significant events. It's the Women's Curling Gold Medal game featuring Canada and Sweden, and the Men's Hockey Semi-Finals with the US playing Finland in the first Semi, and Canada playing Slovakia in the second. I'm going with the Finns in the first game. I have not been impressed with the Americans at all, besides Goalie Ryan Miller, and unless they can shore up their defense, this will be the end of the road for them. In the other game, don't look for a blowout. This could be closer than people expect. The Slovaks have some great players and a great Goalie. They will clog up the middle and this game will not be as wide open as the Russia game. I think that Canada will pull through and I'll say 4-2. Either way both should be great games and I may even go through two bags of chips and a 2 litre of Coke Zero. I can't help it, I eat when I get nervous. Of course I also eat when I'm relaxed though. Hmm, maybe that's why I'm wearing maternity clothes.