Day 3

GOOOOOLLLDDDD!!! That's the sound that was heard across Canada from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. At least I think I heard it. Then again I'd had a bit too much Pinot Grigio by the time Canadian Men's Freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau captured the Gold Medal in Men's Moguls, and captured Canadian's Hearts. I'm officially declaring February 14th Alex Bilodeau Day! Oh wait. It's already Valentine's Day. Well he accepts his Gold Medal on the 15th, let's go with that date. Works for me. As long as we get an extra day off work every year. I don't know what it is about the Moguls events, but they are very intense and if I'd had any fingernails left they would have been gone by the final skier. (It's a filthy habit, I know.) I hope that all of my readers (Darren) were as excited as I was. It was a great competition. I was actually switching between the Pairs Figure Skating Short Program and the Moguls, but the Moguls just got too exciting, so I kept it there. Bilodeau was the second to last skier. He followed North Vancouver's Dale Begg-Smith who took over top spot up to that point. Begg-Smith has competed for Canada in the past but is now competing for Australia. What the BLEEP is that about? He was not a very graceful Silver Medalist either. He was pouting while accepting his flowers, and refused to talk to any journalists except the Australian media. So I'm kind of glad he's no longer on the Canadian team. We have a lot more class than that. There was a roar from the crowd as Bilodeau crossed the finish line but the suspense didn't end there. There was still one more skier and I just don't have the energy to Google his name. Watching all these competitors give everything they have is exhausting. Anyways, I think he was from Germany. Or was it China? Anyways, he had the fastest run of the day but his jumps weren't very difficult and he made a few key mistakes. After an agonizing 15 or 20 seconds, they announced he finished 6th and thus our Canadian became the first Canadian to win a Gold Medal on our home soil. Bilodeau's brother Frederic, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, was in the crowd cheering him on. It's actually a great story between the two and how Frederic has motivated Alex over the years. I had tears in my eyes as the celebration continued throughout the city. I don't know why I've been so emotional lately. Maybe I'm having my period.

While we're on the topic of Freestyle Skiing at Cypress Mountain, there has been some controversy there. During Saturdays Women's Moguls there was only one warming tent and the lineup to get any food or drink, even a cup of coffee was about 3 hours long. They must have felt like they were in Russia. Anyways, this is something that cannot be happening and it needs to be fixed ASAP. If my easy chair wasn't so damned comfortable I would arrive there with a hot dog stand and a coffee pot and leave a National Hero. A very rich National Hero.

After that exciting and Historic event was over I watched a repeat of the Pairs Figure Skating Short Program. Now this is something I am expert in. Well not really, but I do know my triple axles from my death spirals. The Short Program is very exciting because you can't win Gold in the Short but you can lose it. (Okay, I stole that from David Pelletier but I thought it sounded good.) The first pair to skate was Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China. They skated flawlessly with great side by side triple toe loops, an effortless triple lutz twist lift, and a throw triple loop with amazing height. (See, I know my terminology.) With a World Record score of 76.66 the bar was set very high. Apparently too high as nobody was able to catch them. I haven't really watched figure skating since they changed the format from the old 6.0's that judges used to give. I don't know too many of the skaters which is too bad. But I do know falls when I see them, and there were many. Mostly on the side by side triples that were required elements. Pair after pair kept falling on this element and I was beginning to wonder if maybe some of these competitors had forgotten to take their skate guards off. Because it's the short program, only 2:45 long, all 8 of the required elements are crucial to staying at or near the top heading into the long program. The door was open for the Canadian Champions Bryce Davidson and Jessica Dube. While I loved their program, skating to the brilliant score from Requiem For A Dream, Dube fell on the side by side triple salchows. Other than that costly mistake, they skated very well. They ended the evening in 6th place which I think is a bit generous. That's close enough to the top to reach the podium but it would be a longshot for them to own it.

Canada also won a Bronze Medal in the Long Track Speed Skating Women's 3000 Metres. Kristina Groves skated brilliantly and surprised even herself in making the podium. This is not her strongest event so it's a great start for her. She could potentially win 5 medals.

Great to see Brian Burke in town after the recent tragic death of his 21 year old son. He apprears to be coping quite well and is here because that's what his son would have wanted. Burke is the General Manager of the US Olympic Men's Hockey Team, (his day job is the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs) and I wish his team the best. In fact, I hope every team plays up to and beyond their potential. I'm a hockey fan first and foremost and I want to see the best hockey possible. Canada winning Gold would be icing on the cake. Mm, cake. Maybe I should buy some tomorrow to celebrate...err...something.

Watching the local CTV News, it looks like Vancouver is having a great time. It's one big giant party and I can't believe how many people are in the downtown core, particularly the Robson Square area. And does that area ever look great. I'm so glad they put the ice back in and brought that area back to life. In behind the newscasters there were mobs of people and you could see flames shooting out from somewhere and lighting up the skies. I thought at first it was protesters, but I'm pretty sure everyone was having a great time. There were even green lasers overhead. It looked like a Pink Floyd Concert. Minus the haze of pot smoke.

I was relieved to see the skies open up and the sun shine. Vancouver is a beautiful city when the sun is shining, and I'm glad people FINALLY got to see that. Now hopefully the weather holds out for tomorrow's Men's Downhill on the Dave Murray Course at Whistler.

For those of you who don't know, Dave Murray was a member of the Crazy Canucks. He was my cousin and I only got to meet him once. It was 1980 and I was in grade 6. In the photo I've included I am wearing the skiing bib that he gave me on that day. He wore that in Garmisch Partenkirchen Germany in 1978. He also gave me an autographed poster of him skiing at Whistler which was his home mountain. He was one of those people that carried themselves with modesty and class. He didn't seem to think what he did was that big of a deal. I would compare him to Rick Hansen and Lui Passaglia but if he were alive today he would probably be embarrassed by those comparisons. But he was a great ambassador to the sport of skiing and a great ambassador to the town of Whistler. He died of Cancer in 1990 at the age of 36, but his spirit continues to live on.

Well this concludes my report for Day 3. Another very exciting day. I'm so glad I was right there when we finally won our first Gold Medal at home. Well, right there in my living room. I enjoyed chicken samosas and a nice Valentine's Day Dinner. Tomorrow's highlights will probably be the Pairs Figure Skating Free Program, Men's Snowboard Cross, Canada plays Switzerland in Women's Hockey (should be another nailbiter), and the Men's Long Track 500 Metre Speed Skating. Now that Alex Bilodeau has finally got the proverbial piano off our backs and inspired his Canadian teammates, look for some more medals on Day 4. I'll be right here to cover everything. Right here, in my living room. In my comfy easy chair.