Day 6

Day 6 began with the sun shining brightly and the courses at Whistler and Cypress looked to be in good shape. There were no major problems. Good news tends to be bad news where the media is concerned so they came up with some 'major' Joe Biden incident. It was THE top story all over the local, and probably National news. You probably heard about it. During the Opening Ceremonies, in which American Vice-President Biden was in attendance, apparently a mentally unstable man got through security and was within metres of him. He had some fake pass and was without a weapon of any kind. They go on to claim Biden's life was in danger. While Vanoc does need to investigate this security breach, not for one moment was Biden's life in any danger. He had two Mounties and Secret Service nearby and what was an unarmed crazy person going to do anyways? I think the media is getting desperate for some real news.

They've also turned this 'fenced torch fiasco' into a real story. Now admittedly I haven't been to the site of the torch in Coal Harbour, (that would involve me putting down the chips and popcorn and getting out of my very comfy easy chair) but is this really a story? They put this torch in a secured zone so they have to have a fence around it. Can't we move on to a bigger story? Like what is Johnny Weir's sexual preference? Anyways, it's good to see that Vanoc has moved the chain link fence closer and made a gap in it so you can take photos. End of story. I hope.

There was one incident that occurred at a concert Tuesday night. Alexis On Fire had just begun their show when a barricade collapsed. 19 people were reportedly injured and the show was cancelled. This is really a LiveNation issue more than a Vanoc one. It's good to see that the barricade has been replaced and strengthened and the concerts will continue. I'm really looking forward to the day when there are no issues, no cancellations, no controversies. However I'm guessing the day that happens a Canadian Gold Medalist will test positive for Steroids.

The Women's Downhill Skiing at Whistler kind of reminded me of the Pairs Figure Skating. A lot of women falling on their asses. Okay, I shouldn't joke. Some of them were hurt in spectacular fashion. They all ended up being okay though. The course was very choppy and the bottom was a lot faster than they expected. More controversy I'm sure. In the end injured (shin) American skier Lindsay Vonn took the Gold with a great run. (Americans are already dubbing this the Vonncouver Games) Another American Julia Mancuso took the Silver. Top Canadian was Britt Janyk who was very happy with her sixth place finish.

I was on my second bag of nacho chips when the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe began. (Just looking at the competitors gave me the munchies.) I know Cypress has been under a lot of scrutiny, but it was great to see an American commentator declare the course in perfect condition. I was really looking forward to watching this for the first time. And seconds later I was really disappointed. Call me a traditionalist but I don't consider guys wearing jeans that are halfway to their knees Olympians. I think this is an event for the X Games. Anyways, American Shaun White took the Gold Medal. He got a lot of air and did some flips. I don't know. It didn't look any better to me than any of the other competitors. I think they're wasting their time anyways. What are the odds that ANY of these guys are going to pass the drug testing?

The Richmond Oval had a few more problems. First an Oriental skater stopped skating because he thought he heard a whistle or something and the other skater skated a full lap and tired himself out and then stopped. They didn't know whether to wait, or race again or disqualify them. Then they decide to go with the next pair and the clock stopped working. It was kind of ridiculous. They finally get a Zamboni in from Alberta, and they are STILL having problems. In the end the Americans won the Gold and Bronze, which is becoming very common and very annoying.

There were two Canadians in the finals of the Women's 500 Metre Short Track Speed Skating guaranteeing Canada of at least one medal. Meng Wang of China was absolutely dominant and took the Gold while our own Marianne St-Gelais grabbed the Silver. Former Edmonton Oiler defenceman Randy Gregg's daughter Jessica finished fourth in the final heat.

I was looking forward to Canada playing Sweden in Women's Hockey. Sweden beat Canada a couple of years ago and beat the US in the last Olympics and took the Silver Medal so I was excited to see Canada face some decent competition. Well it was decent competition for about seven minutes and ended up being a 13-1 final in favor of Canada. They were absolutely, ridiculously, embarrassingly dominant. The shots on goal were 43-4 (43-4!!) after two periods. While I'm excited to see the US play Canada in the Gold Medal game, realistically the IOC should get rid of Women's Hockey or only allow two teams to qualify. Oh great now I'm going to have Women pissed off at me. Well they shouldn't be able to vote or drive a car either so there.

Over to Men's Hockey, Finland played Belarus in the early game and won 5-1. Miikka Kiprusoff played in goal for the Finn's and let in one goal on twelve shots. While I think Kiprusoff is a pretty good goaltender, I think the only way the Finn's are going to win a Medal is by putting Niittymaki in goal. He's been probably the hottest goalie in the NHL the past few weeks and a hot goalie can win a half decent team a Medal. The Sweden - Germany game was surprisingly close with the Swedes winning 2-0. While it is way too early to comment (but dammit I'm going to comment anyways) the Swedes looked very disorganized. A lot of people are picking the Swedes to win a Medal but I'd be surprised if that happens. I don't think they compare to Canada or the US or Russia. But maybe I'm just bitter because Mikael Sammuelson isn't on the team. The game I was looking forward to the most was the game between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This is a bitter rivalry. (begin History lesson...) Not long ago there was a Country called Czechoslovakia. Then a civil war or something happened. I think it was called the War Of 1812. Then they separated and became two countries. (end History lesson) It's kind of too bad that these are two separate teams because combining them would make for a great team. In the end the Czech's won 3-1 but it was a really good game. Probably the best one so far in these Games.

I slept through the Luge and Curling so I'm not sure what happened there but likely more damned Americans won Medals. Who knows? The Biathlon I just skipped. (I'd make some 'switch-hitter' joke but I wouldn't want to be stealing Darren's material.) I really don't understand it. They could take any event and just add a rifle. Why choose Cross-Country Skiing? My favorite would be Ski Jumping with the shooting in mid-air. While it would be a great tv event, I'm not sure they'd be able to sell tickets.

Day 7 will feature the beginning of the Skeleton. (Insert Karen Carpenter joke here). Patrick Chan tries to claw and scratch his way onto the podium in the Men's Free Skate Figure Skating. (Speaking of clawing and scratching, I wonder who would win in a fight, Chan or Johnny Weir?) It's the Women's turn for the Halfpipe and I hope to God that the Women aren't wearing jeans around their knees. This is the Olympics for shit sakes! Martin Brodeur makes his debut in goal as Team Canada plays the Swiss in Men's Hockey. Should be interesting as coach Babcock will have to decide whether Luongo or Brodeur gets the start in the third game against the US. Other games feature the US against Norway and Russian will play the Slovaks.

Contrary to popular opinion, I think the Vancouver Games have been great so far. (I've been contacted by Vanoc President John Furlong and told that I would face criminal charges if I continued to use the words 'Olympic', 'Vancouver', '2010', 'banned substance', 'fenced torch', 'rain', 'luge' or 'Medal' in my Blog but I'm a rebel, and I'm going to continue writing about these BC Sporting Events.) I'm just hoping that Canadians can win more of those spherical metal necklace thingys. We need to catch up to those arrogant Americans or we'll never hear the end of it.