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…

So the first team to get on the ice was Team Latvia – very nice and polite players…  Aivars – I looked for your brother but apparently he wasn’t on this team.

Then came Team Czech…  Within a very short period of time, they had blown a breaker in their dressing room and their team host had managed to get under my skin. I was very nice and polite when the word amateur competition (his definition of the women’s tournament) left his mouth. He also wanted a separate warm up room for his team (didn’t exist in our venue), a designated box for his team officials (didn’t exist in our venue), and daily schedules(that we could do). But the best part was when I was showing him and the security official from the NHL around the rink while the CHN-SVK game was going on, we were about to enter the rink and I said “we’ll just wait until play stops and then I can show you the area around the back of the rink”. The three of us stood watching the game for about a minute when he says to me, “why are we waiting for a stoppage of play?” In a very calm and controlled voice, I replied, “because it’s the polite thing to do?” I couldn’t believe that he even asked. When it was all said and done, and I was left with the NHL security guy, the first thing he did was apologize for the Team Hosts behavior…  funny…   Needless to say, you know who I was cheering for in the LAT –CZE game…   and woo hoo..  hats off to FIN and Kipper for that win….

And then the final women’s game in our venue – SUI vs RUS…  and I was given tickets for myself, Irene and Uwe so off we went to the game. It was a good thing that our seats were with the SUI family members as we were cheering for SUI of course…  And somehow, within 2 minutes of getting to the game, Uwe met the gentleman with the large cowbell (I really don’t know how it got through the airport and venue security)…  They gave Uwe a flag and we were off with chants of Hopp Swiss…..   way too much fun..  and as Irene and Uwe say we also got the full meal deal – tied after regulation time (SUI goalie was exceptional), followed by 10 minutes of OT with chances on both sides, to finish with a Shoot out and a SUI win….

So, the day off was spent trying to find some last minute gifts to bring back (yes, last minute as I haven’t had time to shop until this day). I also choose not to stand in the crazy line ups at the downtown Olympic Store. The day before I was leaving, the store was staying open 24 hours a day – I guess the hours of 9 am to midnight wasn’t enough. But after going to 3 bays, 2 zellers outside of the downtown, I get why they stayed open…  Every type of shirt/souvenir was picked clean…  absolutely amazing. The Bay has had to have made so much money…  Incredible..  What I also knew was that some of the Olympic gear was also available at Sport Mart (and it was buy one, get a 2^nd at 50% off)…  So I went there instead.

There have been some other stories that I’ve inherited from others and one I have to mention goes to Jenn C from Ottawa (turns out this is another case of 2.5 degrees of separation in hockey as Jenn was coached in Ottawa by Sue who is Coolie’s partner…  Anyways, at one of the women’s game, some boys with a great sense of humor came dressed as bunnies and then sat behind the bench…  True puck bunnies…  I loved it….

So the last post will come tomorrow after the hockey game…  I’m heading to a local sports establishment with some friends as I couldn’t imagine watching it anywhere else (unless it was CHP)….

So, now that I’m officially done my volunteer shift, I need to write down some things that have come to mind that I just don’t want to forget, so you’ll have bear with me…

“With Glowing Hearts” – That’s the tag line from the games. I never really noticed it prior to being here and the more I’m here, the more I realized how appropriate. I tried to figure out how to get a poster out of our rink with no success but in my souvenir shopping today I found two great posters that I will frame with some of the other souvenirs that I have gathered. We’ve had some discussions about how many emotions and thoughts ‘with glowing hearts’ brings about now….   I’d love to see some comments from those not in Vancouver about whether you’ve noticed the tag line and what sort of thoughts you have about it… Personally, I think the marketing person or team is absolutely amazing…  they allowed the sponsors to use the VANOC logos  - the blue, green rink boards that you see in hockey, figure skating, speed skating – pretty much any background can also be seen on GMC dealerships, Petro Canada Station (fueling our athletes) and so on…  Every bus, train and stations shows nothing but ads for the Olympics or their sponsors. It’s truly so well integrated…

Day 12 of the Games and I’m watching  Ashley McIvor’s victory ceremony – crowd is still singing as loud as the first Canadian Medal….  How proud can we be of our athletes – so many firsts, so many personal bests…  And when in the history of our Nation, have we ever, won so many GOLD medals…?? And has anyone heard the national anthem so many times yet everyone is still singing O Canada just like the games started…  As I sit tonight and watch the ceremonies, I wonder how this has changed not just me, but everyone who calls themselves Canadian? How many young athletes are being influenced by these games? How many of us (weekend athletes) want to do more with our lives – go for that extra walk/run/workout – or volunteer for one more event? But still remembering that above all – make it fun – Colin Montgomery is the picture of fun for me for these games – how happy and excited he was and celebratory…  Celebration of things going well is something I have difficulty with (my co-workers can attest to this) that I truly want to make part of my life.

Watching Joannie Rochette on the ice….  landing her jumps..  Here’s another Olympic story…  Just like the Solvenia, cross country skier…  Where does she find the strength to do what she is doing? Does she feel the strength from all of us watching? Does anyone watching this not cry???  Amazing..  absolutely amazing…  I have to use Rod Black’s quote about one of the bravest young ladies out there…  I don’t know many people that would have the fortitude that she is showing right now….  and I don’t know anyone – male or female that could be dry eyed after watching that performance or the shots that come after.

Another first for the games – if you haven’t been on the website for vancouver2010.com.. do so…  it changes the way you watch some of the sports – for example, figure skating – I can see what jumps each skater is going to do and what they get scored…  the live feed for the luge, bobsled and skelton is also amazing…

Yes, the games have had their challenges but overall, these have been Canada Games and I’ve been extremely lucky and proud to say that I’m a blue jacket….

Okay no pictures tonight but I’ll get some final ones up tomorrow…  stay tuned for stories about the SUI-RUS women’s game, my run in with the men’s CZE host and my travels to Winfield….

The best part of the past couple of days – watching one last event, sunny skies, and my final volunteer gift (Swatch watch)…..

The worse part of the past couple of days – finding out there’s still snow in Calgary…  and realizing that the Games are coming to an end….  it’s been so much fun, so many things to see and do and so many people that I have met that I’m sad it’s over…..

Our venue has been relatively quiet – all the teams practicing although, I have to say the four teams playing for 5^th through 9^th have a much higher level of noise in the building. The players have been playing more soccer in the hallways. Logistically, tonight is a nightmare but fortunately, the paid staff are taking the lead on the movement of teams. When I say movement, I mean movement. The top four Women’s teams are moving out of our venue and going to CHP. Complete with most if not all of their equipment (picture dressing room, coach’s room, equipment room and an additional storage area). The problem is that the women’s teams can’t move until all the men’s games are done. There will be three men’s teams moving up to UBC for the next 3 days (until the 24^th) but who it will be won’t be decided until after the directorate meeting tonight which will take place after the last game (SWE vs FIN). So it will be a late night for the team staff, transport, and athlete services. Thankfully the sport information desk didn’t have to stay open.

However, tomorrow morning will be a gong show with three men’s teams in the building. Personally, I was hoping for CZE as I’ve heard that Jagr is a rink rat (comes to the rink in the am and stays). No matter what, everyone will be pumped to have the men’s teams. I wish it was different, but the fact is that there are NHL players on these teams and that will attract attention.

One cool thing we did in the venue on Friday night was to take some pictures on the ice. I’ll put some of these in the gallery…  Also in the gallery, you’ll see the wooden inukshuk that is in the neighborhood. I saw this being created one day and now that it’s done, it was a good day to stop and take that picture…

And finally in the gallery, there are some pictures of the views around Vancouver. On Friday, since I had some time to kill, I decided to go and walk around campus. I ended up going down NW Marine to the first beach. What a beautiful spot. There were tons of people walking their dogs including this black lab that was digging in the sand (barking and growling at nothing). Too funny.

The only other news I have is that I got a gift from the IIHF, from Rene Fassel himself. All of the supervisors in the venue got the gift so that was kind of cool…  As volunteers, we also have been given gifts on days 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15…  and then one extra gift which was a silver medallion. It’s been a good motivator for some as we’ve been quiet but the volunteers have still come to work to get to their next gift shift. There is a final venue party after the last game on the 24^th but I’ll be back towards Calgary and back to reality again.

So, I know that one of the most talked about things tomorrow will be the CAN – USA game…  so if you need to rant, feel free to post a comment. I got to watch most of the game and thought Miller was the star of the game…  One of the comments around our table was that the Canadians were playing a very individualistic game and that’s something I’ve always questioned about the NHL players coming to the games without really practicing together as a team.

So, the best part of the last couple of days – having some fun with my co-workers, Krista for getting us home, taking pictures on the ice and taking Irene and Uwe to a great little bistro.

And the worse part of the last couple of days – having the alarm go off way toooooo quickly and realizing that this is almost over. Tomorrow is my official last shift, giving myself a day to clean up and do any last Olympic type things, a couple of days to visit my Mom and brother and then it’s back to Calgary. I really hope that the snow is gone or I’ll be the guy crying in the snow commercial….

We tried to keep it quiet as to what men’s team was coming to the rink, but it didn’t take very long for the word to get out that the Russians were coming. So I was assigned to the front door – hold it open as the team came into the rink and Fran had the inside the rink door. For the most part, the blue jackets don’t bother the athletes in our venue, we don’t really watch the practices and cameras are at a minimum until today.

It was also interesting to note about what we needed to change now that men were in the building. They were using our practice ice and a couple of temporary changerooms in rink b. But the team went into action with cleaning the rooms, the hallway leading to the rooms, getting towels, and drinks out to the area. Re-surfaced the ice twice before they arrived and swept and mopped the hallways.

Team Russia arrived on their bus, fully dressed. The goalies had everything on and the rest of the team had everything but helmets, gloves and skates. They pulled out their individual equipment out of the bus and came into the rink. Their entrance was just below the workforce break room that has glass windows (big ones). So the blue jacket force lined the windows for entry and took pictures and then every window into the rink was lined with more staff. Our Sid team was in the rink lined against the wall.

The team only practiced for about 45 minutes but man, I can tell you that they are big men and can shoot hard. Scared the daylights out of me and the other blue jackets standing on the back wall. I would have thought that the men would hit the net more often. Krista said that it reminder her of tyke hockey where she had to get dressed in the car on the way to the rink or before leaving for the rink. There’s some photos in the gallery from today.

My excitement  from the Russian team was seeing Tretiak…  I didn’t know who Malkin was or even Ochevkin but I knew who Tretiak was and he looks great. He’s a very tall man so I can really understand how he was such a good goalie. One of the goalies on his way out (complete with skates on) actually hit his head on the door – they take up a lot of space in that net.

Well, that’s likely the closest we will get to the men’s athletes so I hope you enjoy the gallery tonight. There’s also some pictures of our staff while we were waiting.

Tomorrow we are into the home stretch – I only have four shifts left and there’s only six days left at our venue. It seems like the time has gone by quickly but it’s been good. Last night walking around the town, was one of the amazing moments – it reminded me of walking around Germany when we were there for the World Cup. Everyone was so happy. Singing O Canada. There’s amazing free shows going on all the time and for those marketing gurus, we also came across the best ads we’ve seen. At night, Nike projects it’s Force Fate ads on the sides of the white buildings. Krista and I were mesmerized for quite some time…. (the pictures are in yesterday’s gallery)

The best part of my day – seeing Tretiak and having birthday cake as it was Yuni’s birthday.

The worse part of my day – forgetting that Team Canada played today and not leaving early enough to watch the game – but we did get the end of the third and the shoot out – thanks to Barb for keeping me up to date via bb.

Our day started off at by walking to the Olympic Cauldron. I’m not sure how much news you’ve heard about the fence around the cauldron but it’s been in the news a fair amount around here and the lack of accessibility to the cauldron. Unknown to Irene and I when we headed in this morning, they had moved the fence closer to the cauldron but also opened up a pathway that allowed you to take photos without the fence in between. The line up was 45 minutes but there was no hesitation between Irene and I that it was well worth the wait. It was a beautiful day and really, how often can you get close to the Olympic flame. So as we were waiting in line, the CTV crew came by and of course, I was taking pictures of them…  So then they asked us about whether it was worth the line up and the wait and both Irene and I had the same response…  of course it is worth the wait…  It was a good solution for Vanoc and we may only see the Olympic flame once in our life so a 45 minute wait wasn’t so bad. The view is terrific of the harbor and north Vancouver so it was all worth it…  So in the gallery tonight is pictures of the cauldron…  I still need to go back at night to really get a shot of the flame but against the bright blue sky, it still looks good. Tried to find the Calgary 88 Palmer House while we were waiting but I never did find it…

Speaking of 1988 games, I have to share some pictures that were taken this year but showcase the 88 Olympics. First is Wally..  For those that don’t know Wally, he’s my father-in-law and this picture is from the Hitmen Game on opening ceremony night. David and Wally went to the hockey game instead of watching ceremony but I think Wally showed great spirit wearing the sweater…  Wally was a volunteer in 1988 so yes, it’s authentic. The next is from yesterday, outside of Alberta House in the downtown area. They were handing out Alberta pins and low and behold, here’s a young man with a 1988 toque. Borrowed from his dad, he tells us, as he was just a babe in 1988. I’ve also seen a few 1988 jackets, but I’ve yet to get a photo.

I’ve now realized again, there is too much in one day to write about so I’m going to keep the rest of this post to some thoughts about how the Olympic Games are giving Canadians some national pride. Something that I don’t think I knew we had. The victory ceremony had 30 000 some odd people singing O Canada after we watched Maelle Ricker receive her gold medal. I was taking pictures and Krista had the video camera out so I’m putting up some pictures. This site doesn’t support the video so for those of you on facebook as my friend will get access to the video there or through Utube. I’ll have to figure that out yet. And if that wasn’t enough national pride, walking down Robson Street, we would pass groups of people that would break out in O Canada at various times and of course, we joined in. I think Krista’s comment sums it up the best – “if you aren’t from Canada, and you came to Vancouver without knowing our national anthem, you’ll know it when you leave”. Still today, there are still new Canadian flags popping up on houses and everyone is glued to their televisions at night. I even said that I didn’t like going out last night as I was missing so many highlights…

Finally in the picture gallery will be a picture of Quatchi and Miga who were outside the Victory Ceremony. I know that some of you want more pictures but I’m limited. Once I get back, or before, I will try and find a site to upload more – I think I’m up to about 700 pictures – thanks for the digital age.

The best part of the last two days – getting 12 hours of sleep on Monday night – I slept in until 8:15 am and of course, seeing the flame…. and singing O Canada with 30 000 others….

The worse part of the last two days – not getting to spend more time at the cauldron…  they do hustle you along and with so many visitors, it’s to be expected.

Oh ya, I should add – Irene also got interviewed for Russian TV. We were taking pictures of the inukshuks at False Creek and the Russians just stopped to ask here what they symbolized…  For those that don’t know – it means welcome….  and Vancouver and Canada has done a great job in welcoming others…

Well, not much to report today – I did get to go and watch some of the Canada vs Swiss game and was sitting close enough to the Swiss fans to hear them chant – “Hop Swiss”. That was cool as I haven’t heard that chant since the World Cup in Germany.  In today’s picture gallery is a lot of pictures from today’s game so I hope you enjoy them.

The other interesting discussion we had in the room today was the need for each team to have warm up space. The way the teams warm up has changed so much and so many of them do a dynamic warm up now, they need the extra space.  The reason that the UBC venue didn’t provide any additional warm up space to the teams was because they don’t have any extra space at CHP. It’s an interesting perception  when one venue (supposedly the lesser venue) provides a better space to the athletes. As we do have athletes travelling to both venues they wanted to make sure that the venues were as similar as possible.  But the teams do take whatever room they want, outside our office, in the hallways, pretty much any larger space. So far, I’ve seen Team Finland, China, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and USA warm up as a team. Team Canada today – Wick had her headset in and warmed up on her own, about 6 other players played soccer outside our office door and the others were on the bikes. I think the players like to play psychological games with each other as at the end of the warm ups, the teams warming up as a team always cheer at the end of warm up and the cheers have been getting louder and our set up in the rink makes everything echo so any other player in that area will hear them.

I’m going to enjoy the next couple of days off, hopefully play some golf with Cheryl and then spend one day going to the free events around town…  I still need to get some pictures of the cauldron and no, I don’t have a cauldron at my venue.  Oh ya, and get some MRU work done….

As for watching the game today, the Swiss goalie was excellent and the players gave Canada a good battle. The score doesn’t quite reflect on the Swiss team as well as it should. And the crowd is simply amazing – the sea of Red is alive and well in Vancouver.

We are also planning a staff night to one of the country houses on the 19^th as we don’t have any games at our venue. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

The best part of today – just having a great team to work with. All the volunteers are so happy to be here and so willing and helpful to do pretty much anything.

The worse part of today – Missing out on seeing the blue sky today – I came to work in the dark and I’m heading home in about the same color so I missed the sunshine today – I will try and make up for that tomorrow.

Well, the sun came out yesterday which makes this city even more beautiful. Irene and Uwe decided to get me a transit break and came into UBC yesterday so I got a ride home. They were in a local pub watching the China – USA game along with some other tourists that couldn’t get tickets to the game. On that note, if you see empty seats in the stands, that is likely the athlete, coaches section. Both UBC and CHP have 2 sections set aside for athletes of the teams in the tournament along with coaches, team administration, and IIHF members. So for some games, especially when we are done the round robin, you’ll see the other teams in the stands.

Today is Monday and then I get two days off. The alarm going at 5:45 or earlier will be a welcome relief come tomorrow. I’m going to catch up with Cheryl VN tomorrow afternoon for maybe a round of nine holes (sorry girls, I had to put that one in)….  In today’s photo gallery will be some pictures of the scenery here and the puppies next door. I got here just in time to have a little fun time with them and the three adult dogs next door are how I get my dog fix. Along with the dogs I meet on my walk when I drive in.

The best part of my day – I have to thank Uwe for the Valentine chocolates….  and the german licorice….  that was in my trailer when I got home.

The worse part of my day – hmmm…  if I to pick something, I’d say it was the rain in the middle of the night. It absolutely poured here last night and into the morning…  if it was snow, I would have been stuck…..

As I suspected, our role changed from the pre-tournament stuff. Now we are gathering stats from Reproduction Print Distribution (RPD). Don’t you love the acronyms??  If I throw some out that you don’t know, please ask….  they bring us the official stats, pre game, after each period and at the end game. We have to put together all the stats into packages for each of the teams and keep a copy for ourselves. We are also responsible for making a dvd copy of the game for each of the countries and that’s probably the most stressful item on our list of stuff to do. We have 2 dvd recorders that tape the live feed from the game and I found out why we need two yesterday as one of the players simply stopped recording in the middle of the first period and it took a solid 2 minutes to get the dvd recorder started again…  We also have a duplicator so we can make the copies all at once. But then we have to label the dvds with the appropriate label and check each one to make sure they play….  all high tech stuff….  and keep a master copy.

I have to say that everyone I work with is really amazing…  Newsy and Dano (the double d’s) are so good at their job and everyone loves working with them. The FOP crew is great, the ICE crew is great, Athlete Services are great…  This is probably one of those things that won’t come through on the tv but will make the games a great experience for the volunteers. The double D’s treat us really well. On that note, we got an unexpected surprise yesterday – 22 tickets for the Canada – Slovakia game at CHP were offered up to our volunteers…  Needless to say the tickets went fast. Unfortunately, our evening crew didn’t get the opportunity so I hope that the offer comes again and we can get some of them to the game as well. Even though the game was a blowout, the atmosphere in CHP was awesome. The crowd actually cheered without being prompted by a jumbotron. Although there were 4 or 5 volunteers acting as cheer leaders as times. It was still and amazing crowd – almost everyone was wearing red and just simply cheering….  I hope the pictures give you a good idea of what it was like, combined with what you might have saw on tv…

So, my only other observation that I have to pass along from my transit rides and walking to the venue – I’ve almost seen it all on the transit now – girls doing their makeup, guys shaving…  yes, shaving…  and then as much as I’m proud to wear the blue jacket, it is expected that you know the answers to general question (Which way is Robson street? How do I get to the P3 parking?)

I can’t continue until I put a little part in here about the luge accident today – We weren’t watching but knew within 20 minutes….  almost everyone in the break room was glued to the tv watching…  at the time we didn’t know that he had died.  It certainly affects everyone that is working the games – there were thoughts of canceling events and ceremonies today….   but the games go on – if you haven’t seen the video, I wouldn’t recommend watching it. More importantly is to watch John Furlong in his interview…  his emotion for the family, the country and everyone was palpable through the tv…. my heart goes out to the Georgian team, and his family.

The Georgia team just walked in and it’s so emotional to watch. And the crowd to give them a standing ovation was so great…  I’m sure all the sports tomorrow will take a moment of silence.

Interesting to see how many countries have this as their first Olympic Winter Games. Is that a sign of the times or is it because the games are in Canada – thoughts?

My luck with the torch run this week includes this morning. Last night we tried to go and watch the torch come through downtown but just got a couple of pictures and then it was gone. In tonight’s picture gallery you’ll find pictures of Saxony house, the torch, Jackie and Mitch, the coca cola marketing machine and this morning’s torch run. As I was making my way back to UBC this morning, I ended up trying to get out of downtown as the torch came by so I took advantage of it with the camera (three cars away). Made me late to work, but imagine that, they were understanding. So I’m kind of glad that the torch run is over and I won’t accidently run into it again. The amount of people that were out last night and this morning to watch the torch is simply amazing. It’s just amazing. So many people, everywhere.

Also in the picture gallery is the 2 Calgarians with the flag, the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) with the globe behind it…  Both sites were found last night and we were even lucky enough to hear the Calgarians sing the National Anthem for Chinese TV…..

There are too many things going through my head to get it all on the paper and we are almost at the point of Canada coming into the stadium….

Enjoy the rest of the ceremonies…  Tomorrow starts competition time and I’m sure I’ll have more things to share about the games…..

For those wondering about the Celtic symbol , it means trinity – spirit, mind and body – appropriate for the games.

So thoughts on Canada’s Peter Pan????

The moment of silence…  amazingly quiet in the stadium – 60 000 plus and you could hear a pin drop…

Yaaaayayyyyyy  Haley – nice job on the Oath…..

Final Torch Bearers:

• Rick Hansen
• Catrina Le May Doan
• Steve Nash
• Nancy Greene
• Wayne Gretzky

Looks like we have a glitch…… too bad that Steve’s face betrays the issue…

Typically Canadian – just let us run with Gretzky……. no security no nothing….

Look at the Canadians Run!!! I love it…  where’s the hidden ring????

Final flame outside – the five flames going at once….    not one single flame but five separate ones coming together…  After the torch has traveled through so many hands and so many miles, I like the way it is not just one flame. I think it’s a great symbol of us as Canadians don’t you think? I wonder what my cauldron at UBC will look like tomorrow…..

Good night from Vancouver – enjoy the pictures and let the games begin….