Men's Round Robin Curling

Early on, I dragged Akis out to see the Men's round robin. Canada wasn't playing so it took a while for the crowd to warm up, but around the 8th end, the chanting and stomping started. You have to love the temporary seating for the noise it can make.






The teams were piped in by members of the SFU Pipe Band and introduced. How traditional!







The US playing Switzerland. En Suisse!






Sweden and Germany...

The Murdoch rink rom the UK ~ I think they were playing Finland.

The Chinese ~ they were surprisingly good!

I will admit that the seats were not the most comfy. With some large folks on either side of Akis and I, we were quite happy to see one go at the 5th end break and the other leave at the end of the 8th. Surprising though, I would think that if you had come to see the game, you would have stuck it out.

The best was a sign held up by a young guy in the crowd. Due to the melting snow on Cypress, some of the standing room tickets were no longer being honoured as the area had become too unsafe. His sign, $65 for Snowboard tix, $341 for a flight, Stuck at Men's curling, Priceless. Guess the sport isn't for everyone.

Go Canada Go!

Women's hockey ~ China vs Finland

Akis and I did not purchase tickets for the Olympics as we have been on a pretty tight budget. Despite having the budget of 'students' for the next year, the Olympics are only here once, so I splurged and got 2 sets of tickets thanks to my co-worker Geoff. Akis had agreed to going to one event, so was a bit surprised when I came home with both Hockey and Curling tickets.

The women's hockey was out at the UBC arena and it was actually a great place to watch as the capacity is about 7,000 which meant that there really can't be a bad seat in the house. With the telephoto lense Akis received years ago, we were able to get some fantastic photos. It was quite exciting for Akis as this was the first time he and I had been to watch a hockey game live ~ hey if you are going to do it, you might as well go big and start with the Olympians!


The venue:

Warm Up:



The Finnish Line Up:



The Hockey:












The Final was Finland 2, China 1. Although with the number of shots on goal you have to give some credit to the Chinese goalkeeper.



The handshake and a wave to the fans.




The crowd:

Akis was fascinated by what they do with the nets and the guy whose job it was to remove the liquid from the hole. I have no idea why they need the baster and remove the liquid or even what it was that they put in there, but hey, some things need to remain a mystery.

Where were you when Canada won the first GOLD?

The Men's mogul event was up at Cypress ~ and after seeing the women the previous day, I was onboard with going out to watch the men. The favourite to win the gold was the Aussie who is in fact a Canadian but for various reasons has opted to compete for the Land Down Under. The Aussie's wanting to rally around suggested a meeting at the pub.

Akis and I headed down and took in the volumes of people on Robson and Granville. WIth streets closed, it is remarkable to see how many people can fill the streets. We made our way over to the pub and found ourselves a seat to take in the event.

It was quite moving and you realize how patriotic you can be when you see someone from your country coming out on top. I think what was even more moving was the way Alex Bilodeau is portrayed. From what the media has portrayed, he is a humble man, with a love for his family and a great respect for his brother ~ it couldn't have been a better moment for him, or a more fitting person to go down in history as the first Canadian to win gold here at home.

Opening Ceremonies from the German House

Opening Ceremony tickets were hard to come by with 60,600 in attendance ~ so many of us needed to find alternative locations to take in the ceremony. One of Ali's friends is German and had suggested that we headed down to Saxony House. In hind sight, it was a pretty good idea as the other possible venues were outside and the rain just poured down!

We arrived about an hour before the ceremonies began and met Katy in the VIP room. We managed to snag some seats which was a huge score as the chairs were tough to come by.






The ceremony viewing:




There was entertainment to boot ~ it was a great Umpah band. Nice Pants!




And there she is ~ the Olympic Flame in all her glory.