Day Ten (Fourteen): A Day of Reflection and Joy

Consider this the open Olympic thread.  Any thoughts on the Olympics, leave them here.  What can be said about yesterday?  It's hard to be anything but happy when Clara Hughes, perhaps the greatest Canadian Olympian ever, closes out her skating career with a medal.  An amazing person as well as an amazing athlete.  She even gave a bit of a shot at the "own the podium" verbage after her race which makes me like her all the more.  And the day just got better from there.  Jessica Gregg avenged a fourth-place finish earlier this week with a silver medal - along with three team-mates - in the women's 3000m relay smack dab in the middle of Canada's unbelievable conquest over Russia in the quarterfinals.  And when that great and glorious game ended, CTV whisked viewers off to Whistler to see the women's two-man bobsleigh live with only four teams to go: two of them Canadians.  Helen Upperton threw down a great time in her final run and put her mind at ease after a fourth place finish in Turin.   With two racers to go she was fully satisfied.  And then the Americans faltered.  They stood first still with only one team to go and while Kaillie Humphries got down that track a bit faster, she too wore the Canadian colours.  Gold and silver.  What a day.  If the hockey game was a most satisfying main course, the bobsleigh was the perfect dessert.  A great night to be Canadian, to celebrate Canadian sport, to sing, to dance and to smile at the accomplishments of our countrywomen.  And the hockey team.

And today could be just as sweet. The curling rink sees both the men and the women trying to guarantee a medal and give themselves a chance for gold.  Both start the medal round as #1 seed and favourite but I must admit that Kevin Martin one of the athletes I'm really pulling for.  As in, before the Games started I knew who he was and cared about him winning.  Let's go Kevin!  In non-ice action Steve Omischl and two others go for gold in men's aerials.  Omischl hasn't made a single podium on the tour this season so expectations can't be set too high, but a medal isn't out of the question.  He was the world champion in 2009 for a reason.  Back on ice the women's hockey team goes for gold against the Americans tonight in what should be the most (only) competitive game of the women's tournament involving North Americans.  a medal is assured but gold sure would be sweet.  Nonetheless, tonight's marquee event is the women's free skate with Joannie Rochette beginning the day in third place.  I'm certain that for her today will be a day of reflection.  I can only hope that it's also a day of joy.

No men's hockey today I'm afraid.  But yesterday was quite the day.  The Americans rolled over the Swiss.  The score was close but the play really wasn't.  It was still a good showing for Switzerland at the games, coming out with two victories and three very competitive games against superior clubs.  No blow-outs and that really does set them apart from the other minnows.  They'll play the Finns tomorrow who beat the Czechs in what was a mild surprise for me and a very good reason to celebrate for Derek (real name: Erkki Ylonen).  On the other side of the bracket there was the Canadian victory and the awesome Slovak upset over Sweden.  It was a great game to watch, especially seeing Pavol Demitra score yet another goal late to help push the Slovaks to victory.  They had a 2-0 lead, blew it, drew it back out to 4-2 and then almost blew it again.  But they held on tight and are now in the semis!  I would love to see these guys get a medal.  Given the draw, I hope it's bronze, but after watching them play the Czechs tough and then earn victories over the Russians and Swedes, the Canadian team had best not take these guys lightly.  If it's Slovakia-Finland in the bronze or gold medal game Derek and I will be cheering more passionately than one would expect for opposite sides.