Figure Skating - Canadian Men

Patrick Chan!! That's right, you know him from the McDonald's commercial (or the CTV Believe commercial... or the Cheerio's commercial). First off, this dude is WAYYYY too hyped up. I mean, he's good and all, but not THIS good.

Patrick is the 2 time National Men's champion and he's only 17! This is way too much pressure for a 17 year old! I think he'll crack. He's currently ranked 2nd in the world which is all good and great, I just think he's too young for this to be his Olympics. I think he'll be much better and more prepared for the 2014 Olympics. Then again, I only claim to be an expert :)

So here's his facts:
Patrick skates out of Toronto at the Granite Club, he won his first Canadian Championship in 2008 at the age of 17, Chan had become the youngest Canadian men's champion in history. in the 2008 - 2009 season, he has finished first at the Canadian Championships, the Four Continents Championships, Trophee Eric Bompard and Skate Canada International. He finished second at the World Championships and 5th at the Grand Prix Final.

If you're curious about the "hype", here are some links to commercials:

CTV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhsEkiqypxM

McDonald’s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER3r2D06ork&NR=1

Cheerio’s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw-xpEO3ArQ&NR=1

And here's his short program from the 2009 Canadian Championships:



So not to be a total downer, but in other videos I have posted on this blog of Davison & Dube and Joannie Rochette, they have not fallen in competition. (Okay, except for that skate to Dube's face thing). I'm just saying, I really don't think Chan will do as well at the Olympics as everyone seems to think he will. I'm sorry Canada, please don't be mad at me.

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New Layout

So in talking to Beth, she complained about an issue that had been bothering me for a bit as well...the layout of the righthand widgets. In particular the blog archives weren’t really placed prominently enough…I wouldn’t want people to only scroll past the first two or three posts, not realizing that this has been going on for almost a year now.

Anyways, while I was considering just playing around with the existing template, I managed to come across one that I like even better. It’s a whole lot cleaner, a lot easier to edit, and allows for two columns on the sidebar. Pretty sweet….

The header bar still needs a bit of work and the videos will need to be re-embedded, but I have a lot more room for widgets now, and things are much easier to organize. I think this is a really nice upgrade to the site.

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Welcome Aboard!

It’s been in the works for a little while now, as you can see from Beth’s posts….but I’d like to give an ‘official’ welcome to Beth and Jen on our little trip!

They’ll be coming out starting the 21st, and staying through the end of the games more or less. Tickets and flights are still to be sorted out, as is really lodging…but we’ll find a way…

I’m also glad to actually have other posters on the blog as well…makes my nerdiness somewhat less apparent when I’m not the only one…

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Torch Relay Banners

Just as I was writing that last entry, my mother forwarded me a link from the City of Brantford. Apparently, they are selling off the banners that they will use to decorate streetlights during the Torch Relay.

You are able to choose from one of five designs, seen here:

A small banner (12" x 30") runs the heafty price tag of $125....so I don't know if I'll get one, but it would certainly make a nice addition to the wall display that I want to do with this is all said and done. I think that if I did get one, I'd want either 'B' or 'D'.

As an 'added bonus', the news release states that banner would be signed by the final torch bearer in Brantford. Is it possible that said person would be either Wayne or Walter Gretzky?

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Torch Handover

Just a few hours from now, the Olympic Torch will complete the Greek leg of the tour, and will be handed over to Canadians for the flight home.

From the Official Site:

The Handover Ceremony takes place on October 29, when the sacred flame is transferred to representatives of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games during a traditional ceremony at the Panathenian Stadium in Athens, Greece. Three British Columbia mayors — Lake Cowichan Mayor Ross Forrest, Port Alberni Mayor Ken McRae and Queen Charlotte Mayor Carol Kulesha — will also be present at the ceremony and, along with the Vancouver 2010 delegation, will bring the sacred flame back to Canada.

A Greek-Canadian figure skater from Ontario, Niki Georgiadis will be the final torchbearer during the Handover Ceremony before the Olympic Flame travels to Canada.

The original Panathenian Stadium was formed from a natural hollow in the ground between two hills in Athens — Agra and Ardettos — and was transformed into a stadium in 330–329 BC, where athletic competitions of the Great Panathenaea Festivities were held. Over the centuries, the stadium went through several restorations and in 1896 it played host to the first modern Olympic Games.

The Handover Ceremony marks not only the real beginning of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay and the countdown to the Games, but it also offers a unique and unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience for 12,000 torchbearers and more than 1,030 communities in Canada. All can live the flame’s journey and be a part of the Olympic Movement in their own country.

Let the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay begin!

The handover ceremony can be seen here at Noon ET.

The torch touches down in Victoria tomorrow, with CTVOlympics.ca reporting as many as 50,000 people may show up....

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Figure Skating - Canadian Women

In today's edition, we're going to talk about Joannie Rochette. It's very refreshing to finally be able to talk about a decent female figure skating competitor! Seriously, Canadian women have struggled with consistency for the past 20 years!! (that's really pathetic!) But let's take a minute to look back at the past World Championship results to see the top Canadian women placed, shall we?:

2009: 2nd - Joannie Rochette
2008: 5th - Joannie Rochette
2007: 10th - Joannie Rochette
2006: 7th - Joannie Rochette
2005: 11th - Joannie Rochette
2004: 8th - Joannie Rochette
2003: 9th - Jennifer Robinson
2002: 9th - Jennifer Robinson
2001: 15th - Jennifer Robinson
2000: 8th - Jennifer Robinson
1999: 18th - Jennifer Robinson
1998....
Look, the gist here is that we ladies don't do so well under pressure. In fact, I had to stop my little chart here because I would have had to go all the way back to 1988 when Elizabeth Manley won a silver. (Same year she also won silver at the Calgary Olympics.)

Here are some Joannie Rochette facts:
She's our FIVE TIME national champion, she's currently ranked 2nd in the world. She will be 24 by the time Vancouver 2010 rolls around and she placed 5th in Turino 2006.

Now, here are some examples of her amazing talent.

This is her long program from the 2005 Canadians, if you're bad at math, it's the first time she won the Canadians. (Don't worry, I'm bad at math too!)



Okay, so incase you aren't a figure skating judge, let me tell you what you just watched:
Triple toe, triple toe combination
Triple lutz
Triple loop
Double axle
Camel spin
Triple lutz, double toe combination
Triple flip, triple salchow combination
Camel, sit, layback, back sit, Y-spin combination
Layback spin
Spiral sequence
Footwork sequence
Double axle
Footwork sequence
Flying camel spin

Next we have her long program from the 2009 Canadians.



And here's what you saw there:
Triple loop, double toe, double loop combination
Triple flip
Triple loop
Flying cannonball sit, sit variation combination
Y-spin, attitude spin combination
Triple lutz
Triple toe, triple salchow combination
Footwork sequence
Spiral sequence
Double axle, double axle combination
Triple salchow
Back-inside camel, Y-spin, forward sit, cannonball spin combination

So there you have it, and I'm going to stop blogging now because I'm sick of typing the word "combination" :)

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Seat Assignment!

So the day has finally arrived…..our seats have been assigned! The presentation below gives an overview of where all our tickets have landed.



The presentation includes the tickets we picked up for Holly/Kingston, and we're still waiting on the ticket placements for the ones we got from 'other' sources (Stubhub, Ms. Kauk)

The biggest thing we’ve noticed is how much our ‘A’ level tickets have been pushed to the end of the rink. Almost without fail, these are either right behind the net, or at best, in the corner. I suppose it was to be expected, sponsors and media getting all the ‘prime’ seats, but it’s still a little annoying that the best seats didn’t seem to make it to the public.

Now that we have our assigned places, we can better establish which tickets we’re going to sell for events where we have the choice. I think in general we’re going to sell the better seats, and keep the crappier ones. For example, for the USA-NOR and USA-SWI games, we’ll sell the lower bowl tickets behind the net, and sit in the upper bowl in the corner. Although we’re giving up the better seats, we’re also gonna be able to sell them for more.

I think overall, our ‘best’ assignment was for the Long Track Team Pursuit Finals at the Richmond Olympic Oval, where Pam and I have the 4th row, in between turns 1 and 2. However, since there is an aisle near our seats, that’s actually the 2nd row. Should be right on top of the action!

Updated as tickets change...

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Figure Skating - Canadian Pairs

As we all know, Scott is the hockey and curling guru. What you may not know, is that I spent 15 years of my life on a rink as well, figure skating. I stopped skating at age 18 when I had to choose between dedicating myself entirely to it in the hopes of doing the nationals circuit, or going to college. Being the responsible gal I am, I went to college. Not a day goes by that I don't wonder "what could have been" if I had chosen otherwise.

That aside, I do have some figure skating wisdom to pass on to the blogging world. Nothing has been finalized yet as far as who will be representing Canada until after Canadians 2010 in January, but I'm going to get on my high horse and assume I'm right. That being said, let's talk pairs. Let's talk about medal contention. Let's talk about Bryce Davison and Jessica Dube. First, I would like to say that growing up just outside of Hamilton, I did have the honour of skating a few times on the same ice surface as Bryce. I always remembered everyone making a big deal about him even back then.

Here are the facts:
Bryce and Jessica are the 2007 & 2009 Canadian National champions. (in 2008 they were 2nd to Langlois and Hay, they withdrew in 2009 due to injury. They will probably be going to Vancouver as well). She is 21, he is 23. They are coached by David Pelletier (yes, the guy from the 2002 Olympic figure skating scandal) and they are only getting better and better.

They went to Turino and placed 10th but that's pretty amazing when you think about the fact that he was only 19 and she was 18! They have spent the last 4 years preparing for this, and I think this is their time.

Last week they competed in the Trophee Eric Bompard competition (part of the ISU Grand Prix of figure skating series) and they came in 2nd behind Mukhortpva and Trankov of Russia. This is their performance:



They are a remarkably graceful pair. (or maybe I've just been watching "Battle of the Blades" too much!) So here's to crossing our fingers and hoping nothing but the best for them!

Oh, and just because I'm morbid, I'm posting this short clip of an accident Dube and Davison had in 2007. I warn you, it's brutal. She had to get 80 stitches to the face. Enjoy!

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My First Post!

So, since I am going to the Olympics now, I am going to post on here as well! (and it will be awesome!)

Something Scott has neglected to blog about on here, is his collection of Olympic gear! Take a look!

The black Canada jersey on the left is from the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics with Smyth on the back. The red one on the right is the new 2010 Hockey jersey with obviously no name on the back until they announce the team. The details within the leaf are very cool.

At the top of the picture, Scott has also received a 2010 Olympic hat.

Then at the bottom of the picture we have 3 shirts. The first on the left would be a hoodie I bought Scott for his birthday. In the middle is a t-shirt Scott's parents got him that has previous Olympian signatures.


Lastly, on the right we have a t-shirt that my parents bought Scott with the RCAF logo.

These are all of the clothes that Scott will be packing in February for his trip! He will be a proud Canadian and no one will second guess it! :)

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The Olympic Flame

Finally…the countdown begins.

At noon today in Greece (about 5 AM Eastern....sheeeshh), the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Flame was lit.
The flame will make a 8 day journey around Greece, before arriving in Victoria on October 30th. From there, it will spend 106 days visiting every corner of Canada, travelling over 45,000 km in the process. VANOC has a very cool interactive map highlight the route, which can be found here.

Now, like an idiot, I’ve managed to make myself unavailable the night its going to be in Toronto (Dec 19th), so I think I’ll have to drive down to Hamilton a few days later (Dec 21st) and see it there.

I think that this represents the starting of the true ‘home stretch’ for the Games. A video of the ceremony itself is below.

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World Cup of Curling

So last night Beth, my dad, my Papa and I fought traffic to head out to Mississauga for the opening draw of the World Cup of Curling. As mentioned, this is basically the pre-Games warm-up tournament, featuring the ‘Top 5’ Canadian Men’s Teams and the 9 ‘Foreign’ teams that will be at the 2010 Games.

The opening draw was surprisingly well attended given the GTA’s normal apathy towards ‘big event’ curling. I’d estimate the Hershey Centre was almost half full, probably putting the crowd at a little better than 2,000 people.

I think one of the nicest things about curling is how accessible it really still is. Last night only served to remind me of that fact, as we were able to slide down to the 1st row and be right on top of the action. You’re close enough to hear every conversation on the ice, and it gives you a chance to take quite a few pictures:



The biggest thrill of the night was the quick chance we had to meet Brad Gushue. All teams signed autographs post-game, but he’s the one we went down for. This pics in the photo-stream, but I thought it deserved special re-posting here.

In terms of the actual curling action, the Canadian teams ‘won’ the night 4-1, with the aforementioned Gushue being the only Canadian defeat. The most interesting win was the Ferbey game, where the Chinese ran out of time with a full end still to play.

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A Little Anticipation

Couple things that I'm looking forward to today.

Grey Power World Cup of Curling

First off, tonight I'll be headed out to the Hershey Centre in Mississagua for the World Cup of Curling. Its basically the pre-Olympic tune-up competition, featuring the 5 Top Canadian teams and the 9 teams that will be representing their countries come this February.

The draw for tonight is:
1 - Martin vs. Edin (Sweden)
2 - Howard vs. Kapp (Germany)
3 - Gushue vs. Shuster (USA)
4 - Ferbey vs. Liu (China)
5 - Koe vs. Dufour (France)

Other teams at the World Cup, but on byes tonight are Murdoch (Scotland), Ulsred (Norway), Schmidt (Denmark) and Stoeckli (Switzerland). I would have particularily liked a chance to see Murdoch and Ulsred, but what are you gonna do? Having all 5 Canadian teams on one draw is still pretty good.

Here is a TV spot that Martin did this week on Canada AM for the event:World Cup of Curling

Lighting of the Olympic Torch

The other upcoming item that has me pumped is the lighting of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Flame in Greece tomorrow.

Due to timezone differences, it's scheduled to take place at about 5 AM Eastern time tonight. Hopefully when I wake up in the morning, CTV or the IOC will have a video of the lighting ceremony available online. I'll talk more about the lighting tomorrow, but until then, here is an overview of the schedule for the lighting ceremony:

12:00 - Opening of the Ceremony
- Olympic Anthem - Hoisting of the Olympic Flag
- National Anthem of Canada - Hoisting of the Canadian Flag
- National Anthem of Greece - Hoisting of the Greek Flag
- Recitation of an extract from Takis Doxas’ poem " THE LIGHT OF OLYMPIA"
- Address by the Mayor of Ancient Olympia, Mr. Georgios AIDONIS
- Address by the President of the Olympic Torch Relay Commission, Mr. Spyros ZANNIAS
- Address by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr Jacques Rogge
- Address by the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Mr. Spyros CAPRALOS
- Address by the CEO of VANOC, Mr. John FURLONG
- Offer of commemorative pot to the CEO of VANOC, Mr. John FURLONG
- Entry of limited number of VIPs in the Temple of Hera

12:25 - Ritual of the Lighting Ceremony at the Temple of Hera
- The High Priestess and the Priestesses enter the Ancient Stadium with the Olympic Flame
- Handing over of the Flame to the first Torchbearer by the High Priestess

12:50 - The first Torchbearer departs via Pierre de Coubertin’s Grove – Opening of the Olympic Torch Relay

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Venue Preview: Whistler Sliding Centre

Name: Whistler Sliding Centre
Sports: Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton
Sessions: BS003 (Women’s Runs 1 & 2)
Days: Day 12
Location: 4910 Glacier Lane, Whistler, BC
Capacity: 12,000
Opened: 2007
Costs: $105 million CAD

On Day 12, Pam and I will be leaving the cozy confines of greater Vancouver and head up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler. One of the top skiing resorts in the world, Whistler is home to all of the ‘Alpine’ and ‘Sliding’ sports for the games. Having never been to Whistler, or any ‘Resort Town’ before really, I’m looking forward to the chance to get up there.

While in Whistler, we will be seeing one event: the Women’s Bobsled – Runs 1 & 2. This will give us a chance to check out the Whistler Sliding Centre, and the insanity that is someone rocketing down the track. Widely considered to be the fastest track in the world, sliders can reach speeds over 150 km/h at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Crazy, crazy, crazy stuff. For the Bobsled event, we have ‘Level B’ tickets, which function basically as general admission to the grounds. From there, you just find a patch of asphalt that looks good, and observe. The seating chart below gives an overview of the track; the general admission areas are in blue.


Having been to the Salt Lake track, I actually think that I prefer the idea of being in the general admission section, as it gives you a chance to be right on top of the track. Assuming a similar layout to SLC, you can stand right up against the railing, which is probably less than 6 feet from the surface of the track. If you had good enough aim, you could probably reach out and touch people going down the track.

The track itself is nestled up against the base of Blackcomb mountain, just outside of Whistler Village. The course drops a total of 152 m over its 1450 m length, which my calculator tells me is an average grade of about -10.48%. Its 16 curves generally are not named yet, with the notable exception of Turn 7: Lueders Loop. During the track testing phase, Pierre Lueders managed to flip his sled in Turn 7, earning him the subject notoriety. Accoridng to the reports I’ve read, Whistler’s track is supposedly one of the toughest in the world. The following video provides a very cool run down the track.

The Whistler Sliding Centre should hopefully see Canada win at least a couple of medals. As the home country, Canadian sliders will have had significantly more experience on the track versus international competitors, hopefully giving us a significant home-field advantage. On the Skeleton front, Canada has legitimate medal contenders on both the Men’s and Women’s sides. Although the primary focus will be on the persons of Jeff Pain and Mellisa Hollingsworth, having the home-track advantage should also help secondary medal threats like John Montgomery and Michelle Kelly. Mulitiple medals on either side are a possibility.

We may also be able to take home medals in bobsled, where the aforementioned Pierre Lueders is a solid threat in the Two-Man, and a secondary threat in the Four-Man. On the women’s side, Helen Upperton is favoured to bring home a medal, colour to be determined. In luge, it would be a surprise for Canada to register a medal.

We’re still not 100% on what our schedule is going to be like in terms of arrival/departure times from the Whistler area. As I’ve never been to Whistler, I’m really hoping to be able to not only see the Bobsled on Day 12, but also hit the slopes. I think we’ll be able to fit that in either during the morning on Day 12, prior to the bobsled start at 5:00 PM, or by staying overnight in Whistler, and getting on the slopes on Day 13, which we have open right now. Either way, I think it’d be a shame to be in one of the top resorts in the world, and at not get in at least SOME ‘boarding.

Anyways, I’ll leave you with a bit of a slideshow, as yoinked from Flicker and Google Images:

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Medals Unveiled

As promised, the Medals for the 2010 Winter Games were unveiled today. The slideshow below gives you an overview of the press-photos released:



I gotta say that I really really like them, especially the embedded artwork. It looks almost lacquered wood, which I think gives it a really down-to-earth quality. An interesting note is that the artwork that appears on each medal is supposedly unique for each of them, with each medal having a 'zoomed in' section of a larger piece of artwork that was drawn up.

My only complaint is that I think I would have liked a maple leaf worked into the design some how, offsetting the strong Native element to some extent....but overall...I'll take 'em...

Medals by the Numbers
• 2.05 – kilograms of gold used in production of medals
• 30 – number of steps in fabrication process
• 95 millimetres – width of Paralympic medal
• 100 millimetres – diameter of Olympic medals
• 399 – medals for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games
• 500 grams to 576 g – weight of medals, among the heaviest in Olympic and Paralympic history.
• 615 – medals for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
• 903 – kilograms of copper used in production of bronze medals
• 1,950 – kilograms of silver used in production of medals
• 1976 – the last year the Royal Canadian Mint created medals for the Olympic Games

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Building Momentum

The announcements and unveilings have been picking up steam a little bit over the past week, as we get closer to the 100 Days To Go Mark. Ticket Sales, Volunteer Uniforms and Transportation Plans have all come out in the last 48 hours. The one I wanted to talk about briefly however is the ‘Live City’ events announced by the City of Vancouver.

The city announced that there will be two ‘live’ celebration sites during the games: one in Yaletown at David Lam Park, and one downtown at the corner of Georgia and Beatty……..Of course, the corner of Georgia and Beatty is about 50 meters from our hotel!

Artist Rendering of the Downtown 'Live City' Site

Included at the downtown site will be a 40’ TV screen, booze, and the Canada Pavilion. Its gonna be very sweet to have that so close to our hotel…..just so long as we can get at least the semblance of some sleep.

Up Next
Coming up next are three of the big ones:
Today: Unveiling of the Medals
Week from Today: Lighting of the Flame
Sometime in the next week or so: Seat Assignment

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Google Streetview

So Google Streetview has finally come to Canada. As useful as this is in everyday life/work, one of the things I've been using it for the most is taking a bit of a virtual tour of Vancouver. Below are some of the more relevant items in regards to our trip:

Our Hotel

Here is our Hotel at 733 Beatty Street. During the games, Beatty St. will be a closed off pedestrian area for most of the day. Not sure what they'll be filling the street with instead of cars, but I'm sure its going to be a lively area. On the Streetview, you can spin it around 180° and see how close we are to BC Place. I'd really love it if we ended up getting a room that overlooked the stadium!

Canada Hockey Place and BC Place

Default view here is of GM Place, to be renamed Canada Hockey Place during the games, as seen from the Georgia Viaduct. This is one of my favourite views I've come across, as it highlights just how close we are going to be to everything from the hotel. From the default view, you can swing 90° to the right, to see BC Place, and 180° to see our hotel. It’s the brown building with the smokestack partially obstructing it about 250 metres off. Similar to Beatty Street, the Georgia Viaduct will be closed off during the games.

BC Place is of course home to the Opening/Closing Ceremonies and the nightly Victory Ceremonies. One neat thing to see here are the numerous cranes operating around the building, working on upgrades to the roof in support of the Ceremonies.

I'm really glad that we've got the Day 10 Victory Ceremony ticket, just so that we have a chance to actually get inside the Main Olympic Stadium.

UBC Thunderbird Arena

This one is a little weird for me. Having attended a Canadian University for 5 years, I know what to expect from a Campus, and from a Campus Athletics Centre. It’s got to be a little weird for UBC to actually house an official Olympic venue. Nevertheless, above is a view of the UBC Thunderbird Arena, which is the secondary hockey venue. I'm really looking forward to the Canada v. Sweden women's hockey game there, as with such an intimate atmosphere, I bet the place will be rockin'.

Pacific Coliseum

Home to Figure Skating and Short-Track Speedskating, we will only make it over to the Pacific Coliseum once during our trip. Out in suburbia a bit when compared to the other venues, it has apparently gotten a complete facelift from what is shown here. Above that, I'm sure that all of these street-views will look very different during the games with all the building wraps, banners, adverts etc that are sure to be in place.

Richmond Olympic Oval

The so-called 'Crown-Jewel' of the games, the Richmond Olympic Oval is the #1 venue that I wanted to see while out there. We only get there once, and not until Day 16, but it'll totally be worth the wait. I'm really hoping to get out there well in advance of the event itself so that we can spend some time just wandering around the building, both inside and out. One thing I've noticed on the streetview however is how much of an industrial area the Oval is in. The large open field directly to the west of the Oval is particularly ugly. Hopefully things will be 'spruced up' a bit between the timing of this photo and the games.

Vancouver Olympic Centre

This is a great view of the Vancouver Olympic Centre, home to Curling. As you can see, they are still working on the finishing touches here in this photo, but I'm sure the venue will be amazing come the games. I'm still not sure how all that direct sunlight works from a practical point of view, but it should make for a great building.

Whistler

Unfortunately, the Whistler venues are all just out of the reach of the Street view coverage areas, so instead, here is a view of the Whistler Village. Post-Bobsled on Day 12, I think we're definitely going to have to hit up for a bar down here. I'm sure the place is amazing in the winter normally, let alone during the games.

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O Canada!

So its a bit of an old one, but I came across a video highlighting the Vancouver Sympony Orchestra's recordings of 'O Canada' for Vancouver 2010.




Not much of a music critic, but I love this version...especially Take 1.

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Canada Hockey House

So one thing I was kinda excited for during the games was the ‘Molson Canadian Hockey House’, basically presented online as a big tailgate party for Canadians to watch the games from. Today they released a whole slew of new information on it, which had me somewhat excited, until I noticed the ticket prices:

Gold - 17 Day All Access Pass - $ 8500.00
Silver Package 1 - February 13 - 16 - CND $ 1700.00
Silver Package 2 - February 17 - 20 - CND $ 1800.00
Silver Package 3 - February 21 - 24 - CND $ 1900.00
Silver Package 4 - February 25 - 27 - CND $ 2000.00
Silver Package 1 + Gold Medal + Closing Ceremony - CND $ 2695.00
Silver Package 2 + Gold Medal + Closing Ceremony - CND $ 2795.00
Silver Package 3 + Gold Medal + Closing Ceremony - CND $ 2895.00
Silver Package 4 + Gold Medal + Closing Ceremony - CND $ 2995.00
Bronze Package 1 - Opening Ceremony February 12 - CND $ 495.00

Oh yes, those prices are per-person…..

Are they crazy? Its cheaper to actually goto the games than sit outside in a tent and watch them? In-friggin’-sane….

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The Resale Market - Part III

Talked to Ben the other day, and he pointed me to an article on the CBC that suggests that VANOC may allow higher than face-value sales on the official re-sale website. That'd certainly make things pretty convenient in terms of off-loading our extra tickets!

The website should be up in early November.

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Canada Olympic Uniform

This past week, ‘The Bay’ unveiled the official Olympic gear for Team Canada.

Yes, thats Stevie Y...

As of right now, it’s a whole clothing line, rather than the actual gear the atheletes will wear when entering the Opening Ceremonies. However, from what I’ve been able to read up on, the official entrance uniforms will either be made up of articles from the announced line, or will be very similar.

Overall, there is a lot of black in it, but at least they were smart enough to stick to something simple and with red/white accents. Overall I give it pretty high marks….I’ll certainly be picking up a few items!

It’s pretty much my goal to be completely decked out in ‘Canadian’ gear for the entire time I’m out there. I’ve got a pretty good wardrobe going in that regard already, but it will definitely need some supplementary pieces.

As a final note, these uniforms are featured on the downtown 'The Bay' store building wraps from my last post!

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Building Wraps

When I was in Salt Lake City, one of the favourite images I saw was of the downtown core all ‘decked out’ in Olympic livery. This isn’t the exact image I saw (will probably never find it), but it gives you the idea:


I love this image so much because it highlights how much of an ‘Olympic Village’ gets created in the downtown. I can’t wait to be right in the middle of it all come Vancouver. Our games will probably be even better in this regard than Salt Lake’s were, just because our venues are much more centralized.

Anyways, reason I bring this up, is that at gamesbids.com, there were some images posted of two of the first building wraps for the games:




That’s one huge Canadian Flag on the Georgia Hotel. The second image is of ‘The Bay’ in downtown Vancouver…which is the Olympic superstore. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the buildings…and Vancouver as a whole…will look like in a couple months!

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