Power in the collective experience – it feels good to let your heart shine…

How fitting was it that the last day before I left Calgary, I sat in a workshop about the customer experience. Not customer service but experience….  and then I went to the Olympic games and all I can think about is experience and emotions that I’ve felt and I think any and all Canadians have felt following the games.

It was the forum for us to feel something….  the emotion for us to grab something to hold on to…  it’s the emotion that connects us to the games, and to each other. Even if you can’t be in the games environment, technology has allowed the games to come to your living room…  and maybe that’s the biggest difference in these games. We had three channels of Olympic coverage in Canada, access to at least one in the USA and whatever live feed you wanted via the website. That increase in technology and use of social media has reached out to every Canadian possible and I’d likely say that these games are going to be the most watched once all the tv stuff is said and done. Even today, when I was shopping for groceries another person in the isle got a phone call on his cell phone to let him know that Jacyee-Jay had just won gold…  when, in our history, have we ever been this connected to each other?

And how smart have been the sponsors of the games…??  Did anyone else catch the change in the coke commercial during the women’s final game??  If you missed it, look for it in tomorrow’s game….  and although we wear red proudly, we are also wearing the blues and greens of the games just as proudly..  I have a new green (yes green) cap that managed to get a few looks in the grocery store today…..  not to mention, my father in law wanting it…

But life outside of the games goes on – with an earthquake in Chili, the need for me to return to Calgary and other notable new stories. Ultimately, it’s a sporting event, but oh, what a sporting event. Probably, this is no surprise to anyone reading this who knows me but I think I’ve officially turned into an Olympic junkie…  I’d like to go to 2012 in London…  2014 in Socchi is still on the table….

Compassion for others – so we win gold and we remember but right now, I might remember more about those that didn’t win – Melissa Hollingsworth and her apology to the country or Joannie Rochette’s remarkable performance – regardless of her being on a podium or not. It still comes down to emotions that we see the athletes have and the more emotion, the more connected we feel to them. Cheryl Bernards’ silver – some might say that she should have won gold and really, who cares..  those of us who are weekend warriors would trade a lot to be in her place…  she brought another medal to Canada and a wonderful performance during the week to get her to that last game. She might be Kevin Martin four years from now not settling for anything less than gold….

And what about the Para Olympic games…  For the first time I’m excited to watch…  maybe it’s because I don’t want the games to end or that I really want to see even more Canadian’s kick butt and get to that podium…. or that as I was leaving Vancouver, all the ads on transit switched to the Para Olympics.

Sport – no matter what type or when or where, brings all of us together…  Nothing is more powerful in this country then the power of sport. It teaches, it builds character, it allows us to wave our Canadian flag and so many of us, can say that I played. No, I may not have made it to the podium, or really, the bottom stair, but I have played. With my friends, with my family, with people I didn’t know. Sport in it’s various forms form recreational to competitive brings us together. It’s nice to see Prime Minister Harper at the games, but does he really realize what Sport has done for our country and how we need to invest in it?

Okay, so off the soap box and on to today’s game..  and what a game…  I watched the game at a local pub with Shaunna, Dom and Chris…  Even though it was just the four of us, it was amazing atmosphere. The crowd felt every goal, every post that we hit, every hit we made and hurt when the USA tied the game with 24 seconds to go…  But, I’m not sure everyone else felt like me, but I knew that the men’s team were going to get it done today…  It’s probably the most positive I’ve felt…  and when they scored…  well, the pub absolutely erupted…  I was jumping up and down, people were high fiving each other, hugging each other….  it was crazy..  and yes, the entire pub stood and sang O Canada – so cool..  And on the way home – two thumbs up from cars I’m next to (have the Canada and Hockey Flags ups) and I lost count of the number of cars honking and waving…

So onto the closing ceremonies…. Did anyone else see the Canadian flag attached to the camera that is on the wire???  Perfect…  that’s us, quiet nationals…  well, maybe we aren’t so quiet anymore..??? 14 golds..  the most any country has ever won..  simply amazing…

John Furlong – my oh my – he has a great speech writer….  Stephen Harper needs to hire that person! John now needs to write a book. He has been at every event at some point and at each place, he meets as many volunteers as possible. We saw it on the tv on the SUI-RUS game – John thanking the blue jackets and I’m not sure that CEO’s in the past have spent this much time thanking the blue jackets and contractors??

Noteworthy side note – no doping infractions that I know of….  Credit to Sheila for that thought…

And the Coke commercial – if you missed how the commercial changes, let me know…  I pvr’ed the last game in particular to take some still shots of this commercial…

So as I turn to leaving the blog post for now..  I’ll leave you with photos from tonight and a couple of flag waving moments from my trip back to Calgary…  No matter what, these games have left a lasting impression in every Canadian that has watched these games…  and if you weren’t watching, you missed the big show…

Thanks to everyone for reading and putting some replys up…  it helps to know that you were reading..  and thanks again to everyone at MRU for keeping the ship upright at home and thanks again to David and Chris for pushing me to do this…  I highly encourage anyone that can, volunteer for a games or an event of any sort…