Friday, February 26, 2010

"Ohno you didn't"


Charles Hamelin captures Gold as Canada double medals in the 500m Short Track Speedskating. He beats out the American Nemesis Apollo Ohno.

Charles Hamelin has a stunning resemblance to Bret McKenzie of the Flight of the Conchords, and the win over Ohno reminds me of this little clip from the Flight of the Conchords TV series.

"If you say 'Ohno' one more time, I'm going to throw a sandwich in your face."

Monday, February 15, 2010

Mike Robertson Snags a Silver

He had a lead heading into the final stretch of the snowboard cross competition but got overtaken by the American Seth Wescott. Canadian medal count up to 4, with Jeremy Wotherspoon preparing for his second run, sitting in 5th in the 500m speed skating (stay tuned)

Women's Hockey


Montreal Canadiens' prospect Yannick Weber's girlfriend is Florence Schelling of the Swiss hockey team and she's a hottie (Center).

Sunday, February 14, 2010

FIRST GOLD FOR CANADA AS A HOST NATION!

We've waited from Montreal, to Calgary, and now to Vancouver to finally see our first gold. Alex Bilodeau wins the moguls event.

Update: Canadian Performances


Canada consistently has a competitor in the finals of every event but fail to provide medals. I find that Canada's pretty good at every sport but we lack a niche-sport where we are guaranteed medals every time we compete...we randomly pick up medals in every sport.

After a day and a half of events, Canada sits in a tie for 3rd with 2 medals (silver and bronze). The States are currently leading with with 5 medals (1-2-2).

Friday, February 12, 2010

Opening Ceremonies

I missed the start of it but starting at 9:15

9:15 - first nations of each province entering the scene doing dances (that aren't synchronized!)
9:21 - Countries starting to come in, starting with Greece, the founders of the Games, and then countries following in alphabetical order
9:23 - algeria comes in with 4 athletes
9:25 - the First Nation dancers are still dancing...are they going to dance through the whole opening ceremony
9:26 - Aizerbaijan comes in with 2 athletes! both in slalom skiing.
9:27 - is Carey Price's mom representing the First Nations from BC? (first commercial break)
9:29 - Bermuda has 1 athlete...and he showed up wearing shorts! and that's why they don't belong in the olympics.
9:31 - China comes in with 90 athletes!! Look out for the pairs figure skating, they're very good at coordination...The Chinese were also waving mini Canada flags.
9:33 - are the Czechs here for a military mission? Jaromir Jagr carries the flag-- side note...the sign bearers are hotties.
9:38 - France checks in with 108 athletes...one athlete painted a French flag mustache...classy! -- First Nations update...still dancing.
9:39 - Georgia comes in, looking serious, wearing black armbands to commemorate their lost teammate.
9:42 - Brits check in...not a very pretty nation. (commercial break)
9:45 - Hong Kong gets 1 athlete in Cross-Country Skiing...maybe some Canadian fobs should step up and form a team
9:48 - Jamaica checks in with 1 athlete...no bobsled team! Feel the rhythm, Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's bobsled TIME!
9:51 - South Koreans are dominant in short-track speed skating...29 of 31 Olympic medals won in that category.
9:55 - Mexico comes in with 1 athlete...who is 51 years old. He begun his career 25 years ago.
9:59 - Norway leads all countries in medals with 280 and they are a good looking nation. IMO nation to follow for more than one reason ;)
10:02 - Russians have 178 athletes! Former Pittsburgh Penguin first rounder Aleksey Morozov carries the flag...imagine if he was still with the Penguins today? -- the tireless First Nations dancers continue to strut their stuff.
10:09 - First Nation dancers slowing down.
10:12 - States appear with 218 athletes!
10:14 - Canada finally arrives with 206 athletes, ranked 7th all-time in medals. Red Jackets black pants? not very warming.
10:19 - Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado Singing a tribute song called "Bang your Drum"...would be funnier if Bryan Adams sang a song called "Winter of 2010"
10:26 - Cultural part of the ceremonies...could be boring. "Hymn to the North"
10:30 - nice energy wave effect with the staff.
10:32 - one massive Coca-Cola bear appearing out of nothing and floating onto the stage.
1034 - whales "swimming" along the stage, nice effect on the spraying of water as they pass by.
10:37 - Part 2 of the culture "the Sacred Groove" - Sarah McLachlan
10:42 - Alberta ballet performing underneath the trunks of the trees...feels like they're tiny little hobbits.
10:44 - Segment 3 "Rhythms of the Fall" -- a flying canoe!
10:45 - some sort of Scottish devil with a cape playing some folk music on the Violin...a nice touch with a dancing shadow on the moon...while playing on the canoe
10:47 - some crazy punks with tattoos fiddling...6 main fiddlers with 180 other fiddlers...that's a lot of fiddlers!
10:50 - crazy tap dancer! a lost art.
10:52 - Fiddle sticks on fire!! tap dancing shoes on fire! fiddlers putting on a good show.
10:56 - Part 4 "who Has Seen the Wind" -- from the view of a young girl...but the girl looks like a boy...
10:58 - in Canada...we believe we can fly..so we do!
11:00 - that flying kid probably gets all the chicks.
11:03 - from dancing prairie pansy to an electric storm...me no gets it, but crowd gets into it with flashlights
11:05 - George Vancouver reference...discovered Vancouver in 1792.
11:07 - one of the people in the stands is already passed out...8:07 Vancouver time is an early bedtime
11:08 - Olympic footage on the makeshift mountain backdrop with spinning skiiers/snowboarders...once again flying!
11:09 - rollerbladers simulating skatinig arrive on set in red jump suits to complement the snowboarders/skiiers
11:10 - rollerbladers lit up with light bulbs coloured red or white, trippy.
11:11 - a poet of some sort on to tell a tale on a raised stage.
11:13 - now this GUY probably gets all the chicks.
11:16 - Olympic speeches from Jacques Rogue (sp?) and John Furlong from the IOC and the head of the Vancouver movement. This is going to be boring! a Tribute to the unfortunately athlete that passed this morning.
11:31 - Michaelle Jean, the Governor General of Canada declares the opening of the winter games after a lengthy speech from the aforementioned duo.
11:32 - another song, not sure who, and not sure what.
11:38 - a Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" covered by KD Lang who looks like a man.
11:40 - Olympic flag being carried in...one of the carriers is Jacques Villeneuve! Hockey Legend Bobby Orr also carrying.
11:42 - No sight of other famous Canadians Bill Shatner or Pamela Anderson. Olympic Hymn being sung.
11:47 - 1 minute of silence for Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvil
11: 49 - Hayley Wickenheiser takes an oath on behalf of all the athletes to not dope, and Michel Verrault does the same for all the judges to not fix any results.
11:50 - Garou singing a piece in French.
11:54 - FLAME ON! Olympic flame brought in, Paralympian Gold medalist Rick Hansen passing off to 2-time Gold Medalist Catriona LeMay Doan, passed off to Steve Nash...rumour is he's going to dunk it.
11:55 - the rumours are not true, Nancy Greene receives it next, Canadian Ski Champion of the Century, who passes off to the Great One.
11:59 - System is on delay, they can't open the cauldron that's supposed to come out of the floor
12:00 - 3 columns up, and 1 can't seem to get up...need Viagra?
12:01 - They light it up via the columns...very smooth.
12:02 - first Olympic flame in a domed stadium, with a minor malfunction
12:03 - Outdoor fireworks for finishing touches.
12:04 - the external cauldron will be lit by Wayne Gretzky...HE SHOOTS....
12:05 - air-lock in the doors, take some seconds to open so the inflated dome doesn't deflate
12:05 - Gretzky riding on the back of a truck...and it's raining...but the flame lives on!
12:06 - a kid is following beside Gretzky's car at a good pace...I wonder if he'll ever stop running
12:11 - this is a long ride, Gretzky had to switch flames, double fisting for a couple of seconds
12:13 - 15 minute lifespan of the torch, fueled by butane.
12:14 - 15 minutes after the scheduled programming, it's taking a while. We see the Cauldron and the way it's supposed to look indoors and.
12:15 - ...HE SCORES!!!!
12:20 - Montreal's own Nikki Yanovsky singing "I Believe" to wrap up the Olympics. She's gone a long way from doing Montreal Canadiens pre-game Anthems to doing the Anthems at the Olympics.
12:24 - and it concludes...and it also concludes my blog, and I'm going to bed. Good Bye and Good Night.

Tough Start to the Olympics


Hours before the opening ceremony, 21 year old Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control going 144.3 km/h at the "Thunderbird" turn of the course. He flipped off the course and crashed into a pole. He was rushed to a hospital but has been declared dead.

With only a couple of hours before the events begin, it's a surprise that athletes are still pushing themselves to their limits during trial runs.