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.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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!
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.
Friday, February 19, 2010
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.
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:
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!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
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.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
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.
Here are the views from the balcony in our room.
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