So this past Friday I had the chance to see the 2009-2009 WJC Team up close and personal at the ACC. Although its not strictly Olympics related, the game was an amazing preview to what I think we'll be in for come Vancouver.
Due to weather, the ACC was probably only about half full....but it was also probably twice as loud as any Leafs game I've ever been to. The Canadian Anthem was especially amazing...
Pictures are below...
Friday, the final block of Olympic tickets went on sale. That means that Pam, Andrea, Cowie and I are now finished picking up tickets...at least legit tickets anyways.
The final tally goes something like this:
Day 2 - Women's Hockey - Canada vs. Slovakia
Day 4 - Women's Hockey - Canada vs. Switzerland
Day 5 - Men's Hockey - Canada vs. Qualifier 3
Day 6 - Women's Hockey - Canada vs. Sweden
Day 7 - Men's Hockey - Canada vs. Switzerland
Day 8 - Women's Curling
Day 9 - Short Track Speed Skating - W 1500m/M 1000m
Day 10 - Men's Hockey - Canada vs. USA
Day 11 - Women's Curling
Day 11 - Men's Curling
Day 12 - Women's Bobsled
Not a bad result....
We have 4 extra tickets to all the men's hockey games, so hopefully those will come in handy in regards to making a couple trades. I think the one thing that we're missing out on right now is, really, chances to see Canada actually win a medal. The Short-Track Speed Skating is the only 'Medal' event that we have right now!
Gotta Be A Lock?Starting tomorrow, there are a few more events that go on sale. Although some of them are complete shit, there are a couple of interesting events that I think we should go after:
Day 15 - Women's Paralell Giant Slalom Snowboarding
Day 12 - Women's Ski Cross OR Women's Bobsleigh
Day 9 - Men's Curling
Day 7 - Men's Hockey (For Trading)
Day 5 - Men's Hockey (For Trading)
Still talkin' it over with the crew...
So its official what we got!
I was initially kinda dissapointed in what we ended up with, but the more time passes, the more comfortable and happy I am with what we have. Anything more really, and we'd have started having more than one event on some days, and I think that'd be too much.
We were lucky enough to get:
Day 2 - Women's Hockey - Canada vs. Slovakia
Day 4 - Women's Hockey - Canada vs. Switzerland
Day 5 - Men's Hockey - Canada vs. Qualifier 3
Day 6 - Women's Hockey - Canada vs. Sweden
Day 7 - Men's Hockey - Canada vs. Switzerland
Day 9 - Short Track Speed Skating - W 1500m, M 1000m
Day 10 - Men's Hockey - Canada vs. USA
Day 11 - Men's Curling
Day 12 - Women's Curling
Go Iggy!Well if it’s the results, they're probably mixed at best.
Over the weekend Ben, Pam and I all had significant drops in our available credit limits. I'm down about $900, Ben down about $1500 and Pam around $2000. We'll have to wait and see, but I think this means that we're basically looking at Pam getting her OEP, all of us getting the preliminary hockey games we were after, one single event luge....and nothing else.
If that’s the case, I'm pretty surprised that Ben and I didn’t get any OEPs, even with the backups thrown in there. I'm also a little surprised that we didn't win ANY of the higher profile events that we went after like the snowboarding or gold medal curling games. Obviously we weren't going to get them all, but you think we'd get lucky and win the draw for at least one of them.
I suppose we'll have to wait for the official emails still, but it looks like we're going to end up getting just a little less than half of what we went after. If that’s the case, I think I'll at least want to go after some of the remainder tickets that go on sale on the 12th, in order to fill in some of the gaps!
Well as of yesterday, VANOC began charging everyone's VISA cards, though still no word on our applications. The official emails aren't expected until sometime next week, so we could still be waiting a few days.
So with that in mind, I thought it would be rather appropriate to document what we actually decided to go after in the end.
Over the course of our discussions, it became pretty clear that Cowie and Andrea couldn't commit to the full 17 day packages/plans that Pam and I were interested in, so some events are for 4 tickets, whereas others are just for 2. The general idea was to go after 3 OEP Packages, as these are what get allocated first, and then filling out the rest with single event tickets. The OEP packages were generally backed-up with alternates, with the single events being hit-or-miss.
Primary OEPs
Mixed OEP 8
Day 6 - Men's Snowboarding Halfpipe
Day 7 - Men's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Switzerland)
Day 7 - Victory Ceremony
Day 8 - Men's Ski Jumping
City OEP 20
Day 12 - Men's Curling
Day 13 - Ladies Aerials Finals
Day 14 - Women's Gold Medal Hockey Game
Day 14 - Victory Ceremony
City OEP 16
Day 9 - Short Track Speed Skating
Day 10 - Men's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. USA)
Day 10 - Victory Ceremony
Day 11 - Women's Curling
Day 11 - Men's Curling
Single Events
Day 2 - Women's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Slovakia)
Day 3 - Men's Luge Finals
Day 4 - Women's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Switzerland)
Day 5 - Men's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Qual3)
Day 6 - Women's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Sweden)
Day 6 - Men's Halfpipe Finals
Day 7 - Men's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Switzerland)
Day 7 - Women's Halfpipe Finals
Day 10 - Men's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. USA)
Day 14 - Women's Hockey Gold Medal
Day 15 - Women's Gold Medal Curling
Day 16 - Men's Gold Medal Curling
Backups
City OEP 7 (Mixed OEP 8)
Day 5 - Women's Hockey Preliminary (Russia vs. USA)
Day 6 - Men's Curling
Day 7 - Men's Hockey Preliminary (Canada vs. Switzerland)
Day 7 - Victory Ceremony
City OEP 21 (City OEP 20)
Day 14 - Women's Curling Semi-Final
Day 14 - Victory Ceremony
Day 15 - Speed Skating
Day 16 - Men's Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom
City Locals OEP 3 (City OEP 16)
Day 4 - Men's Snowboard Cross
Day 5 - Victory Ceremony
Day 7 - Women's Hockey Preliminary (Finland vs. USA)
Day 10 - Women's Curling
Day 15 - Men's Hockey Semi-Final
________________________
Expectations
I'm pretty much expecting to take in a haul. I'm cautiously optimistic. Not to jinx it. Having read through various newspaper articles and reports, it seems like an excessive amount of the $345 million dollars in applications were directed at two events: the opening ceremonies and the men's gold medal hockey game. That should leave plenty of tickets for the other events.
I'm expecting that we'll win 3 OEP's although not necessarily our primary choices. I think the one that we have the best chance of not getting would be City OEP 20, with the Women's Gold Medal hockey game which had 41,000 ticket requests. I still think we have a better than even shot here, just because I'd imagine the majority of those applications are single-event tickets rather than the OEP.
I don't expect to get single event tickets to the Men's or Women's Halfpipe or the single event tickets to the Women's Gold Medal Hockey game, there is no chance really. I think that its close to even money on the Men's or Women's Gold Medal Curling Games.....possible, but we'll need a touch of luck.
I fully expect to get all 6 of the Men's and Women's preliminary games, as VANOC has said that they didn't go to lottery. I'm really not sure if there are word to express how freaking nervous I am about these though. They should be a 'sure thing', but I'm worried that something will screw up. VANOC moving the games for an Eastern TV audience, our applications not going through right...something. Cause having tickets to ANY Team Canada Hockey games is insane, but having tickets to SIX?!!?
Come on!
We're a group of six friends, blogging their way to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. We've been planning this trip since the Summer of 2008, and decided what better way to track our planning and adventures at the games than right here.
Scott Fraser - Currently based out of Toronto, and super excited about going to my first Olympics! I'm a huge hockey and curling fan, so what better way to see them than at an Olympics on Canadian soil?! More or less the head-blogger around these parts, if only by default, I can be reached via email here.
Beth Nicholls - Hi! I'm Beth! I'm also based out of Toronto and can't wait for the Olympics! I am a big figure skating fan; I used to skate for 15 years of my life. I'm also a hockey fan, even though I'm a terrible hockey player. I'm most excited for our 24 hours in Whistler!
I suppose the biggest motivation for starting a blog up at this particular time is that we're pretty much at D-Day in terms of finding out what tickets we've actually been lucky enough to win. Aside from the day I actually set foot in Vancouver, finding out what tickets we actaully win will probably be the most exciting thing about the whole process.
So with that in mind, a quick recap of what has transpired so far:
I suppose serious discussion regarding actually making this trip started sometime in the summer, when Cowie first committed to starting his Ph.D at UBC. That's certainly what got the wheels turning in my head in regards to how things might practially work anyways. I've always been a sports nut obviously, and a bit of a stereotypical Canadian in terms of sports at that, so obviously the Winter Olympics on home soil is a huge draw for me. I suppose in a way I'd been considering it ever since Vancouver was even awarded the games.
Well here we are then...the start. I suppose every trip has to begin somewhere, and although this isn't the very first thought or discussion on our trip to the Olympics, it is certainly the first time that I've attempted to keep any kind of a record.
Its my hope to use this space to record and eventually look back on all the crazyness that not only took place during our time in Vancouver, but also all the work, preparation and excitement that went into planning our trip. Once the Games actually start, I plan to use this as a Virtual Scrapbook, serving as the unending record of what will hopefully be the trip of a lifetime!
I'm also hoping that Ben, Andrea and Pam will be game enough to join in on this, adding their own thoughts and recollections to the process.
As for my role...allow me to begin presently....
© Blogger template On The Road by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009
Back to TOP
