Women's Hockey Day!

Hello everybody! I made my way over to the far western part of Vancouver, to the campus of the University of British Columbia and Thunderbird Arena, site of Women's Hockey. I saw 2 games today, beginning with the noon start of team USA against China. This is a pretty small arena. I would estimate seating capacity at 8,000-10,000. So even though my seats were in the 2nd level, they were still quite good. I was seated just over the left shoulder of the Chinese goaltender in the first period. This was fortunate, because the USA kept the puck in that end of the rink for about 19:30 of the 20:00 first period! Team USA won 12-1 so it wasn't even a competitive game. Let's see if I can get the video to work again....the International Olympic Committee met in emergency session and immediately voted this to be the most disgusting display at the 2010 Winter Games....

The second game featured Finland against Russia, and Finland dominated the Russians 5-1. It was interesting to watch simply for no other reason than to watch the nationalism from those two countries and not have a rooting interest. Finland was pretty good though. But some Finnish fans sitting next to me asked me how I though Finland would do against the USA, since they knew I had seen the USA win earlier in the day. I told them USA would win probably 6-3. They seemed happy with that. During the USA game, sitting just 5 sections away from me, and remember it's a small arena, so 5 sections isn't that far, were Vice President Joe Biden and 1980 Miracle on Ice team captain Mike Eruzione. Biden got some boos from the crowd when his face was shown on the big screen at the arena. Now when I get home, I see that his motorcade was involved in a traffic accident on their way from the arena and former Olympic Gold Medal winners Peggy Fleming (figure skating, 1968, Grenoble, France) and Vonetta Flowers (2-woman bobsledding, 2002 Salt Lake City) were slightly injured. Both were ok after being treated at a local hospital. Also, while waiting at a bus stop this morning, someone claimed that the women's gold medal figure skating champion from a couple of Olympics ago walked by on the street. I can't be sure though. No one seemed to be making that big a deal, but I suppose it's possible.

While waiting for the ferry over to Vancouver this morning, I asked some folks where a good place would be to get a hold of some pins. They said I coould find them all over! Then they said "Here, you don't have any, we've got some extras" so they ended up giving me 3 of their pins! One of a Canadian flag, another representing Manitoba, and the third was a red and white Maple Leaf from a local Legion Club. The Canadians are SOOO generous! One of my goals is to find more pins, especially of the events I'm going to see in person. Another person I talked to recommended a couple of other places to go to that have limited edition pins, so I might check those out if I get a chance.

Now, to the weather. Boy did it break today!!! Sunny blue skies, very warm..I'd say at least 50 degrees, green grass everywhere, flowers coming up, kids playing soccer, joggers in the parks...it certainly doesn't LOOK like the Winter Olympics should look! But when that sun came out today, it was so bright and so nice.

Let's see, what else...hmmmm I found out I miread my schedule and thought I had Men's Curling tomorrow, which would have meant an early morning ferry ride (6:20 am). But that's not until Tuesday. Tomorrow, I have the Pairs Figure Skating Free Program. That shouldn't be as long a ride on the bus. That venue, Pacific Coliseum, is the same one used for Short Track Speed Skating. It's located just east of downtown Vancouover. I am getting more and more familiarized with the streets here so I am getting a better handle on where I'm at and where I need to get off the bus.

My closing thought for tonight...I discovered a new treat tonight. Apparently, the way to eat french friees here is not with ketchup, but with a rich, brown gravy! Let me tell you, I think the Canadians got that one right! If you ever get a chance to eat at a Whitespot Restaurant, I highly recommend it.

Ok, off to catch some sleep, and hope the weather cooperates once again. Talk to you after figure skating tomorrow night!

From Vancouver,

Rick