There is nothing like being there. The Closing Ceremonies were amazing. It is always a little sad for the host city to close out the 17 days of the games, but Canada can be proud. Yes, there were some issues and gliches but, the games went off well with a very friendly group of people hosting. I sat next to a Canadian who had attended the Gold Medal game of the men's hockey and, although very glad that Canada won, was very complimentary of the American team. What a game that was with the Americans scoring to tie it up with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
They rolled out all the stars for the closing and also made great use of the technical problem from the opening ceremony. They made it fun to raise the final portion of the flame and got some of the egg off of their faces. It was a great preview of the next set of games in Russia in four years, a very entertaining celebration, and a star line-up with William Shatner, Michael J. Fox, and Neil Young just to name a few. We are headed back to Seattle tonight for a 6:40 a.m. departure. We will arrive tired and ready to get back into the busy work schedule having seen another set of games. There really is nothing like being here.

Rick

On the beautiful sightseeing trip to scenic Whistler, some of us took in all of the beauty - some of us took in beauty sleep.

Rick

Hockey is the national sport of Canada. The Canadians, overall, are doing well in the games, poised to win the most gold medals of any country and especially a host country. So, it comes down to the final game of the games - the Gold Medal match for Men's Hockey. Do you think this country is focused? Do you think there is some pressure on the Canadian team to win? When I was out this morning, the throngs on the streets were unreal. I have been in Philadelphia and New York when the World Series was decided. I know what kind of festivities goes on when the "home team" wins. This in not a local team. The Canadian team is the National team. If, perhaps, the USA team beats the Canadian team today, there will not be the partying in the streets of USA as there will be if the situation gets reversed. I was originally intending to go watch the game at LiveCity across the street. The line to get in there to watch the game is about a 2 hour wait. So, I will sit down in our living room, and cheer for the better team to win. Yes, I will be rooting for the Americans, but they are not just playing against the whole Canadian Team of 20+ players, they are playing against an entire country. If they beat them it will not be another Miracle on Ice like in 1980. We did that once against a formidible opponent in Russia. Today is a chance to take gold from the favorite and do so with a miraculous performance. What we are experiencing, being here in the streets of Vancouver, is some incredible Nationalistic pride.

Rick

What an amazing time here in Vancouver! Bobsleigh in Whistler; hanging out in the city; 'doing' the Today Show; Figure Skating Exhibition and we will go to the Closing Ceremony tomorrow!

With a worrisome start to the trip (medics in the Philadelphia Airport) and a long trip out - we started out the trip tired! But the exhileration of climbing the bobsleigh course and watching the women athletes was a great way to start our time in Vancouver.

I have some videos of the start of the a few bobsleigh races that I will try to post.

Today (Saturday), Chris and I decided to try to get into the Figure Skating Exhibition and we did. For a great deal, we sat on the long side of the rink, not too far up and enjoyed an amazing event. As I posted to everyone on Facebook - where can you see so many medal winning figure skaters performing all at the same time? VERY exciting! And Chris got Scott Hamilton's autograph and a photo with him that I will post soon enough! (how cool is that!)

We met some fellow figure skater lovers on our way out of the venue and had the pleasure of hanging out with them, going to the flame with them and then to dinner. We are all here for the same reason - the Games! It is so great to be with people from all over the world, to share stories and to support the Games!!

I have a few videos of the skating that I will try to post.

Lots and lots more to write,

The picture is of the US Ice Dance Pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White. They are signing our flag at the set of the Today Show.

I am not a fan of the medal count. Ok, I know, WE are winning overall. Isn't life about winning? I know all the arguments. It is the emphasis on this whole medal thing that gets me a little upset. I have watched a number of events where the, for instance, 30th place finisher is busting their butt to make it across the finish line. This, by the way IS the world stage. There are only 80 some countries represented here where in the summer of '08 it was around 200. There are only 2400 athletes here as compared to about 10,000 in Beijing. Not everyone wins a medal. (And, of course, Apollo Ohno has taken home his share of them.) So how many medals has Nigeria won? You are not up on that count? Their athete(s) are here competing anyway. We have a tendency to want to watch the winner and we have become used to the fact that the Americans will do well. How many of the events do you actually see in prime time? They will only show the ones that the sponsors think will attract viewers. That is why the US victory over Canada was only shown on MSNBC rather that NBC in prime time. Hockey does not have the viewers and, apparently, the Americans were going to lose that game. Wow, now they are matched up again tomorrow for the Gold Medal game. So, are we winning the Olympics? I am such a purist thinking that this is all about being in the games. They only give out three place medals. This is not like Little League were every team down to 10th place gets a trophy so big it will not fit into the kids bedroom. Sorry for sounding off, but then that is what a blog is for. Comments please!!

Rick

Whenever you attend the Olympics, you have to figure out where you are going to stay. Many of the people in the host cities think they are going to make a "fortune" on the games by renting their places. We also found what we think were "scams" of people posting fake lodging places. We found a number of places on Craig's List and made our final contact and confirmation with Julie on the Saturday night before we left to come out. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Before I get into describing where we are, let me give you a little history of our lodging.
We stayed in Barcelona in an apartment rented by a college student who had stayed with my family two summers prior to the games. It was not the lap of luxury, but it was free and located about a two minute walk from the subway and we were in downtown in 10 minutes.
In Atlanta, I stayed with a high school classmate and we were far north of the city and it required a lot of travel each day.
In Salt Lake City, we found a woman on-line who decided to rent the rooms of her house after she placed third in the women's skeleton trials for the US and did not make the team. We met a super couple from Chicago there who we hung out with at several events.
In Athens, Christina found someone on-line who was renting an apartment for his brother who was going on vacation. The person renting lived in New York and his brother was in Athens. It was close to public transportation but a little work to get to events.
In Beijing, we rented an apartment from a business aquaintance of brother-in-law Michael. Ideally located right near a subway station in the business district of Beijing.
Here, we are in an ideal location. We are in downtown Yaletown. We are in a 2 bedroom apartment in a building that has a pool and hot tub. It is a couple minute walk to the subway and located across the street from LiveCity which is an entertainment center and a host to many sponsor pavilions. We are also close to many stores and food areas. It is also a busy part of town with a lot of people coming and going all day. It is not easy to arrange all of this. We have not seen a lot of events, but we are in the heart of the Olympics in a city that is bubbling with their success in the medal count. Canadian TV is constantly mentioning that Canada is winning in the gold medal race. We know that the US is winning in the medal count overall. Maybe the next blog I'll go on about the medal count.

Rick

I will speak from some experience. I have been to six Olympic games. There is an atmosphere at each one. People have asked me in the past about which one was my favorite. I always reply with a standard answer, "my first games in Barcelona". Simply because it was the first and, secondly, because I had the chance to share it with my father.
Vancouver has been different. When in Spain, the fans were very present, but not too enthusiastic. Spain does not have a rich history of success in the games. When in Atlanta, the Americans turned out in droves. The response was very overwhelming depending on which venue you attended and how well the Americans did. For instance, we attended Badminton and the Americans had very little presence in that event. When the Americans were doing well in an event, the fans responded well. In Athens, the Greeks did not expect to do well in the medal count, so the enthusiasm was not all that great, although they were very friendly and welcoming.
In Salt Lake City, I can reflect solely from the perspective of the events we attended. We went to a Nordic event and the Americans were certainly present. They were not as enthusiastic as the crowd from some of the countries that, traditionally, do well in these events; ie: Norway. In Beijing, it seemed that the fans were there out of obligation. It was just a feeling that I had but, it seemed that they were there to fill the seats. It is much different here in Vancouver. Especially now at the end of the games and the Canadians are doing well. They are in line for the gold in Hockey matched up against the Americans in a rematch. They are going to medal in Curling in both divisions, although the women could have won their match today for the gold. The town is alive with friendly, enthusiastic fans. They are all over the place. They are filling the downtown streets with their cheers for Canada and everyone is clad in red. It is just a feeling, but it is different from any of the other experiences.
We had dinner tonight with our host, Julie. She took us downtown to a Chinese restaurant that she favors. It was a great meal and she ordered so much food that, with what we brought home, we may not need to eat meals away from the apartment for the rest of our stay. One more day and then it will be the final day of the games. We are poised for the Closing Ceremonies. We purchased tickets from someone on Craig's List and we are set to go. It will be a great end to the games.

Rick