Pins, Souvenirs, and Being and “Olympadict”

While reading the Vancouver Sun (daily newspaper) one day, I came across an article about being an “Olympadict”.  In the article, it described those type of people who become such fans of the games while their going on, they develop certain “traits” that are different from their normal, sport-viewing lives.  1)  Soaking up any kind of information regarding the games, print articles, online, etc – check, 2)  Any time you walk past a tv, you check to see what olympic activity is going on and have a valid interest in knowing whats going on – check, 3)  Being obsessed with people and sports that you don’t normally follow – check.  Just over one month ago,  I barely knew these people, now, I’m I could name about 20-30 US athlets alone.

When we went to eat or have  a drink anywhere, we had to be in a spot with good viewing of olympic coverage too.   I can’t help it, you get caught up in the personal stories, the drama, the excitement and more that only comes around every couple years.  This doesn’t just apply to me, my dad is talking about the amazing vertical of Shaun White’s halfpipe, my mom is talking about the exciting biathlon in the snow and watching an entire hockey game !?

I mentioned before the craziness in getting into the olympics superstore.  Block-long lines.  It seems everyone and their mother wanted a pair of those canadian red mittens (even my mom asked to get a pair).  Well, those were nowhere to be found but I have to admit to a couple other impulse purchases for souvenirs I wouldn’t have expected.  1)  A new cowbell. Yes, i brought one with me, but when I saw the big, 4″ brass one with the vancouver olympic logo-wristband – I couldn’t resist.  Just in time to use it for bobsled that day.  Among thousands of others, but still felt wimpy compared to the gargantuan-sized cowbells of the swiss (maybe they’re making up for some other inadequacies??)   2)  My second impulse purchase was of a bobblehead of a canadian mounty.   Those who know me know of my office wall covered by brewer bobbleheads, I had to add this one too.

Whats the deal with pin-trading?  Very popular.  I get caught up in it because its a quick and easy way to meet people from around the world.  You see someone with a lanyard around their neck filled with pins, you have to go up and ask if they’re trading.  Met lots of people this way, and traded a bunch.  All-in-all, I came home with close to 30 pins either through purchase or through trading or even freebies (gotta love the swag).  My coolest one?  Easily the one handed to me by an actual athlete for the Slovenian Olympic team – sweet.

I’ve had a few people following my blog and its pretty cool to hear your comments here or through facebook or a personal e-mail.  This trip was awesome and I left wanting more. I will be posting some pictures when i can and also will update once or twice more as the olympics come to close.  I still have some general thoughts and lots of interesting “numbers” to show.

Curling – A Sport that deserves More Respect

Tuesday, February 23rd – our final day in Vancouver.

Before getting out of town, our last ticketed event was for womens curling in the morning.  Fortunately for us, the venue was just a 6 block walk from where we were staying.  Talk about lucky.   I wasn’t sure what to expect today.  We bought these tickets back in November from the official US Tickets sales site – mostly just because they were available.  My sister was familiar w/the game, and she convinced me and Kay to go.   Honestly, I was looking forward to just a casual morning observing and learning but I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Tucked into a residential neighborhood, the Curling Center was pretty impressive as it holds over 5,000 people.  Once again, the stands were dominated by Canadians.  Besides Hockey, Curling is the biggest sport in Canada so everyone is into it.  I needed a lesson as to what was going on.   I’m not sure how to describe it, some say shuffleboard on ice, some say like bowling.  It definately has aspects of both sports as it combines athletic ability but involves a lot of strategy.

While not terribly exciting, it was mesmerizing as it had my attention for the full 2 & 1/2 hours of play.  We were seated on an “end” and the US women were playing right in front of us.  The team included a couple women from Wisconsin, including the team captain Debbie McCormack.  There were also 3 other games going on at the same time, and most of the crowd was watching the Canada/Great Britain game right next to the US.  Our team wasn’t doing to well coming into today, as we had a record of just 2-5.  Canada was in first place at 6-1.   I won’t go into detail of how the game is played (best to figure that out as watching it) but i gotta admit that it was incredibly captivating to figure out the strategy of the teams as they played each round (called an “end).   Best score after 10 “ends”  wins.   The US was playing China, who currently were in 3rd place.  The match was back and forth and ended up tied going into the final “end”.  Unfortunately, China ended up on top and winning 6-5.   The match w/the Canadians and Great Britain was really exciting though, as it ended tied after the 10 ends and played a “sudden-death” type round.   When Canada played their last stone to get the point, they won and the place went crazy.

Watching the game made me want to go out and try it as I know Milwaukee’s area curling clubs have occasional open-houses.  I have a couple friends who play it, and they offered to teach me one day so I may need to take them up on their offer.

This was our final activity for the games.  Ironically, the beautiful, sunny, warm weather from the past 5 days was now gone as it was overcast and it started to rain lightly.  No problem for us as it was getaway day.    We just caught a late lunch (while of course watching more Olympic coverage) and then took a slow drive around Stanley Park.   Would’ve been beautiful in nicer weather but still nice to see regardless as it shows an incredible view of the city.

Thinking of some overall views and insites of my week, I’ll update those later as it was so involved

Just Not Enough Time to Do it All

Monday, Feb 22nd:   Sort of a bonus day today as we ended up getting tickets to a couple other events.   Every day, the official olympic office opens up some tickets to events for that day and the next few days.  After checking in here and there, we got some extra:   Jean and Kay bought tickets to the figure skating practice early in the morning for just $30.  Not an official competition, but they basically would see the same programs that would be judged later Monday night.  I of course passed on this one, and took advantage of some down time to rest up after our full day yesterday at Whistler.   I met up with them early in the afternoon downtown to go to the Canadian Mint.  The purpose, see how the Olympic medals are made and actually get to hold one as well.  Unfortunately , another long line.   WE figured 1-2 hours, but in line we were told 5 hours.  Too bad, we passed and instead went to pickup some commemorative olympic canadian coins. 

With another sunny, spring-like day, we strolled around the active streets downtown and went to enjoy a relaxing lunch.  While there, I noticed a guy wearing a Brewers cap so I had to introduce myself.  Turns out, he wasn’t even from the states and instead from Saskatchewan!  Big baseball fan and Brewers fan – figure that one out.  To show my appreciation for his loyalty, I gave him a Packer t-shirt (he’s also a football fan) that I had to trade for pins.  He couldn’t believe my generosity, and ended up sending our table a round of beers in thanks.  Love the friendliness of canadians.   In other instances, we met many locals who constantly were chatting us up, and hoping we were enjoying their friendly hospitality. 

Kay then went to check out the olympic flame as Jean and I wanted to give the Coca-Cola sponsor tent another try.  Wait-time 1 & 1/2 hours. Not a big deal, but we wouldn’t be able to fit it in as we secured extra tickets to another womens hockey game that night and had to jump on a bus to go over to the university campus.  This game was Russia vs Switzerland.  When we bought them the day before it noted as playoffs, but it was actually a consolation-type game as the teams were really playing for 5th place.  No problem, the game proved to be excititing anyhow.   Despite the crowd being mostly Canadians or Americans, some Swiss and Russians were there too and all fans were into the game.   Swiss were a bit of the underdog, so we sorta latched onto them.   Down, 2-1 to the Russians, the Swiss ended up tying it in the 3rd period and still remained tied ending regulation.   A 10 minute overtime went scoreless, so then it went to a shootout – cool!  By now, most fans were leaning towards the Swiss team for a comeback.  Each team had 3 shots and the Russians quickly took a 1 shot lead.  The 2nd round however saw the Swiss come back with their own score to tie it again.  Third round, Swiss score again.  Russians now down to their last chance and their shot was missed.  Swiss win and the team goes crazy – as if they just won the gold medal – but it was to get 5th place.  Only in the olympics man, gotta enjoy that olympic experience you just don’t get in other sports.    My sister missed the shootout, she took off just beforehand thinking she couldn’t handled another overtime period.  Too late. 

From there, considering it was my last night in town, I headed back downtown for some more celebratory activities.  First-stop, the Yaletown LiveCity fun.  Got there just in time for the nightly fireworks show set to music.  It sure didn’t feel like a Monday night in February thats for sure - too crazy.

After that, i wanted to get a feel for the crazy street scene one last time so jumped back on the skytrain (subway) and went one more stop to city centre.   Just took in the scene, more Canadians out and about screaming the pride of their country.  Was just about to head home as I spotted what appeared to be a couple athletes.  They’re sort of obvious as the are always dressed alike, and wear ski coats that are usually a vastly different design from the norm.  Also, they were harder to spot in the city vs Whistler (where the were everywhere).  After the guy walked by I looked back to see what country was listed on their backs and it was Slovenia!   My heritage.  I had to stop them.  Explaining I was from the states but Slovenian, they quickly thought I was from Cleveland!  (big Slovenian city I guess).   Petr and Vassie (sp?) were Biathlon athletes and set to compete on Friday.  We chatted for a few minutes, and Petr then gave me a Slovenian Olympic team pin – very cool.  Wish I had another Packer or Wisconsin shirt to give away!  Cool moment and wish I had even more like it.   Great way to end the day. One more half-day in town tomorrow, going to experience my first Curling match !

Whistler, Where it Really Feels Like Winter

Today was a big day, our excursion up to Whistler for 2-man bobsled.  A long day, as we had to plan ahead to go up there.  Whistler is about a 2 & 1/2 hour ride north of Vancouver, and the only way up there is to take a bus (again, no private traffic allowed).  No problem, just another early start.  Our event was scheduled for 1:30pm, with the bus departure set for 8:15am.  We actually arrived about 45 minutes early to one of many departure lots that the olympics have set up in Vancouver.  No wait though, they just said grab the next one.  Nice, since we could then have a little extra time to check out the village before our event.

One change though, they also notified us that our event was postponed by at least 90 minutes.  Well, now we’ll have more time to scout the town and maybe see what other kind of fun lies ahead.  Thanks to an early start, the ride up there was relatively quick.  It was an incredible ride too.  We take the one route to Whistler called the Sea-to-Sky Highway.  The name rings true, as you start off by hugging the water as you ride on the edge of the mountains.  My body said to take advantage of the ride’s downtime by catching up on some sleep, but my eyes couldn’t look away from the incredible views.    An interesting site on the ride up was the various coach busses bringing spectators up to Whistler.  The olympics actually brings in private companies from all over North America to help with the influx of people needing to be moved around.  As a result, we noticed busses from California, Utah,  Wisconsin and even Florida trucking people like us to the mountains.  Little things like this make me realize all the different aspects of hosting a massive event like this. 

While Jean and I had our tickets, Kay did not. But she booked another bus to go up there and take her chances.  We were told by many that due to the distance to Whistler and the extra cost of a bus (around $50-$100 each), many people would get rid of those tickets and you could take a chance.  Our other objective was to see the victory celebration that they do up here, separately from the one in Vancouver.  Up here, they hand out the medals from most of the mountain events from the same day.

So, we arrive up there at about 10:30am, and our bus is quickly greeted by an olympic volunteer who tells us the bobsled run is delayed now until 4pm.    Wow, we now have lots of time to relax before our event.  Whistler village is relatively knew, developed in the sixties and takes the feel of an alpine village.  No real town or city, just a few ski resorts off the highway but home to lots and lots of condos, shops, restaurants, bars and such.  We quickly realize that there is a very different atmosphere up here from the craziness of the city.  We actually see olympic athletes walking around, casually intermingling with the spectators.  Whistler also has a few areas set aside for fun and live entertainment.  By noon-time, the sun was again shining and it felt in the high 40s.  Blessed with another beautiful day. One difference up here though – snow.  Nothing on the ground in Vancouver, but plenty up here.  

Thanks to the beautiful day, we wanted to pick a place for lunch that was preferably outside, just because we could.   Found a place that overlooked the bottom of Blackomb Mountain, which had one of those giant video screens showing olympic competition.  This is a must, as an “Olympaddict”, you need to be in site of a tv to watch olympic coverage unless you’re not at the actual event.   Great, relaxing way to burn a couple hours over lunch.  We were able to watch the mens ski-cross and also watch Bode Miller win a gold medal in Alpine Skiing.    Over at the Swiss house, we watched a tv interview live with Simon Aaman, the ski jumping athlete that had already won two gold medals this week.   He looks like a small-framed teenager rather than an olympic athlete.  Still, beaming with a wide smile, it was neat to see his medals draped around his neck.

On to our event.  Nestled right in the Blackomb ski resort, we were able to take a ski gondola to get to the Whistler Sliding Center.   Still plenty of time, but as a general admission ticket-holder, you just get to go in the standing room only areas of the track.  We walked into a fun, sun-drenched atmosphere, with a band playing and fans starting to come in showing the pride of their respective countries.  Those crazy Dutch, clad in orange are obvious to spot.  However, you can hear other guys coming a mile away, the Swiss.  You see, four of them are carrying these huge cowbells.  So big that they have to be carried with two hands.  So big that they sound like someone is beating a steel drum.   Maybe over one foot wide but almost one-two feet high.  Awesome.   

We found a spot near the bottom, final turn in the track; a big, u-shaped turn called the “Thunderbird”.  We had almost an hour before the start, so we kicked back and enjoyed the sun.  After trading a couple more pins (yes, I’m caught up in that geekiness too), we found out the reason the event was delayed was due to the sun which could melt ice on the track.  So, we had to wait for it to go behind the mountains and they could lift the shades off the track.  When that happened, whoah, did we noticed.  The temperature felt like it dropped about 10-15 degrees just by being in the shade.  Minutes before the official start time, we were warned of a “forerunner” sled that would be coming down ahead of competitors.  Sort of like a pace car I guess.   Since we were at the bottom of the track, it took about 40 seconds to get to us. Then, very quickly, you here the sound similar to a fighter jet and you watch this missile fly by you in a matter of milliseconds.    Just after it passes, it seems like the entire crowd dropped their jaws in unison and just went “Whoooah”.  Crazy fast.  And its just  a few feet away from the crowd too!   Then, the second “forerunner” came down and by the time it reached us it was on its side !! Still going crazy fast as it flew past us.    I quickly took my name off the alternate list for bobsled participants.

The competition got started with the powerful German teams, always the leaders in the sledding sports.  Even after the first few sleds went past us, you don’t get used to the flash of noise that bursts past you.  Coming fourth was the US team led which wasn’t favored here but instead for the 4-man bobsled.  BTW, my cowbell was going crazy each time one of these missiles flew by.

There were two runs today, finals with 23 teams competing in the first run. After that, we decided to check out other areas of the track to get different perspectives.  Finish line was very cool but tough to get a good view.  We then made our long, slow treck up the mountain to the top.  Long way up, (gotta get the measurements) but was very cool to see at different angles and even see them get started too.  On the second run though, only the top teams (maybe 10 or 12 or so?) moved on.  We were halfway down the track when the final sleds came down and alas, the Germans once again took the top two spots with the Americans.   Over two and a half hours had passed by now, but was dark for a while and the cold definately takes its toll.  Still, such an exciting event to witness.  Definately one of the long-time traditions of the winter games and memorable in so many ways.

After departing the venue and getting back down to the village (again, lines, lines, lines), we tried to sneak over to the victory celebration to see Bode Miller get his Gold Medal.  Didn’t get in, but did see it from the outside and he had a huge ovation from the crowd.  Next to the Canadians, who are in full force of course, the US has a great amount of fans up here as well and obviously make sure people know it.

At the same time that bobsled was ending, the US and Canada were squaring off in their hockey game.  We kept hearing reports of the score as the Canadians are all about winning this Gold Medal.  When word of the US Victory came through, you could see the dissapointment among the Canucks and we witnessed lots of US fans making the victory known loud and clear among the streets of Whistler Village.    At this point, we were now at around 8:30pm and we were absolutely beat from the long day of being out in the cold (not to mention, trekking up the bobsled run!).  Time to catch our bus back to the city.   Just before getting the bus, we ran into Kay, and she told us about her good luck as she ended up scoring tickets to not only Bobsled but also a Biathlon event as well. Two events in one day, and she paid the equivalent of a 2 for 1 price.  Very nice.   Jump on the bus, time to crash – awesome day though.

Wall to Wall People

Again catching up after a couple days thanks to limited wireless options and a very weird schedule -

Anyway, Saturday was one day we didn’t have anything planned, so we wanted to try and do some “tourist” stuff around town.   Again, an incredibly sunny, warm day (50+ degrees during the day), and locals keep telling us that this weather is really not the norm.  We should be experiencing 40s and overcast or rainy skies.  Oh well, I’m definately not complaining.

Kay decided to take a personal roadtrip over to Grouse Mt, which is where the Today show is broadcasting.  Jean and I decided to have a casual afternoon just going to check out the Olympic Cauldron.  Simple isn’t exactly the right word though, since tens of thousands of other people had the same idea.  Its absolutely insane as to how many people are in town right now.  Streets continue to be packed with people all over parts of downtown.  This included the small area around the Olympic flame too.  Easy to get to, but honestly badly placed.  The flame is located on the waterfront, but its wedged between two buildings and actually very low to the ground (maybe 25 feet??).   Also, one side of it is walled off by an ugly chain-link fence.    Another interesting twist, the location is not near any olympic venue but opposite side of downtown – very strange. Still, it was cool to see amidst the masses of people itching to just get a picture.

Thanks to the busy transportation and tons of people, this little task of seeing the flame took up the entire afternoon.  No complaints, when you’re dealing with all those people and an event the size of the olympics, you need to be ready for this sort of thing.   That night, we just headed over to the community of Richmond, which required another ride on the new Canada Line (aka, subway).  If it didn’t mention it before, the rides on the subway are included in your tickets, and its really the most efficient way of getting around town.  It also has cut down on traffic gridlock too.

Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver, just south of the city and the location of the speedskating oval and their own community celebration called the “O-Zone”.   A free activity, like the ones in downtown Vancouver, it included gigantic video screens showing the games, lots of interactive exhibits and was very family-oriented vs the events downtown.  Very nice setup, but the main draw for me was the Holland Heineken House.  I heard before my trip that this was the place to be for a big party, apparantly holding up to 5,000 people in an indoor beer-garden.  However, when we arrived, they closed the venue to the general public to let the Dutch celebrate winning a gold medal in speedskating.  Dutch only.  We also found out the just five days into the games, the Heineken ran out of stock thanks to all the drinking. 

Still, we enjoyed the various exhibits on the grounds, including lots of info on British Columbia areas to visit, and a slab of ice that was also a work of art, basically as long as a semi-truck trailer.  Knowing the next day would be a long one (Whistler excursion),  we actually called it an early day to get our rest.  It doesn’t sound like we did much today, but with the time spent getting around town it was still a long day.

Welcome to the SPRING Olympics !

Hwy folks,  finally getting a chance to sign on and update on the big trip.  Sorry for the delay, but since we found out we dont’ have wireless from our “host”, options for the internet has been very limited.

That said, its been a very fun, eye-opening and exciting first couple days.  After  a bit of a delay in our air-travel, we finally crossed the US/Canada border around 4pm PST – temperature – 54 degrees!  Quite the pleasant surprise.  Quickly found our place to stay, but the host unfortunately wasn’t even there to let us in.  A bit frustrating, but we managed to finall get our bags in and headed downtown to check out the scene.

Our location of our place is really convenient.  Very safe, clean neighborhood, residential, and just a few block walk from public transportation.  Just minutes into downtown and all the action.   There are a lot of “extra-curricular” activities going on around the city, and we went to one called “LiveCity”.   Meant as a place for visitors to congregate and take in the olympic experience without being at the event. They had gigantic video screens occasionally playing coverage of the games, a band, and a small collection of pavilions that would be promoting a major sponsor.  At this location, Panasonic, Samsung, Acer, and Coca-cola were represented.  Major lines for the Coke building, as it looked like a big party inside, so we’ll have to come back to that later.

Got a good feel for the city as we walked around.  Lots of dowtown streets closed off due to all the people, and there are tons !  My gosh i can’t believe how many people are here.  Major thoroughfares are closed off and pedestrian-only and the crowds remind me of Mardi Gras.

Weds night was  a major night for the US, collecting 6 medals on the day, and while not at the events the first day, we were able to get our bearings for what was to come.

THURSDAY, February 18th

After picking up our tickets at the willcall, we headed out the the University of British Columbia for our first event – US Womens’ Hockey.  Set away from the heart of the action, but again a very simple bus ride, we arrived at the campus in about 20 minutes.  Already, the first indication of getting around town was very easy, as long as you avoid driving yourself.  Specatators to events are not allowed to drive to venues themselves, not only for security reasons, but to avoid the mass amount of gridlock and parking issues. 

Walking towards the venue, the olympic atmosphere started to jump out at us.  Started to see lots of people in US gear (yay!), and some in the Finnish attire as well (our opponent) but nearly as much.  Security was a breeze (gotta be patient), the sun was again shining and hovering above 50 degrees.  Took some pictures of the goofy-looking mascots, and with some Candian Mounties, who still wear their old-fashioned authentic red and black uniforms.

Minutes to game time (2:30), we headed to our seats.  Row 2 !  No upper deck, we walked down and ended up right behind the glass practicly on the ice.  Wow! Amazing seats, i’ve never been that close for a hockey game.  In fact, our seats were two away from the Finnish bench too, so we got a really up close    Completely excited, the game began and the US and Finnish players took to the ice. 

Another huge plus was the fact that we were on the side of the Finnish Goal.   That was huge since the US got off to a fast-start by scoring 3 goals in the first period alone!  Very cool indeed.  Even cooler?  Starting to hear chants from some nearby fans yelling, “For-mer Bad-ger!”, “For-mer Bad-ger”.   Just one section to our left was a group of students from Wisconsin cheering on the current and former Badgers on the US womens team (7 total). Noticed lots of other Badger fans too.   The US went on to win 6-0 in the game, and we had 4 of the goals on our side of the ice, up close.

After the game, we had to high-tail it downtown as we had tickets to the Victory Ceremony downtown.  Thanks to the express bus,  we got down there in less than 1/2 hour.  (btw, all of our public transportation is free w/our olympic tickets – a very efficient way to handle the masses).   Prior to the ceremony, a special show was performed promoting the Canadian Province of Prince Edward Island.  Nice, but a little unappreciated considering the massive size of the venue.   It was held in BC Place, the same location as the opening ceremonies and had about 20,000 fans on one side of the stadium.  The main ceremony gives out medals for most of the events from the day before.   So, we were able to see Shaun White and Shani Davis get their medals live, and they showed a feed of the action up at Whistler who get their medals the same day.  Julia Mancuso was part of that.  It was really fun to see the young, exuberance of Shaun White as he acknowledged the screaming fans and pumped his fist in the air.  However, the most exilirating was watching the awards for womens speedskating given out.  The gold-medal winner, Canadian Christine Nesbitt.   The Canadian fans in the house went crazy when she was awarded her gold and I couldn’t help but get goosbumps taking it all in.  Another Canadian received a medal for short-track speedskating, and she was like a little girl jumping up and down on the podium in excitement as the crowd loved her too.

Undoubtedly, going to this ceremony was amazing as we were able to probably witness one of the biggest hauls in US Winter Olympic History.

Hanging around downtown afterwards, the major excitement was building again as the Canada-Sweden hockey game was in overtime and the Canucks were all zoned in on the action.  When they pulled off the victory, it was like the country already won the gold medal as people downtown were going crazy.  One of the major public streets/pedestrian malls was Georgia street.  People were proudly waving their canadian flags, yelling at the top of their lungs and basking in their victory.  It was equivalent celebration to when the New Orleans Saints just won the Super Bowl.   But again, this was just a preliminary game.  We’re getting the strong impression from lots of people that the Canadians are all about winning that Hockey Gold medal for men’s and I can’t imagine how the city will react if they don’t get it.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19th

No tickets today, so time to check out more of the city.   Headed downtown to the Olympic Superstore, a popular place.  The line to get in was an entire block long !!!  Worse than black friday for shopping.  Alas, we waited, and fortunately got in within a half hour.  The coveted items?  Not only olympic souviners, but those old-fashioned, red mittens that you see all over tv.  Can’t get them, unless you want a kids size.  Also, practically anything that says Canada  as the country is beaming with pride.  All the good stuff was really sold out but I landed one of those tassle-topped winter hats you see on everyone, or as I should now call it, a “toque”.  (learning the proper Canadian language here)

Today we planned on a casual day so we went to check out the Granville Island Public Market.  A tourist hotspot, we enjoyed a nice, casual lunch and enjoyed the beautiful views of the city as we met and chatted with some friendly people from all over. 

After lunch, we spotted the Swiss house and went over.   Many of the major countries sponsor a “house” which is sometimes open to the public as was the case here.  We went in and had a couple beers while relaxing and taking in some curling on the tv.   Afterwards, we got late word to get some free tickets to that nights victory celebration.  Not resisting any free ticket, we went back to BC place and had much nicer seats too, but only a few medals were handed out that night so it was pretty quick.

The city itself is spectacular. A beautiful, modern skyline, set against an amazing backdrop of the Mountains beyond.  Everyone we go is incredibly clean and all the locals are very friendly. They constantly are coming up to us asking “where ya from” and engaging conversation.   Everywhere, waiting for coffee, on the bus, standing in lines, we’ve met some very friendly “Vancouverites” and yes, most of them have that Bob and Doug Mackenzie type accent “ehy?”.

Todays plan, Kay took an excursion over to Grouse Mountain and Jean and I are headed over to Stanley Park.  Later, we’re going to head down to Richmond for the option of getting speedskating tickets or just take in the action down there.

Cowbell in Hand – 48 hours to go

Just less than 48 hours that I’ll be in Vancouver, (pending planes, trains and automobiles) and just about ready to roll.

Biggest piece of necessary equipment to pack – my cowbell.  Secured, thanks to mom.  Gotta have more cowbell for that day with the bobsled tickets and who knows what else.

Now that the games are underway, the excitement is hitting home.  Watching the opening ceremonies, seeing the different venues on the tv broadcast, all is adding to my anxiousness on the upcoming trip. 

Its a blast to see the action at the Whistler Sliding Center (despite the opening day tragedy).  I can’t imagine what that will be like to experience first-hand.  And watching the US womens team blow out China yesterday 12-1 makes me look forward to our game with them Thursday afternoon.

I realized a bit more of a connection to my Olympics-”geekiness” and the connection to Milwaukee Social Club.  As a teenager, I started to get into the games with the Lake Placid Winter Games in 1980.  Eric Heiden, Miracle on Ice, etc.   As a result, I would orgnize neighborhood olympics and games and yes, even leagues for the kids on my block.   Little did i know that i would be doing that for my business some 30 years later.

I’m not sure how easy it will be to be making blog updates on my trip but hope to every day or every other day.  I had a bunch of people, friends, family, MSC players, show me that they’ll be reading to live “vicariously” through my trip.  So, I hope I’m not expecting too much but can’t imagine it being anything but fun and memorable.  Stay tuned!

Winter Olympics: Vancouver-Bound

Organized sports, its what I do.  So, how about checking out the world’s biggest event for organized sports ?  In my mind thats the Olympics.  Thanks to my friend Cathy, I was lucky enough to take in the Summer Olympics in 1996 without making hardly any advance plans.   I didn’t think it would that big of a deal, but was I wrong.  I still have vivid memories of the sports we went to and all the people we met from around the world.  Priceless indeed.

Its long been on my “bucket list” to attend the Winter Olympics and as soon as they were announced that Vancouver would be the host for 2010, I was sold.  Thinking about if for the past seven years, its about to get started and I can’t wait to take my trip.

So, with the obvious sport tie-in, I thought it may be cool to share the fun with Milwaukee Social Club.   Maybe a few of you will get into it and can enjoy the experience with me (at least virtually).  At the very least, it will be a journal for me and if i can bring others along – even better.

PLANNING STAGES

While discussing the potential of the trip with friends and family, I really didn’ t make actual plans until late last year.  Finally, last fall, I made the first commitment by reserving that plane trip to the Pacific Northwest and started the ball rolling.

WHO’S IN?  AND WHERE DO WE STAY ?

There were two people that were real fans of the Olympics and would join in the fun.  My friend Kay was very interested and committed right away.  Then, my sister Jean, who was fortunate to go to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 committed as well. 

Then came the challenging parts of the planning:  Getting tickes to events and a place to stay.  Housing was going to be costly, and hotel room rates were all way out of wack, so after almost a month of researching options, we found a great place to stay with a family that is renting out part of their house.    I thought going this route would be fun as my family did something similar in Vancouver in 1986 for the Worlds Fair.  Also a big event and thoroughly enjoyed having that personal connection of a host.

GETTING TICKETS – EASIER SAID THAN DONE

Ok, so whats the situation with tickets?  Aaaah, found out we were a little late on that.  Tickets went on sale to Canadian residents much earlier in 2009 and the first “phase” was gone.  There was fortunately another “phase” of sales coming up for whats left so we had to take our chances.  Finally, when that mid-November date came around, it was slim pickings for what was left, but found a couple things to get started.

Event #1:  USA Women’s Hockey Game – sounds good, and a medal-winning team in every olympics. 

Event #2:  USA CURLING:  Hmmm, don’t know much about this sport, but its supposed to be the biggest sport in Canada.  When in Rome i guess.  Lets give it a try.

Thats all we could get – at least officially and at first.  We quickly noticed how second-hand sales of tickets created some absolutely outrageous price tags so we just decided to wait and watch the “market”

Having a couple events confirmed at least gave us a start and we can work on others.   Knowing that part of the olympic experience is just to be there and soak it in, we’re fortunately not set on having to go to something specific and paying through the nose just to get it.

You see, normal costs (at least directly and not second hand) were pretty fair. Anywhere from $25 to over $200, not including opening and closing ceremonies (fortunately not on our time frame).  However, once you add the secondary market, you are lucky to find something for under $100 per event.  This is per-event !  I pay an average of $20 per ticket for a Brewer game, and am pretty frugal when it comes to other sporting events too.  I think I paid $100 for a Badgers Rose Bowl 10 years ago so its gotta be great for me to splurge on an activity that I wouldn’ t normally pay attetion to. (Biathlon anyone?)

Research, scouring brokers, perusing Craigslist Vancouver and ebay.  Few fruitless bids on ebay ($300 for a pair of skeleton tickets? – i’ m out).   $200 for a ski-cross ticket?  Not yet.  Lets continue to work the bargains and be in the right spot for something near cost or not outrageous.  $100 and under sounds good.  However, I’m not going to any figure skating – even if you GAVE me the ticket – yuck.

Thanks to some free time after the holidays, I practically got obsessed with finding a good deal on tickets.   Ebay deals were still too costly, and occasionally you’d find a good deal on craigslist but timing was everything.     Even the olympic site started re-selling tickets from others (sorta like Stubhub) but costs weren’t worth it.

Agreeing to split us up if we find something good, we had a new plan of attack.  Soon, Kay scored a single ticket to see Men’s Freestyle Aerials Skiing.  Not bad $80.  The only thing close otherwise was over $150 each.   Pass for now, but keep the option open.

Another ebay auction – skeleton – got out of hand again.  Then bobsled, $200 each – seriously?  Finally, minutes after a posting on craigslist i got in touch with a seller looking to unload bobsled tickets.  $100 each.  Believe it or not, a bargain and within our budget.  SCORE !  Tickets secured (but only two) and actually another cool event that personifies the winter olympics

So thats 3 events for each of us going up to the games next week. More than good enough to look forward to, and leaving options open for something else that will “fall in our laps”.

PREPPING

Watching the x-games got me psyched for snowboarding – although those events won’t be in our time frame.  Starting to read up on the athletes and have someone to root for and finding out that seven of the 21 players on the US Womens hockey team have played for Wisconsin or currently do !  PLUS: The coach of the team, is from Wisconsin too.  Very cool. 

Looks like there will be a lot of extra atmosphere up there as well.   Going to enjoy an entire day at Whistler village surrounding our bobsled.  The city has a few different “celebration” spots to go watch with hundreds of other people too.  I heard some sponsors will have pavilions and special places too.   On my list:  checking out the Molson Canadian Hockey House and hopefully the Holland Heineken Pavilion and enjoy a couple cold ones.

Final plans are set and details and minor things still to take care of (packing: cold weather? warm, rainy weather? geez).  Set to leave on Weds, Feb 17th for the trip and will get to Vancouver late that afternoon and there for one week.

THOUGHTS?

So, let me know what you wanna know about, or hear regarding the trip.  I’ll be hopefully posting every day or two.   I’m hoping to be able to download photos too – we’ll see