Today was an open day for events, but I managed to take one in anyway. The girls had to do some shopping since we have reservations for dinner at Grouse Mountain where the NBC Today Show is broadcast at 4:00 a.m. PST in order to be live in NY at 7:00 a.m. Of course Friday is going to be a wash.
Today, Christina had to do some work early and Chris wanted to shop, so I ventured out to see the sights. I was able to get into the heart of downtown, do some pin purchasing, see the Olympic Flame, take in some street entertainers, do some Olympic shopping in Gastown, and then have time to think about taking in an event.
I knew that the Curling semifinals were taking place today at 2:00. I did not have tickets, but had heard that you could go to the venue and there would be scalpers selling tickets. So, I took the Canada Line Subway to the station located near the venue. (near is the optimal term here since it was a healthy walk away - nothing new to the Olympics). When I exited the subway station, I immediately ran into ticket scalpers. They all wanted way more than I wanted to pay. I knew what the tickets sold for at face value, so I held to a firm price. I engaged about four scalpers and they all wanted about $160 to $170 apiece for a ticket. The face was $100 since this was a semi round. I walked back and forth telling each of them that my bottom line price was $100. I then walked away and stood near the exit of the subway. After a while, one of the scalpers walked over and offered me one of the tickets for my price constantly letting me know that this was below the actual price he paid for the ticket. I told him that this was better than having it in his hand after the start of the event. We both walked away happy. As far as Curling goes, it is a blast; especially when the host country is in the lead. The Canadian team is really masterful in their performing. The Skip of the team is very strategic in his planning of each end. His strategy lead the Swedish team to mistakes that built the Canadian lead early in the match. It was a strategic run-away by the 9th end. All-in-all, it was a great day. I had some super conversations with Canadians at the venue who all appreciated that an American was in the audience to see their team perform.
Argue as much as you want about Curling being a real sport. Since I had an opportunity to try this at the Curling Club in Paoli back in 2002, I have some appreciation of what it takes to roll a 42 lb. stone 163 feet into the "house" for a score. When on the world stage of the Olympics, it is far removed from a recreational outing and into the realm of elite performance. These are well trained athletes. If you have paid any attention to the the broadcasting you will have heard about the their training schedules. Attending this event, despite the absence of the American team, was a treat. It was to be appreciated from the world of athletics.

Rick
Sorry, but pictures will not upload.