Sunday, February 28, 2010

Vancouver Day 16: Air on a G-String

Great curling matches in the medal round, though very different from each other in pace if nothing else. The Swiss and the Swedes both take forever to make a decision whereas the Canadians and Norwegians moved at a pretty fast clip. All three medal winning teams are fully deserving.

It's a wonderful thing to have found a new sport, and it seems I'm not the only one. Between the Norwegian pants and the unusually enthusiastic crowd, this Olympiad was a coming out party for curling. As of this writing, the Norwegian pants fan page has 546,679 fans. Not bad for two weeks of work. If anything, the Norwegian team has missed its calling. They should really go into marketing!

With so much concern/delight over the unanticipated crowd noise, I think the finest moment of the tournament was when the Canadian-partisan crowd booed the knucklehead who was blowing his signal horn to distract the Norwegian team. The message was clear: we want to win, but not like that. The impromptu performances of "O Canada" were nice, too. The first time it happened, Kevin Martin & Co. looked mystified. When it happened during the final, they all looked like they were on the verge of tears.

What a beautiful sport!

Our Girl has claimed speed skating as her favorite and I have to say, the team pursuit is a lot of fun to watch. I love the Japanese body suits, too, though I am sad the women's team fell short of gold. You can decide for yourself if that's their underwear showing through. I say yes. My Wife says no. The Japanese have just one more chance to win gold in these games. They have just one skier entered in today's men's 50K cross-country race.

Finland wins bronze in men's hockey, which means the same three countries will medal in both men's and women's hockey, potentially in the same order. Slovakia's strong showing is great for the sport. One more game for gold!

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