The good and bad at the Olympics

The Good and the Bad from the Olympics


Good: The ice at the Vancouver Olympic Centre. It was a little patchy at times, but otherwise held up well.

Bad: The number of seats at the VOC. Only 5,600, could have easily sold twice that.

Good: The Sky Train. What a great way to travel, especially after a few pops.

Bad: The food in the media centre. Chili and bad sandwiches. At least the diet was cheaper than Dr. Bernstein. Oh and the coffee was awful too.

Good: The Fans – loud and proud.

Bad: The National Anthem. Not the first time or the time in the final, but the 47 other times in between when people tried to sing it. Doesn’t work, sorry folks.

Good: The seven million people who watched Martin win gold. Largest curling audience in Canadian history.

Bad: The poor in-house announcers who were slated to read this long series of announcements long before anyone was in the building. What moron thought up that schedule.

Good: The amount of international attention the roaring game received.

Bad: It will probably be four years until we see a similar level of attention again.

Bad: Applauding on the press bench. A few folks from a number of different countries stood up and applauded when their teams won. That’s a no-no and makes us all look bad, medal or not.

Good: The curlers working with the media. These guys are absolute dreams compared to other sports. Lots and lots of access and great honest quotes too.

Bad: Crying kids and the red eye. Why is it whenever I decide to suck it up and take the red eye, I always sit next to a crying kid.

Good: Thomas Ulsrud, a classy guy in defeat.

Bad: The goof who blew the horn in Ulsrud’s delivery during the final game. Thank goodness the crowd let him know it was unacceptable.

Good: The number of celebs/dignitaries that came out to watch curling: Donald Sutherland, Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Mike Babcock, Kings of Norway and Sweden, former world champs John Kawaja, Rick Folk and Jon Mead.

Bad: To the best of my knowledge, not one other Team Canada athlete showed up.

Good: China fought through the nonsense to get a bronze in women’s play. When they won, they finally showed some emotion.

Bad: The U.S. finished last in both men’s and women’s. Curling needs them to be better and they should be better, plain and simple.

Good: The volunteers. They were really, genuinely friendly and helpful.

Bad: People Magazine reporter in the Team Canada press conference, moments after they’d lost the heartbreaking gold-medal game, asking Cheryl Bernard if she’d ever posed nude. Great timing for that question pal. Did you not notice she was crying?

Good: My own bed after 15 nights at a hotel.