Day 15

Before I begin discussing some of the amazing events that happened in the Vancouver Olympics on Day 15, there are much more pressing matters that I feel I need to deal with.

It has come to my attention that there are certain women who are offended by some of my comments. I first learned of it this afternoon while watching Oprah. Were Jane Fonda and Billy Jean King ever pissed at me. I think there has been an overreaction. They claim that I said something offensive, when all I really said was that women shouldn't be allowed to vote, drive or go out in public with their faces covered. Well, actually that last one was just a thought. I don't think that's so bad. I'm perfectly okay with them using regular drinking fountains and sitting at the front of the bus. Anyways, as a precaution I have beefed up security around my house (bought pepper spray) and acquired a vicious guard dog (Poodle). So, to diffuse the situation I offer this apology: I am very sorry if I've offended anyone. It was my goal to offend everyone, and clearly I have failed. So from Day 15 forward, I will try to treat women in my blogs with the utmost respect. But since I now know that women are actually reading my blogs, I'm going to dumb things down just a little.

Day 15 was another great day for Canada. I think I can take a little credit on the Canadian team's good fortunes the last five days. I went to Vancouver on Monday and that's when this Gold Medal streak began. I've always said it's not a party until I show up. In Men's Short Track Speed Skating 500 metres, Canadian's Charles Hamelin and Francois-Louis Tremblay took the Gold and Bronze Medals. They later teamed up with three other team-mates to win Gold in the Men's 5000 metre relay. In the Women's Curling Gold Medal game, Canada took on Sweden. The Canadians appeared to be in control for the last two ends but miscues kept Sweden in the game and then one final miscue by Canada gave Sweden the victory and the Gold Medal. It was a very exciting game and a big disappointment for the Canadian team but they should still be proud of their Silver Medal. Watching Women's Curling is so exciting. Women are great.

Today was the big day for the Men's Hockey semi-finals. The early game saw the US play Finland. Shockingly the US scored six goals on their first eleven shots. And no, Dan Cloutier wasn't in net. It was Kiprussoff. If you remember, he's the one who said he wouldn't play for his home country unless they guaranteed him the starting position. Not exactly a team player. As I said in one of my early Olympic Blogs, the Finns only chance at a Medal is if Anti Niittymaki plays in goal. He didn't even get a start in fact and, well looky here, no medal, well okay, they may win a Bronze. If I'm a coach, no player would be on my team if they wanted a guarantee to be a starting goalie or first line player. You play well and you will be on the ice. Everyone has to put the team first. The US came out flying in this game but even they were surprised at how easy it was. The bad news for them is that they haven't really had a true test yet, besides the Canadians who dominated them for a large part of that game. This easy game may hurt the US in the finals.

In the second semi-final Canada played the Slovaks. I thought Canada looked a little tentative at first but did get out to a 3-0 lead. In the third period Roberto Luongo let in an uncharacteristically bad goal as he failed to cover his post and a puck rolled up his stick and went in just above his pad. That gave the Slovak's life and they kept coming as Canada began breaking down in their own zone. The Slovak's made it 3-2 with about 5 minutes left in the game which felt like an eternity. At that point I was thinking that if anyone is going to tie this game up it's going to be Canuck forward Pavol Demitra. In the dying seconds of the game he got his chance and with a seemingly open net Luongo got a piece of his arm on the puck and it stayed out. They got a scare, and so did I, I'm too old for all this suspense. Canada plays the US at noon on Sunday for the Gold Medal. It should be a great game. The US is already starting a war of words lead by chief mouthpiece Patrick Kane. I still think the only way the US can win this game is if their goalie Ryan Miller badly outplays Luongo. I can't wait for the puck to drop, I'm sure our whole country will be watching.

I guess it's just not possible for a day to go by during these Olympics without some major controversy. The latest is that the Canadian Women's Hockey Team, after celebrating their Gold Medal win on Day 14 against the US, went back out on the ice with beer, champagne and cigars and posed for pictures. I know, I was shocked too. I'm sure the youth of our country will now become alcoholics and cigar chain smokers. There goes our chances at future Gold Medals, we're doomed. I don't know, maybe it wasn't the best idea, but is this really a story? (Incidentally, any women who are alcoholics or chain smokers were only brought to that point by men.) My only concern would be spilling booze on the ice. I don't imagine that would be very good for it. I think it's more than a little hypocritical for the IOC to have a problem with this but they are okay with McDonald's and Coke being core sponsors. I'd say a little champagne on occasion is better than clogging your arteries with a triple cheeseburger and super-sized fries.

I also heard on the news that all liquor stores in the Downtown Vancouver area will have to close at 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights. I just don't get it. We spent over a Billion dollars on security. Why not let them do their jobs? And of course the big question is, what are the panhandling alcoholics going to do after 7? Oh I know, head to the safe injection site.

Well we are less than 48 hours from the Closing Ceremonies and I've been giving it a little bit of thought as to who will perform. I've read that Shania Twain is at Whistler, Neil Young is in town and Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger have also been spotted. I would be willing to bet that they will all be singing. I'll predict that Nickelback will sing Photograph while they show photos of the Games (I hope they don't, that would be cheezy), whatever Neil Young sings he will be sharp, Shania will sing Who's Bed Have Your Boots Been Under while they show photos of Tiger Woods and lastly, I predict that if Avril Lavigne sings Sk8er Boi, I will be changing the channel. At least that won't be difficult, since it is always right by my side, like a true friend. Along with my nacho chips. I'm pretty sure that Michael Buble will perform and I really hope he does Feelin' Good. That would be a great moment. Vanoc President John Furlong called me the other day to beg me to come down and perform, but I told him I had this blog to write and that is more important. He was devastated but he did eventually find a replacement. And I wish William Hung good luck.

Day 16 will have the Men's Curling Gold Medal game featuring Canada versus Norway (and those crazy pants, I think that team should be sponsored by Ibuprofen), the Men's Ice Hockey Bronze Medal game with Finland taking on Slovakia (should be a great game, do the Finns start Kipprusoff?), and one of my personal favorites, the Figure Skating Exhibiton Gala. It's always bothered me that in amateur skating you can't have vocals in the music and you can't do back flips. In the Exhibitions, there are no rules. Plus everyone is relaxed and having fun.

Canada is now in third in the Medal count with 21 medals, but more importantly we lead in Gold Medals with 10, ahead of Germany (9) and the US (8). It's a pretty good bet that we will increase those medal totals, and it's a sure bet that I'll be here in my easy chair to witness all the action.