Day 16 - Canada is Golden

As usual you can click on this link to see all of the previous Blog posts or just read below. Enjoy!
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So is the lead story today the fact that Canada won 3 Golds and 1 Bronze to tie with the most Golds won by a country in the history of the Winter Olympics OR is it about Brian McKeever the nearly blind Cross Country Skier who was not picked to race in the 50km race tomorrow?
If you were Dave Perkins the Sports Editor for the Toronto Star, you would pick the latter. McKeever is an extremely talented para athlete and has dominated his sport. He made the Canadian Olympic Team this year despite his limited eyesite, but has not raced in these games. Tomorrow is the 50km mass start, but only 4 athletes may compete for their country in CC events. On Friday McKeever was left off the roster because he was clearly not of the same ilk as the four men chosen to race. While McKeever was disappointed, I'm sure he would want to be picked on his athletic merits and not out of sympathy. The other 4 athletes have earned the right to be here and should not have to think about giving up their spot to a lesser athlete because he was disabled. Mr. Perkins does not agree with me and thinks that the Cross Country Manager and Coach should be fired. Well, I think Perkins should step aside as Sports Editor, as he clearly does not understand that the Olympics is about playing the best people, it's not about sympathetic choices. All of our athletes have trained for many years to be the best they can be and to earn the right to represent their country based on their performances. The key word here is "EARN". What do you think? You can read Perkins' article at this link and please leave him a comment:
http://bit.ly/9llL7b
I will now set aside my soap box and return to what I saw and experienced today. The weather improved a bit today and was not as wet as the past few days (the glass half full version). Our long track skaters got the day off to a flying start with a victory in the team pursuit. This was then followed up by a come from behind victory by Jacey Jay Anderson in the Dual GS, a Bronze in Bob Sleigh and then Kevin Martin extinguishing the 'Hot Pants' from Norway. They were all incredible performances that have vaulted us up the Medal Standings. We may not 'Own the Podium' but we have certainly acquired a 4-Year Lease on it!!!
Whistler's three venues were bustling with large crowds today and the Athlete's Village was busy all afternoon and evening. For the T-3 drivers, we would pull up in front, load with 3 to 6 people, drive into the village, come back and do it again. I think I made 8 trips over a 4 hour period driving about 160km. Among others, tonight I had Italian and American Women Bob sledders, Latvian 4-man Bob Sleigh, 2 Austrian Cross Country skiers, a large Korean delegation and one of Canada's Male downhill skiers. The Latvians were funny, they wanted a ride to the liquor store to buy Canadian Whiskey and then a ride back to Athlete's Village to find Canadian Women. I have a funny feeling that their pick-up techniques were not Olympic caliber (ha).
Finally, I wanted to share the "line" of the day. I was doing my laundry early this morning and as I was walking down the corridor I saw this sullen looking young man (early twenties) talking to a young woman. His body language clearly showed that he was sad and the only piece of the conversation I heard, was him saying "...yeah I'm bummed. I lost my zigzags last night..." If you don't understand his despair ...find a young college student to explain it for you ...or B and M ...you can ask J!!
Don't forget to wear RED tomorrow and to cheer Team Canada on to victory. It should be a great game and a perfect ending to these 2010 games.
Enjoy!!!
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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545

Day 15 - Medal Bonanza

-As usual you can click on this link to see all of the Blog posts or read below. Enjoy!
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Wow, it's hard to believe that on a drizzly, foggy, rainy, slushy, damp and miserable day you could find so many happy and elated people.
There is this amazing current of life flowing through Whistler and Vancouver that is totally contagious. If you were to interview a 13 year old, they might say that this is 'totally random' but having studied enough math over the years I know that this is not a random event. This is an amazing culmination of work that was 7 years in the making. Everything from creating two olympic villages (so that all Athletes feel part of the games), to an amazing volunteer workforce, unparalleled transportation, friendly but strong security and last but not least, enthusiasm from RED bedraggled Canadians from Coast to Coast.
I was fortunate today to drive many officials and Olympic Athletes ...3 women Bobsledders from the US, 2 German Cross Country skiers, 1 of the 2 athletes from Tazikstan, Canada's Alpine Doctor, an Australian Women's Skier, A Japanese IOC official, the Director of IT for London 2012 and finally a woman from Germany who won a bronze medal in the biathalon earlier this week. She was ecstatic about the venues, the games, the friendliness, etc. Her first Olympics were in Turin and she never felt like they were part of the games, as their events were staged 7 hours away. Also, there was no Olympic village where she could meet and talk with other athletes from around the world, as each country had their own hotel. Here in Whistler they have resolved all of those problems, plus there is a beautiful village with all the amenities. I think that these words from the German medalist would be echoed by athletes from all nations.
When I hear kind and sincere praise like this, it really makes me proud to be a Canadian ...and it makes it even better when you have a 4 medal day like today!!! While I think that the COC were dumb for thinking they could "own" the podium, I do think that our athletes have come through with flying colours ...10 Golds leading all countries and to think that it could have been 11, if Canada's most popular "Cougar" could have delivered that killer takeout in the 10th or 11th end.
Our Canadian Hockey boys have also gelled at the right time and have set the table for Sunday's Closing event. I hear that the cigars and beers will be there when they need them!!
Win or lose these games will be remembered for years by millions of red adorned Canadians. So, where will you be on Sunday afternoon?
Speaking of proud little Canadians, my little 5 year old niece has been enjoying the games here and in Vancouver for the past week. My sister Lori took her to the Women's Figure Skating last night and she was captivated by the performance of Joannie Rochelle. So just as Joannie was motivated by Elizabeth Manley, many little Canadian girls will want to skate just like Joannie. While Joannie was skating little Kyra said to Lori, "would you be my coach when I skate at the Olympics?" Now those of you that know Lori, know that she can be a little awkward and clumsy at times, but who knows ...maybe she could pull it off and in 2026 Kyra Welch might perform the first "Triple Klutz" in Olympic History.
Enjoy the games tomorrow, wear "Red" and continue to display the "Red Spirit" of the Games.

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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545

Day 14 - Facing Adversity

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The games have provided me with many enjoyable moments that I will always cherish, but more importantly are the life lessons. After all, these are just games and sporting events. But it is amazing that an event such as the Olympics can create such positive change in many people. The death of the Georgian Luge athlete on the opening day. The way the world responded to the death of Joannie Rochelle's mother and her herculean performance 2 days later and the death of Brendan Burke just prior to the Olympics are examples of how life can transcend the games.
I have supplied a web link below to a must read story from Sports Illustrated on US Hockey GM and Toronto Leafs GM Brian Burke and the death of his son just one week before the Olympic Games. I was not a big fan of Burke, but reading this he has won me over. http://bit.ly/9sjb46
Today was also a short ski day for me, as I didn't have to work until 2:30. There was fresh snow overnight and we were skiing in 6" to 12" of fresh powder in the upper bowls. However, visibility was poor due to low clouds covering mid-mountain and many times we couldn't see more than 20 or 30 feet ahead. At times it was like skiing in braille. I was skiing with my cousin Chris today, but unfortunately, he caught a ski on his first run and incurred a mild knee sprain, but being of tough Polish blood he was able to finish out the morning, while taking it easy.
This afternoon was very quiet on the driving front with very few clients. I was able to slip into the village to catch the 2nd period of the hockey game and then was able to listen to the rest of the game on the car radio. I also went into the Village to see the last 4 skaters and Joannie win her bronze medal. It was great to see the Canadian Women come through with a big win in Hockey and both the Men and Women curlers will be contending for gold tomorrow and Saturday. If you don't fully understand curling, read my Blog post from day 13.
Finally, the Joannie Rochette story had a great ending, with her taking the Bronze Medal. The young Korean was truly amazing and blew away the rest of the field.
Men's hockey, curling and slalom skiing are all on the agenda tomorrow, but unfortunately I will be working in the afternoon and will try to get a post close to a TV. Tonight is my last night in Whistler and will return to the ship in Squamish after 5 days away. It's hard to believe that there are only 3 days left. Enjoy them while they last!

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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545

Day 13 - Cdn Women's Day!!!

As usual you can click on this link to see all of the Blog posts or read below. Enjoy!
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Wow, what a great day for our Canadian Women with 1 Gold, 2 silver and a bronze. And not to be outdone, Team Canada man handled the Russians.
Tomorrow will be equally exciting with Women's hockey and Women's figure skating.
I watched the hockey game with my cousin Chris and we were lucky enough to get good seats in a bar. After the game we stayed to see the bobsleigh finals. What a victory for Canada 1 and Canada 2!!
A good friend from Ausland has been a little perplexed by curling, so I thought I would give her the simple elements of the game, in 10,000 words or less.
1) You need to go to the north of Scotland and harvest 16 blocks of granite that can then be ground down into large 40lb 'checkers'. Don't forget that the bottom of the rock rides on a ring about 1/4" wide and the diameter of a salad plate. Finish it off with a handle on top. You need 8 yellow handles and 8 red handles.
2). Find a smooth sheet of ice that is almost as long as a hockey rink and about 14' wide. Draw some circles at both ends. The large ring is 12' in diameter and the inner ring is 4' There is a large dot in the centre of the rings and it is called the button. Each ring and the button are 1 foot wide. Finally, to make the rocks glide properly, you will need to sprinkle the ice with little droplets of water. So essentially the ring on the bottom of the rock will barely touch the ice, which is why it glides so far.
3). You then need 7 friends to play with you. 4 on each team
4). Don't forget brooms. Each player will need one. They are special brooms made of a synthetic material. The purpose of the broom is two-fold; i) to clear any dust away from the gliding rock, as hitting this could cause the rock to veer drastically off course and ii) sweeping can also speed up the rock to keep it from curling too much or to increase how far it will glide. A good sweeping team can drag a rock 30' farther than without any sweeping.
5). For shoes you will need one sole that is sticky and the other is smooth and slippery so that you can glide on that foot
6). The teams alternate throwing rocks and each member of the team throws two rocks for a total of 8 rocks each end. An end is a mini-game and there are 10 ends in a game
7). When the rocks are thrown you can turn the handle clockwise or counter clockwise. If you throw the rock hard it will stay straight and not curl, but if you throw it slow it may curl 3 or 4 feet.
8). Scoring. The team that has its rock closest to the centre of the button scores one point. If Team 1 has their rock closest to the button and Team 2 has a rock second closest then Team 1 only scores 1 point regardless of how many rocks the team has in the rings. The max any team can score in one end is 8 points, but this is very rare.
9). The player that throws first is called the 'Lead'; the next player is called the 'Second' the third player is called the 'Third' or 'Vice' and the last player is the captain and team strategist and is called the 'Skip'
10) If the Skip wants you to sweep he yells yes, hurry or harder if he thinks the throw is short. If he wants no sweeping they may yell 'No' or 'Never'
11) A rock left in front of the rings is called a guard. This is used to protect a scoring rock sitting within the rings. The rings may also be called the house.
12) If the Skip wants an opposing rock removed he will call for a hard throw, which is called a takeout. If he wants a rock to stop in the house, he wants light weight. This is called a draw.
13) The team that throws last in the end has the advantage and this called having the hammer
14) If you win the end, the other team gets the hammer in the next end
15) The game is very strategic and the skip must be able to read the ice to see how fast it is and how much the rocks will typically curl.
16) The team with the most points at the end of 10 ends wins and must buy a round of drinks for the losing team. If the losers are good sports they buy the second round.
17) Finally, when watching curling on TV I suggest that a little wine pairing will ease the confusion and make the game more interesting. When a yellow rock is thrown, I suggest that you pair with a deep yellow Chardonnay and when a red rock is thrown you would pair with a nice Aussie Shiraz. By the end of the game it won't matter what the rules are or how the game is played.
That is 'Curling' in 10,000 words or less and hopefully we will see Canada win both the Men's and Women's events.

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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545

Day 12 - courage and determination!

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What can you say about the performance by Joannie Rochette tonight. Probably one of the most courageous and amazing things I have ever seen. Not only would her mother have been proud, but she now has millions of fans around the world that share in her grief. Let's hope that she will get rewarded with a medal as a lasting memory of her mother who was also her biggest fan.
Well today was my 3rd and last day off. The sun disappeared and snow and light rain returned. I was fortunate to team up and ski with my good friend Mark Shea from Toronto today and then tonight met up with my cousin Chris who came up to Whistler from Seattle. I haven't seen Chris in over 10 years, so it was great to catch up with him. I will stay with him tomorrow night in Whistler and we will then do some runs together on Thursday morning. Chris has a very cool company that does extreme bending of hardwoods, for architectural products, marine, furniture, etc. and is the only company of this type in North America. Check it out at http://www.flutedbeams.com/
After skiing today Lori, Kyra, Mark, Chris and I went to see Women's bobsleigh. It was very cool and Canada is in the #1 and #4 positions heading in to tomorrows final two runs. After the bobsleigh we had a quick bite then went to take some pictures at the Olympic Rings in the Village. (See attached)
...And not to be left out a Gold medal for Whistler's Ashleigh McIvor and #6 for the Big Red Machine.
Tomorrow I'm back to volunteering and then plan on watching Canada vs Russia. Let's hope that tonight's game against the Deutch prepared them for this big game!!!
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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545

Day 11 - Patience is a Virtue...

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Wow, what a great way to end the day. Virtue and Moir slammed the door on their competition with a truly flawless performance. The are both so cute and genuine, making them the darlings of the Canadian Team. They certainly deserved the Gold.
Today was the 6th amazing day of sunshine here in Whistler. The result is that there is an incredible positive vibe emanating throughout the Village. My sister Lori and I shared a picnic table with 2 fellow volunteers from Toronto at lunch time. The sun was blindingly bright, the beer was cold and no one was in a hurry to get back on the hill. And when you're sitting out in the sunshine without a jacket, it's hard to believe that it is February. However I'm sure that my burning red face will remind me tomorrow of what a great day it was.
Finally, it was just reported that over 10 million people watched the Canada vs USA hockey game last night. While that seems remarkable, I would like to know what the other 23 million folks were doing!! Let's hope the Men's Hockey Team gets back on track vs Germany, but just in case I will be skiing with my fingers crossed tomorrow.

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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545

Day 10 - A Sea of Red!

As usual you can click on this link to see all of the Blog posts or read below. Enjoy!

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Wow, what a day it was yesterday. I have 3 consecutive days off and I was on the 6 am bus from Squamish to Whistler so that I could meet my sister Lori and 5 year old niece Kyra for skiing. By 9 o'clock we had Kyra set up in Ski School and we were on the chair heading to the top. It was the fifth amazing day in a row and we never saw a cloud all day. The conditions were great and there were not many people on the hill ...probably 20% of a normal Sunday.
We met up with a friend from Toronto at lunch, who is volunteering for 7 weeks. He is working on the Women's Alpine courses and had some great insights into what it takes to pull off a Downhill or GS event. In the first week when the weather was bad, they were often on the course until 2 or 3 am trying to clear snow and keep the course in great shape. This was his first day off in 3 weeks and he was enjoying ripping up the slopes and blowing off some steam.
After skiing the Village was crazy with anticipation of the Canada vs US hockey game. People were scrambling for seats in bars to watch the game and there was red sweaters everywhere. We caught the bus over to Blackcomb to watch the game at Merlins, which is the Apres Ski preferred location. There was a huge line-up to get in, but friend's of Lori's had saved a table. The place was packed, noisy and a Sea of Red ...my gosh do people love this country!
The game was spectacular, unfortunately the US has the better goalie and Brodeur at 36 is not the same as he was winning Gold 8 years ago. You can't give up 4 goals on 20 shots ...just ask the Leafs (ha). Like they say, "it's just a game." The big win yesterday was the National Unity and the great spirit that resonated in both Vancouver and Whistler.
In spite of the big loss, Canada got back on the medal podium with a silver in speed skating and lost one in the Skier Cross.
Today is the 6th day of sun here in Whistler and it is time to hit the slopes again!
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Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545