A Skewed View

You know that whole " Maybe this year, if it looks like Canada's going to take the gold in hockey, I'll pop over to a sports bar and watch it with a whole crap load of people. Lord knows I felt stupid jumping up and down and screaming alone in my apartment in 2002 " bit from last week? I'm home. Alone. Plotted out my day so that I'd be in front of the tv at 3:00 p.m. EST, housework done, grocery shopping put away. Never ONCE did the thought "Hey, I should check out that bar thing I was talking about before" come to mind. Sigh. Hope my downstairs neighbours don't mind a lunatic in the building.

The Olympic Sport for Day Sixteen: Women's Team Pursuit Speed Skating Semi-Finals The Olympic Athlete for Day Sixteen: Germany's Anni Friesinger-Postma Her Moment: In the last lap of the semi-finals against the Americans, Anni began to really struggle to keep up with her two teammates. Already unsteady, she teetered after the last turn and finally tipped over to fall on the ice. If her teammates, having already slowed down when they saw how far behind them she was, didn't actually see the fall, they sure knew it was coming. By time Anni was splayed out on her belly, her two teammates had assumed defeat was inevitable and started to coast to let their momentum carry them across the finish line. But Anni did a few breast-strokes on the ice as she slid along towards the finish, and kicked her right leg up by her head to make her skate cross the line quicker -- and won the race! Anni lay face down on the ice, sure she had cost her team a chance to medal. After a moment, she loo...

The Olympic Sport for Day Fifteen: Um ... well ... I'd have to choose ... okay, I'll choose Men's Hockey The Olympic Athlete for Day Fifteen: Team Slovakia (ha! didn't expect that, did you?) Their Moment: Now bear with me -- there is a difference between losing the game, and not winning the game. And who among us was not on their feet in the last five minutes of that game, wishing the clock to run down quicker or Canada to snap out of it and pull themselves together. It was just a matter of time -- the way Canada was playing by the end and the way Slovakia was playing by the end -- before Slovakia tied the game. That the clock ran out before that time came does not mean Canada won; it means Canada did not lose. I saw it. You saw it. I'm just going that extra distance and writing about it. Maybe it was only for five minutes, but Slovakia was the Olympic Athlete of Day Fifteen. CLOSE Runner Up for Sport/Athlete/Moment: Charles Hamelin in Short Track Men's 500m Spe...

The Olympic Sport for Day Fourteen: Women's Hockey The Olympic Athlete for Day Fourteen: Team Canada Their Moment: Shut. Out. CTV had a background package where it highlighted the lack of love lost between the Canada and USA women's hockey teams. The American players who were interviewed tried to come off like World Wrestling Federation villains, saying they love playing in Canada because they love the power of silencing the crowd when they score. Maybe next time, girls (... but you should have a back up plan just in case).

The Olympic Sport for Day Thirteen: Ladies 5000m Long Track Speed Skating The Olympic Athlete for Day Thirteen: Clara Hughes Her Moment: She crosses the finish line, she sees her time and her ranking (at that moment, 1st), and her face lights up like a small child the first time they saw their Christmas stocking stuffed by Santa Claus. Surprise and joy. After 14 years -- fourteen years -- of medals in four Olympics -- summer and winter -- and it still tickles her socks off when she excels. And that smile. Just makes you want to squeeze the stuffing out of her when congratulating her. Honourable Mention: Men's Hockey: Canada v. Russia. That was fun. Women's Bobsleigh: Canada1/Canada2. Gold/Silver. That was nice.

The Olympic Sport for Day Twelve: Women's Figure Skating, Short Program The Olympic Athlete for Day Twelve: Joannie Rochette Her Moment: I doubt there was a dry eye once she started sobbing immediately upon finishing her performance. Heck, I'm teary right now just typing about it. Honestly, what a champion. I really felt bad for her, the cameraman closing in as her coach hugged her, although it wasn't as simple as media feeding off of people's suffering. A skater gets off the ice after a performance, cameras are going to be there. Still, I think I wish they had given her a moment right then -- or even just afforded her the appearance of a moment, by backing off physically and letting her feel less intruded upon. She is in a position where she has to choose between grieving so very publicly or letting go of everything she has worked for in the past few years. Is it too much to think television cameras can choose to use their zoom functions to show a little respect? Hono...

The Olympic Sport for Day Eleven: Ice Dance The Olympic Athlete(s) for Day Eleven: Scott Moir & Tess Virtue Their Moment: On the podium, Olympic Gold around their necks (for a performance that actually made me snore, btw -- I liked the Americans' performance better ... at least I didn't keep nodding off during it), these two kids sang their hearts out to the national anthem -- Scott actually threw his head back and belted it out near the end. They were cute and excited and you could see Tess at times seemed a bit shell-shocked in pure happiness. Two kids who really let themselves feel it. I like it. Honourable Mention: Ice Dance's Sinead Kerr & John Kerr, from Great Britain. Sinead is as tall, if not taller than her partner John, and seems kind of more solidly built. Just when I thought "Man, betcha she could lift him", she did! I don't know how they landed in the standings, but it got me watching an event that usually ranks below "Watch Paint ...