Day 7

I will admit right off the start that I missed quite a bit of the Olympics today. I know I'm getting paid a helluva lotta money to watch it all unfold and keep you up to date. Okay, so I'm getting paid nothing. I'm a volunteer blogger. No shame in that. Well, not much. Today I was filled with Patriotism and felt the urge to go out and buy some more Olympic stuff. Apparently I wasn't the only one. The local mall was teeming with activity. Crawling with people in their Canada jackets, scarves and mittens, vests, t-shirt, sweaters, well you get the idea. People were still trying to buy more stuff. There wasn't much to be had. Authentic Luongo Team Canada Jerseys ($175 a pop) were all but sold out. They only had XXXL and XXS left. While I'm well on my way to XXXL, that probably isn't going to happen until at least the closing ceremonies. I ended up buying some XS mittens, (you know what they say, small hands, small mittens) and two Olympic pictures. Yep, I've developed an Olympics addiction. But don't worry, with some anti-depressants, Tylenol 3's and a few Percasets, I should be able to overcome this.

It's great to see another beautiful day in BC. While some people may be laughing at our lack of snow, we may end up laughing all the way to the bank. For decades Vancouver has been thought of as a cold city where it rains constantly. With all this sunshine and mild temperatures, I think that stigma has been forever removed. People must think that if it's mild and sunny in February, what must it be like in the Summer? There have been studies done among the Olympic tourists as to how much they are enjoying the Games. An overwhelming number of them are enjoying the Games and love the City. Very few think that the glitches and problems that have happened reflect badly on the Olympics or Vancouver. That is much more important than what the media thinks. Look for Vancouver to be VERY busy next Summer. For those of you who think the Olympics are a bad thing that will be disastrous for this Province for years to come, think again.

The major story on Day 7 was that Canadian Long Track Speed Skater Christine Nesbitt won the Gold Medal in the Women's 1000 Metres, our third of these Games. I would love to give you my expert analysis of her skate but I was at The Bay looking for a damned jersey. Actually I did get to see the race later on and it was great to see her come from behind and finish strong and win by two one hunderedths of a second, which is roughly the equivalent of the time it takes me to finish a bag of Sour Cream & Onion Chips. (Now why couldn't that be an Olympic Event?) I'm so glad that we now have three Gold Medals and dare I say that the Americans may have more Golds (I've lost count at this point) but our Gold Medalists are classier, better spoken, more modest (modester?), and all around nicer people. Come on, somebody had to say it.

In the evening, after getting home from my fiasco at The Bay, (tears were shed, hair was pulled, eyes were scratched, long story) I sat back down in my comfy easy chair to watch the Men's Free Program Figure Skating. Canadian Patrick Chan sat in seventh place and would need to skate flawlessly and hope a few others faltered (translation: fell on their skinny asses) to have any chance at the podium. At this point I just wanted him to skate to the best of his ability, and if he failed to reach the podium that's okay. The guy is still only 19 years old and placing this much pressure on him is ridiculous. I would like to see more emphasis placed on skiing, or skating, or whatever to the best of your ability. Take the pressure off. Gold would be nice but it's not everything. Of course all this is coming from a loser. I'd also like to add while I think of it that Patrick Chan is one of the most complete male figure skaters in the competition. I don't care in the least that he can't do the quad. A couple days ago Russian champion Evgeny Plushenko told CTV that not being able to do the quad is not men's skating. Or words to that effect. Well on this day Plushenko skated very well, even did a quad-triple combination, and still lost. I think the judges have spoken loud and clear. American Evan Lysacek took the Gold with an amazing performance without a quad. Patrick Chan stepped out of one triple and fell on the triple axel but other than that skated great. He ended up in fifth and should be very proud of himself. The next Olympics, in Russia, expect big things from him. He will be 23 and will not have all that pressure to deal with.

Moving over to men's Hockey, the US looked great against Norway winning 6-1. They seem to have a lot more energy than team Canada right now but it is still early. Canada got by the Swiss 3-2 in a shootout. The Swiss actually played a very solid game and got great goaltending. Canada needs to step up and play with a little more intensity. They need to play more like a team and less individual. Martin Brodeur looked great in goal, especially in the shootout and will probably get the start for the next game. The Russians played the Slovaks in the final game of the night and what a great game it was. Okay, so I dozed off and missed most of it. I got to see some of the overtime and all of the shootout. (I guess I wouldn't make a very good scout would I?) The Slovaks won in a pretty big upset and guess who the hero in the shootout was? None other than the Vancouver Canucks own Pavol Demitra with a great move to flip the puck over the goalie, off the post and in. This to me was the best game of the Olympics so far. Sunday team Canada will get a big test, playing against the US. They will need to play with more intensity, much more physically, and get that power play going or they could be in for a bit of a surprise. I think they'll be okay though as they now have a few days to practice.

I have been so inspired by these Olympic Games that today I went for an extra long walk. Yep, I parked at the far end of my local McDonalds. That lame attempt at a joke brings me to my next rant, err topic. I have a real problem with Coke and McDonalds being sponsors of the Games. If that doesn't send mixed messages I don't know what does. What are they trying to tell us? Eating a Supersized double Big Mac Meal with a Coke will enable you to be an Olympic Athlete? Hmm. That didn't exactly work for me. I wonder if I could sue? Seriously though, childhood obesity is a serious problem in North America. I know that Vanoc is trying to bring in as much money as possible and Coke and McDonalds obviously were the highest bidders, but as a matter of principle, I would rather make Subway an official sponsor even if they could only afford half the money. And instead of Coke, how about Gatorade, or Minute Maid Orange Juice. As much of a supporter as I am in these Games, I'm also a supporter of integrity, of morals, of sending the right messages to kids. McDonalds and Coke ads are just not the way to go.

Ahh, I feel so much better. Writing this blog is almost like therapy. Anyways, as comfy as my easy chair is, as great as it is watching the Games on my tv, Ryan and I are contemplating the unthinkable. Going into the eye of the storm (Vancouver) to see an event or two and take in the atmosphere. I've looked at prices for tickets online and they are astronomical. I found cheap tickets available for the Women's Ski Jumping though, and if we can buy them in time, we will come down.

Day 8 looks to be fairly quiet. Men's Super G up at Whistler, some Ski Jumping, Cross Country Skiing, Men's and Women's Curling, Compulsory Ice Dance Figure Skating (yawn), and Men's Hockey with Bulgaria playing Seden, the Czechs against Latvia and Finland plays Germany. I'm thinking the Finnish-German game might be the one to watch but none of those are really rivalries. This could be a day when I finally get caught up on some sleep and the Samsonite Luggage (product placement) under my eyes starts to shrink.