Olympic Wrap-Up

I must say that I miss the Olympics.  Not that I was that much into watching them but it was nice for the past two weeks or so to be able to switch over to them if nothing else was on.  It was great filler and something interesting to watch while I was waiting for time to past before going to bed. Because I cannot go to bed early.  Well, I could and I should but lately it has seemed like the sooner I go to bed, the sooner tomorrow will come.  But that issue may just be a whole other blog posting.

The events that I did catch and that I did enjoy was some of the snowboarding events, some of the skiing, the figure skating, a little bit of the curling competition and the gold medal hockey game.  Now, up until yesterday, I had never seen a hockey game despite having grown up in Detroit, home of the Red Wings.  My father and brothers weren’t into hockey at all and they greatly influenced my sports exposure.  But I was curious about this game between the US and Canada and I wanted to see who was going to win and the reaction of the Canadians.

WOW!!  It was so exciting!!  The action was fast paced…much faster than watching basketball.  So fast that the announcers were always caught by surprise when someone scored.  They would be describing the action and then yell that there was a goal.  Seconds after it happened.  I guess it was easy to miss because, unlike basketball when you can see the big orange ball sail through the air and into the net, the puck is small and hiding behind skates and hockey sticks and guys trying to get the puck and shoving each other around. If this game was typical of what a hockey game is like, I may just have to start watching hockey.  I can see why people love it and get completely enthusiastic about it.

I am also really glad Canada won.  Yes, it would have been nice for the US to win and I was rooting for them throughout the game.  But the Canadians just wanted it so bad and they were so happy when they won, I was happy for them.  Nice to see so many people so joyful!

In addition to watching the actual events, I also enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies.  The opening was impressive just by the use of the floor and audience as screens and the projection of such great images.  It was on the same level as the Beijing opening ceremony, in my opinion.

Then there was the closing ceremony.  I loved that the Canadians, rather than trying to make it all dramatic and poignant, decided to go the humor route.  It was funny!  From the opening with lighting the flame again, to the remarks by William Shatner, Catherine O’Hara and Michael J. Fox to the closing “parade” that was just so campy and enjoyable.  As the Today Show put it this morning, it was like their version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

All in all, I think Vancouver and Canada did a marvelous job with the whole Olympics.  I hope that they are able to use the venues to make money in the future and that it helps boost their economy.  And I’m looking forward to the next Olympics just because I will probably be catching more of the hockey games.  And the figure skating, skiing, bob sledding, and, hate to admit it, curling.  Just four more years to wait…