All Good Things

Tonight is our last night in Vancouver before we head back to NC tomorrow (Saturday). Yesterday we didn't have any events so we walked around and did some shopping. We were hoping that because it was cloudy and raining off and on, the crowds would have died down a little but we had no luck. The lines getting into the various attractions were still 1-3 hours long and not worth the hassle. The streets were still packed and as the weekend was approaching, I think it was actually busier than Tuesday or Wednesday. One of the things we learned from this trip was that when the attractions for a major event like the Olympics are mostly in a central location, it's going to busy and you're not going to be able to do a whole lot. Since the best attractions had waits of 3 hours or more, by the time you waited in line and got in, most of your day was shot. Since we only had two days without events, we had to skip a lot of the better pavilions and attractions. It also wasn't worth risking a long wait for a lame exhibit like the stupid Quebec House we visited (which consisted of a stage and some hippie singing in French and smelled like weird).

One of the good things about being here is that we got to watch a lot of the events on TV. Usually it's tough to watch a lot of the Olympics because of work and other plans (plus NBC's crappy coverage), but here the station with the rights - CTV - covered everything for 24 hours each day. So all night they would replay stuff in addition to showing just about every sport as much as they could. I know far more about cross-country skiing and curling than I ever imagined I would after this.

The other downer we had was that it was incredibly hard to get tickets to additional events. I was hoping to go to the women's gold medal hockey game as well as the last short-track speed skating event but the tickets actually got more expensive as the events approached. I think if we had waited for them to begin we could have scalped tickets for reasonable prices but it wasn't worth the travel hassle in the rain just in case. I've heard other Games have plenty of tickets available but even less popular events like the Nordic ones seemed really busy.

Today we got up and trucked about an hour to see Long Track Speed Skating. It was raining hard today and the security has been very easy to get through so far so we chanced it and got there only 45 minutes early. That turned out to be a big mistake so we spent that whole time standing in the one long security line - which was the only security going into the building - in the rain and only got in about 30 seconds before the event started. The weird part about the various event venues is except for Canada Hockey Place (where the Canucks play) and Pacific Coliseum (short track and figure skating), the venues all felt temporary. They were located in suburban neighborhoods and had tents up and a flimsy stage-like concourse area with port-a-potties. The seats were temporary too for the most part so it was kind of weird and uncomfortable to sit there and view an event for two hours. Luckily, we saw the team pursuits for the men and women (though they were only quarter- and sem-finals) and the USA scored huge upsets in each and shut the Canadian fans up. It was fun to see the Dutch all dressed up - they love their speed skating like they love their tulips and pot. Unfortunately Jess was beginning to get a cold so after the event was over we just headed back to our hotel, grabbed something to eat and hung out and watched hockey, curling and short track speed skating. The crazy thing it's past 11 PM local time, there hasn't been an active event in two hours and people are still screaming on Robson St.

That leaves me with my one big lasting impression from this trip: I don't really care for Canadians. They are very nice normally but when it comes to sports - especially hockey - they are not kind at all and are actually pretty nasty about it. Plus, when they win gold, they are over the top obnoxious about it. They replay gold-winning moments all night long and then put together montages with a really stupid and sappy song and play them for the next week. I know they wanted to "Own the Podium" and that failed but they are worse homers than Tripp Tracy when even the slightest thing goes right. Then if someone who is favored doesn't win, people just ignore them like they never existed (see Women's Curling). Plus, when they leave an event, the place smells like beer, vomit, urine and maple syrup for hours. Sadly, I'm not even making that up. The other bad part is for being such big hockey fans (and ripping American fans at every chance), they don't know players, teams, etc. Unless it's Crosby, all of us in Raleigh know way more and watch more NHL than any of the people Jess and I have spoken to here. Lastly, they run about the same 5 commercials and if I never see that stupid McDonalds manager giving the thumbs up again, I'll be a happy man.

We leave tomorrow at around 9 AM and should be back home by midnight EST. I'm off to bed, but as the speed skaters say, "Finish with a kick and you'll always be quick." Note: No one says this.

Go Canada Go!

Yesterday was our last day of hockey games but they were good ones.  We watched team USA win from our hotel room and left as soon as it was over to get to Canada Hockey Place for the Canada vs Russia game.  We heard some people were paying over $1000 for tickets and 2 guys in our section paid $700 for each ticket.  I wore my new Eric Staal #21 Team Canada jersey.

From the moment team Canada took the ice for warm-ups the crowd was into it.  Our seats weren't bad except for this jerk in front of me:

Seriously - if I just sat in my seat, this was my view.  I had to lean to the isle the whole game.  How is anyone this self-centered?  
The game was great but a little scary when Staal took a hit and didn't get up for a few minutes but he toughed it out and finished the game.  I got some great pictures of Staal and some video of the last minute where the crowd goes crazy.

The team saluted the fans at the end of the game.  Canada won 7-3!

Next game was Sweden vs Slovakia.  This was the only hockey game we have seen with empty seats in the building.  It turned out to be a great game with a big upset.  Slovakia won 4-3. 

Only 2 days left so we are going to go to a few more sites around the city.

Curling

We have been incredibly lucky with the beautiful weather until today.  It was misting out as we walked to breakfast at Tim Horton's before getting to the Sky Train.  The Sky Train left us in the middle of a random neighborhood where we had to walk a half mile through strange little houses to get to the Vancouver Olympic Center. 

We had to wait outside for almost an hour before getting inside.  We were all treated to a group singing songs about curling (they just changed words to popular songs to make them curling related).  Inside the place was a giant tent with a little rink inside and once again no bathrooms - only port-a-potties.  Making our way to our seats (last row of rickety bleachers) you could see the 4 sheets where the action was to occur. 

I still have very little idea what happened mostly because I was bored out of my mind.  The only somewhat interesting part was the last 4 stones.  It was crazy to see how the Canadians got every stone where they wanted.  They were so far ahead the Chinese conceded after 7 of 10 ends.  The Canadian fans were really into it and happy to see their team go to 9-0 so far.
I did get to see the best PANTS of the Olympics:

Team Norway with the Crazy Pants award!  The Canadian fans even got a "Nice Pants Nor-way" chant going and one of the players even raised his broom to them.
The event was at 2pm and we didn't leave until 4:30pm.  We had tickets to the night event at 7pm but I didn't want to stand outside in the rain for 2 hours just to watch Women's Curling. 
We headed back to the hotel and grabbed dinner and delicious cupcakes and are going to watch some Olympics on TV.

Day Off

We had no events today so we decided to walk around in the beautiful weather before it starts raining on Wednesday.  We started walking towards the water (I think it is called False Creek) and then we stopped at Tim Horton's for a quick snack.  Walking down all the streets we saw street preformers everywhere.  We stopped to watch a bunch of teenagers jumping rope and raising money for a competition.

Walking through Yaletown we stopped in some shops and got a few little momentos.  Closer to False Creek we stopped at Plaza of Nations where they had tents with vendors set up with some unique gifts. 

Across False Creek is the Olympic Village where most of the Olympians stay.

On the bank of the water rocks are all stacked up like statues.  You could walk right up to them and stack some too.  It was really cool.

Then while walking we stumble upon:

Of course we went in and lost $30.

We walked around almost 4 hours and there is always more to see.  The city is great!

Do you believe in somewhat unlikely events?

The tone of the Games changed last night when the US shocked Canada to win their pool and sent Canada to 6th place overall and a potential quarterfinals match-up with Russia. We watched the game from our hotel room (since it was nearly impossible to find a place to watch the game in public without wasting our whole day waiting) but when goals were scored, we opened up our door to the balcony and you could hear people screaming either way. As soon as the game ended, we headed out and downtown was like a morgue. It was honestly a lot less busy than I would have imagined, which I think was due to people being inside to watch the game and no one walking out to celebrate. As we made our way to the arena to see Finland vs. Sweden, the fans were exiting and we only heard a few cheers for the US. We did hear a bunch of angry fans yelling un-Canadian things about the US but mostly it was shock.

The Finland game stunk. The game was boring, Finland played terribly and Pitkanen got kicked out for checking the head of some Swedish player in the 2nd period. We were also next to some a-hole Sweden fan (though I'm pretty sure he wasn't Swedish and probably American) that pissed Jess off so we ended up leaving early to avoid the crowds back to the hotel. It may be that the insane crowds were just here for the weekend or the party atmosphere kind of died when Canada lost but it was so quiet last night even at midnight. You could even walk down the street and move freely. Luckily we caught up on our sleep yesterday morning so now we can get out and walk around for the next couple of days while the weather stays nice. This is our first day without an event so we'll do some shopping and check out some of the Olympic celebration sites.

The other piece of good news for us is that it looks like we'll have tickets to the Canada/Russia quarterfinals game on Wednesday. That was predicted to be the gold medal match-up and to have it happen so early (which means one team that was a heavy favourite - it's a law here in Canada to write it like that - won't even medal) will be crazy. This of course assumes Canada beats Germany which if they play Brodeur may not even happen. The Canadians honestly thought that they could "Own the Podium" and win the medal count at these games and they have had a couple of successes but so far it's been an overall disappointment. People here are complaining there was too much pressure and crying about certain athletes whining about it. I think the fans who visited here are all having a good time but the country as a whole may be disappointed with the way everything went by the time it's all over.

As the curlers say, "Keep the hammer for the last end". Note: No one says this.

Super Sunday

Today in Vancouver is Super Sunday which is confusing since I'm pretty sure that occurred two weeks ago. Apparently, rivalry matchups in hockey are bigger than football - who knew the Canadians loved their hockey? In addition to hockey, there are some events that Canadians are supposed to medal in (like speedskating, ski cross and ice dancing). In reality, people only care about the US-Canada hockey game. People starting lining up outside of bars at 8 AM this morning to be able to get a spot to watch the game at 4:30 PM. We're going to end up watching the game in our hotel since everything is packed.

The crowds over the last couple of days have been crazy. You can't even walk down the street easily, which is even more impressive given that a lot of streets are closed and people can walk freely down the middle. The weather has been great - about 50 degrees every day - and sunny which apparently never happens here so I think a lot of people decided to come in for the day from surrounding areas. The good news is the weather should hold for a couple more days before the rain comes back. The bad news is that it's tough to even find places to eat - yesterday around dinner every place had a two-hour wait to get a table.

Yesterday was a fun day going up to Whistler. It was definitely an interesting experience going to a sporting even where we know nothing about it but the atmosphere was great. Even on the mountain the weather was great so that probably helped the crowds as well. The announcers are pretty entertaining in the ski jump which makes sense since they are former ski jumpers and you have to be crazy to do that sport. It was a little disappointing that the village was too far away and there was nothing really around the ski jump area. In fact, there weren't many concession stands and there were only blue restrooms.

The drive to and from Whistler was awesome and worth getting up early and having a long day. It was probably the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in person and was better than I even read about.

Today we're going to watch the US-Canada game in our room and then head out to see the Finland-Sweden game. We're both looking forward to this big rivalry - I'm sure the crowd will be fantastic.

That's it for now...as the Ski Jumpers say, "May your jumps always reach the K line". Note: No one says this.

Whistler

It was still dark when we left the hotel this morning at 5:45am.  We had a lovely brisk 15 min. walk to the Sky Train which took us to the bus that took us to the bus to Whistler (yes, there were 2 buses).  2 hours and 15 mins of beautiful scenery later (or so I was told since I slept most of the way) and we were there.  We arrived at the Ski Jumping venue at about 9:30am and our  General Admission - Standing tickets means standing for 3 hours on ice.  Finally they started jumping and it was exciting.  They move the jumpers along very quickly and the fan support was good.  I did sit on Ryan's coat on the ice for a while but it was cold.  The weather was really exceptional.  Sunny and 2 degrees (Celcius people - we are in Canada).  We only stayed for the first round when it looked like it was going to be a blow-out.  I did stay awake for the bus ride back to Vancouver it was really pretty.  We also took a different way back to the hotel and got to take the ferry across a body of water but I have no idea what body of water it was.
Tonight we are going to rest and watch some of the other Olympic events in our room...I'm soooo tired.
Here are some pictures of our day!

Loving Team Finland!!!

Another great day here at the Olympics.  Got some needed sleep last night and started the day around 9am.  Got some great gifts for friends and walked around a little.

4:30pm the fun really started with the Czech vs Latvia hockey game.  Fun game to watch the Latvian fans support their team even when losing early. 

Czech vs Latvia final score 5-2

Game 2 of the day was my favorite game of the Olympics so far.  Finland vs Germany.  The fans as always came dressed in flags and wigs with faces painted.  With seconds to go before the teams take the ice for the warm-ups I hear a familiar "thump" "thump" "thump" then "Rock You Like A Hurricane" as Ruutu and Pitkanen and all of team Finland took the ice the song played.  This was my favorite part of the games so far, I was proudly wearing my Hurricanes jersey watching two of my favorite Fins take the ice.  The game gets even better as both Ruutu and Pitkanen each net a goal in a 5-0 victory. 

In this screen shot of the jumbo-tron you can see our old friend Dennis Seidenberg.

Off to bed at 1am have to get up at 5am for our day in Whistler with the Ski Jumpers.

The Reds

Yesterday Jess and I sat through the triple-header of hockey and by the end of the day, it was probably even more painful than the triple-overtime Stanley Cup Finals game in 2002. That said, it was a great day of hockey (with two awesome games) that was different than I expected.

The first game of the day was the least competitive but at least the USA beat Norway. The Canadian fans were polite to the US at first but once the Americans got a 2-goal lead, they turned quickly and were rooting for Norway loudly. The game wasn't that great but it was nice to see Gleason out there and it was cool to meet his father during the second intermission. We did sit next to a nice couple from Kalowna, BC (wine country, apparently) and when she saw Jess's Hurricanes jersey, she asked if we heard of Drayson Bowman. We said yes and she let us know there her daughter dates Bowman's younger brother. What I took away from this was that every young girl in Canada dates a Junior hockey player.

I expected the atmosphere to be festive and patriotic but it was really more of a party atmosphere than we're used to seeing in professional sports. Obviously, the Canadians were the most into the game and if they lost, I feared that there would be rioting and lots of dead Swiss but luckily for the Olympics that didn't happen. The two highlights that were non-action related were when Jonas Hiller got run late in the game and took a shot to the head, he fell to the ice like a soccer player and the fans started taunting him by chanting his name. The guy in front of me said it was "bad form" to chant but since he was clearly faking, it was ok (I should note that they did cheer when he got up). The second part was when the game was tied late and in OT, I kept saying over and over again that I blame Joe Thorton and finally by the end I had all of the fans agreeing with me that he was terrible and should never have been picked since he never wins anything or comes up big in crunch time. A guy behind us with his elderly parents spent the first period saying how great it was to see all these superstars and how excited they were. By the 3rd period, they were trashing the team and wondering why they took guys with no heart who weren't giving a full effort. Bipolar Canadian crowds were very entertaining - it went from crazy noise in the early parts of the game to dead silence in the bathroom during the intermission. It was so quiet, at some point a guy yelled "It's too quiet in here" and no one even responded. If Canada fails to win gold, I fear for the mental health of a whole country. All in all, it was a good time.

The last game was kind of painful since we been up since 5 AM PST and it didn't even start until 9 PM. The Russian team is loaded and Slovakia had played the night before but it was surprisingly competitive and went to the second shootout we saw in the day. Ovechkin even shot 3 times in the shootout but only scored once (the rules are different in international play). The most notable part of the game, however, was the numerous displays on Soviet jackets, jerseys and huge flag. One guy even had a huge flag with Lenin's picture on it. Watch out, America - Cold War II is coming. Don't say I didn't warn you...

After returning back to the hotel very late, we got some sleep and got up to do some shopping since our first event today isn't until 4:30 PST. Unfortunately, the Olympic store we were going to had a huge line that stretched a full block and everything else was packed with people. We stopped for lunch at a great local place called Red Robin and the authentic Vancouver burger was delicious. After that, we hit a smaller store that had some official merchandise and picked up some gifts. We'll be off to two more hockey games soon and then a short night of sleep before we head to Whistler where we'll most likley be bored and cold but at least the scenery should be nice.

As the Canadians say good-bye, "Until the puck drops next". Note: No one says this.

Hockey...Hockey...Hockey and more Hockey!

We left the hotel at about 10:30am for the 12pm USA vs Norway hockey game.  It took about 45 minutes to walk there because they make you walk all around the building to go through security.  The weather is great so the walk was not too bad.  The game was great. Norway kept it kinda close until the 3rd when USA just finished them.  During the game we went for a walk to look for a Team Canada Staal jersey (yes, I know I am American) and while walking I saw a couple guys wearing Gleason jerseys.  I ran up to them and told them I liked their jerseys and showed them my Tim Gleason necklace.  One of the men said "he is great isn't he?"  When I said yes he introduced us to the other man who is Tim Gleason's Dad.  
USA vs Norway final score 6-1:

Game 2 started at 4:30pm so we exited Canada Hockey Place for an hour and then went back in to watch Canada vs. Switzerland. Those fans were intense. The whole building was red. The game was really close and went to OT and a shootout.
Canada vs Switzerland final score 3-2 in the shootout:

Game 3 started at 9pm.  We left the arena and grabbed a quick dinner after ordering my ERIC STAAL TEAM CANADA HOCKEY JERSEY!  I get to pick it up Sunday!  I thought this next game (Slovakia vs Russia) would still be mostly Canadian hockey fans just coming to watch the game but the building was filled with both Slovakian and Russian fans.  They were loud and cheered for their teams in languages I do not know but it was fun to see everyone so excited.  It makes me grateful that I get to see great players like Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Chara, Gaborik and Hossa all the time when they play the Hurricanes.  Most of these people travel a great distance and only get to see their countries best players in international play.  This game also went to OT and then the shootout ending in an upset with Slovakia winning.

Slovakia vs Russia final score 2-1 in shootout:

Tons of fans in the street while walking back to the hotel.  Everyone is so friendly.

Great day...very tired since it is 1:20am!

Early Day 2

We must still be on Eastern Time because we were out of the hotel at 8am and walking around downtown Vancouver.  Just started walking around and while passing a Starbucks (yes there is one on every corner) billionaire Richard Branson offered to buy us coffee.  We had to respectfully decline since we don't drink coffee.  Seriously he was in the Starbucks right next to our hotel giving away free coffee.  Next we walked up and down Robson Street window shopping because it was too early for the stores to be open.  We went down to the water and got some great pictures and walked around to find the Olympic Cauldron.  He are some pictures from our morning adventures.  We are on our way to the USA vs Norway hockey game.

Vancouver Day 1

Today started early.  Left Raleigh at 10:14am had a layover at Washington/Dulles for about an hour.  After a 5 hour flight we arrived in Seattle with a 3 hour wait for our flight to Vancouver.  Finally here at 8:00pm local time (11:00pm eastern time).  City is really exciting have already seen numerous people wearing different flags and face paint.  Pretty tired will probably grab a bite and go to sleep.
Here are the views from the balcony in our room.

Ready To Go!

We are leaving tomorrow at 10:14am (eastern time) and arriving in Vancouver at 7:20pm (pacific time).  We will blog when we arrive.  Here is a list of our events.

2/18 - Men's Hockey (12 - 2:30 PM) - USA vs. Norway (Canada Hockey Place)
2/18 - Men's Hockey (4:30 - 7 PM) - Switzerland vs. Canada (Canada Hockey Place)
2/18 - Men's Hockey (9 - 11:30 PM) - Slovakia vs. Russia (Canada Hockey Place)
2/19 - Men's Hockey (4:30 - 7 PM) - Czech Republic vs. Latvia (Canada Hockey Place)
2/19 - Men's Hockey (9 - 11:30 PM) - Finland vs. Germany (Canada Hockey Place)
2/20 - Ski Jumping (11:30 AM - 1:10 PM) - Men's Individual Large Hill (Whistler Olympic Park)
2/21 - Men's Hockey (9 - 11:30 PM) - Sweden vs. Finland (Canada Hockey Place)
2/23 - Men's Curling (2 - 5 PM) - Last Day Qualifying (Vancouver Olympic Center)
2/23 - Women's Curling (7 - 10 PM) - Last Day Qualifying (Vancouver Olympic Center)
2/24 - Men's Hockey (4:30 - 7 PM) - Quarterfinals #2 (Canada Hockey Place)
2/24 - Men's Hockey (9 - 11:30 PM) - Quarterfinals #4 (Canada Hockey Place)
2/26 - Speed Skating (12:30 - 2:20 PM) - Men's and Women's Team Pursuit Qualification (Richmond Olympic Oval)

Tickets!

We arrive in Vancouver Wednesday February 17th.  We have 8 Hockey events, 2 Curling events, 1 Ski Jumping event and 1 Speed Skating event.  We leave Vancouver Saturday February 27th.