Barb and Toby at the Olympics

Recap - Our personal medals haul

2010-03-02T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hello again. Sorry for the not posting earlier. Still encountering internet issues. Resorted to the Starbucks around the corner. We are still in Vancouver. Had the opportunity to meet with some folks while here, and then will attend the Governor's reception for all Washington State Olympic athletes returning from the games later this week. We've had the opportunity to reflect on our personal experience, and it's been amazing. Not only did the U.S. win the most medals ever in a Winter Olympics, we were so fortunate to personally witness 11 of the 37 medals.
Saturday, Feb. 13th - Ladies Moguls - Hannah Kearney-Gold; Shannon Barkey-Bronze
We endured sideways rain, but it was worth it.
Sunday, Feb. 14th - Men's Moguls - Bryon Wilson-Bronze
We also witnessed Alex Bilodeau win Canada's first gold medal on home soil. - So cool! Then we learned from my sister Marlene that Bryon is a shirt tail relative of mine - 15 degrees of separation.
Monday, Feb. 15th - Men's Snowboard Cross - Seth Wescott-Gold
We were cheering for local favorite Nathan Holland who finished 4th, but a gold is a gold!
Wednesday, Feb. 17th - Men's Snowboard Halfpipe - Shaun White-Gold; Scotty Lego-Bronze
The most amazing thing to see how much higher the flying tomato gets than all of the other riders. He deserves the hipe!
Thursday, Feb. 18th - Men's Figure Skating - Evan Lysacek-Gold
I don't need to say anything more here - Our biggest medal highlight.
Saturday, Feb. 20th - Men's Short Track 1000 meter - Apolo Anton Ohno-Bronze
Our eighth medal-short track never disappoints. We had a ball.
Monday, Feb. 22nd - Figure Skating - Dance - Meryl Davis and Charlie White-Silver
Tannith and Ben should have won Bronze, but with the cold war heating up after Evan's Gold they gave it to the Russians. (My little editorializing)
Friday, Feb. 26th - Short Track Speed Skating - Katherine Reutter - Silver in the 1000 meter; Apolo and Team USA won the Bronze in the 5000 meter relay
It was fitting that my favorite event the 5000 meter relay capped off the events that we attended where the U.S. won a medal. I'm exhausted from just recounting it!

Canadian Cocktails yacht-side

2010-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Because of Toby's Coffee Clatch connection, we were invited to a fun cocktail party aboard the "Water Buoy", the yacht owned by Coffee Clatcher Kay Ackles, whose late husband Bob was an executive in both the NFL and the CFL for years. We met other Clatchers there, along with Kay's family members. It's been quite special to be included in their interesting circle.

Meet Mary McNeil

2010-02-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

Toby here. The girls are giving me a hard time about my lack of posting... This is my early morning coffee crew that meets at 7am every day at Urban Fare, our neighborhood grocery store and hangout. It is a very eclectic, diversified and a highly powered group. The person to my right is Mary McNeil, the Minister (head honcho) of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. She has given us daily insight of the behind-the-scenes scenarios and happenings of the Games. Sitting in front of me is David Boyd, owner of a international video surveillance company. David was so kind to invite me into their exclusive Canadian group. Along with Carl and Barb (note their cool new hats) is Dean who works for InterWest, owners of Whistler, and Rod McNeil, Mary's husband. At the end of the table is Jeff who owns Aqua Bus. Aqua Bus has a ton of small boats that act as ferries to shuttle people all around the False Creek water inlet located near the Olympic Village, GM Place (site of Opening & Closing Ceremonies), Canada Hockey Place (hockey venue) and various other sites including our condo. Aqua Bus has played an instrumental role in the successful transportation system. Not pictured are approximately a dozen other members of the group that show up at various times or days.

Making new friends with such a friendly bunch has been a highlight of our awesome experience at these Olympics.

Brian's Coaching Technique

2010-02-26T11:47:00.000-08:00

If you ever get a chanced to watch Brian Orser, DO. Brian is Yu-Na Kim's coach, and she took the gold medal last night in ladies figure skating. While her skating is truly lovely and undeniably medal-worthy, it was almost as enjoyable watching Brian as she skated. He's VERY animated and practically performs every move along with her as he stands rinkside watching her. He must be exhausted by the end of her long program - it's quite entertaining!

Ladies Final

2010-02-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

Last night was the Ladies Final in figure skating. While we didn't hold out much hope that our US gals would medal, we were still VERY proud of both our ladies, Rachel and Mirai. It was great to see Mirai post such an incredible score. And seeing Canada's Joannie Rochette take bronze was a huge triumph in light of what she's endured this week with the sudden passing of her mother here on Sunday. A brave and beautiful young lady. All in all, very impressive skating; all the ladies brought their A-games and skated their hearts out.

Big Dogs

2010-02-26T11:25:00.000-08:00

There is a hot dog stand down the street from our condo. It's called Big Dogs and its proprietor's name is Shaun. We'd been admiring him from afar but decided that yesterday was the day to test his professed kielbasa skills.

They are impressive.

A philosophical perspective on crowds

2010-02-26T11:05:00.000-08:00

We Love Food

2010-02-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Vancouver is not only a totally hip city, it's a food lover's Mecca. Between all the fabulous markets and restaurants featuring food from every corner of the world, it's often hard to decide where to stop and refuel.

Drooling may now commence.

You just never know who you'll bump into at The Olympics

2010-02-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

While enjoying a wonderful lunch at The Sand Bar on Granville Island, we happened to be standing next to a lady wearing an IOC (International Olympic Committee) credential. Barb asked her what her role with the IOC was, and she answered, "Nothing, my husband is affiliated with it." Pressing on, Barb asked her husband's role, and the lady replied, "Oh, he's president of it". Turns out we were talking to Anne Rogge, the wife of Jacques Rogge, the 8th and current president of the IOC!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Rogge

It's all about the hats!

2010-02-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was HAT DAY! We all sported new chapeaus, all with some kind of nation theme. (Hint: everyone but Carl was supporting the USA; he chose to go with Team Canada!)

We headed up to Cypress Mtn. to watch Ladies Aerials finals. We caught the Sea Bus over to North Van and had dinner at a waterfront restaurant. It had been a rather crummy day all day but as we were having dinner the clouds parted to give us a beautiful sunset over Downtown Vancouver.

It was a VERY foggy night on the mountain, in fact when we first arrived we could hardly even see the jumps.

The fog lifted a bit and we were finally able to enjoy some amazing aerial maneuvers.

With all the unseasonably beautiful weather, being up at Cypress finally gave Dana & Carl a real flavor of WINTER Olympics, instead of the Spring-like feel it's otherwise had!

They Don't Call Them MOUNTIES for Nothing!

2010-02-24T15:13:00.000-08:00

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police made an appearance in front of the Olympic Cauldron. They came trotting down the street in queue (that's Canadian for "line"!) and posed in front of the flame for the ultimate Canadian photo op. The horses were gorgeous and so well behaved, and the stunning red of the uniforms against the gray skies and the cauldron behind made for quite the view.

Shortly after that, the Martin Mars Water Bomber - the world's largest operational flying boat ever built -- made a fly by and dropped its load of 37,000 litres of water in the harbour right in front of the cauldron.

We happened to be sitting in a waterfront restaurant when the plane flew RIGHT overhead. We could practically see the whites of the pilot's eyes!!! It was spectacular. Canada has definitely done its part to showcase some of their amazing treasures.

Last night's Ladies Short program was wonderful; real world-class skating and all the athletes seem to have brought their A-games as personal bests were scored by most all the skaters. The house came down when Canadian Joannie Rochette took the ice and skated a gorgeous, inspired performance. Her mother died just 2 days before from a heart attack here in Vancouver and everyone wondered if she would go on to compete in light of the tragedy. She decided to skate in honor of her mother and there wasn't a dry eye in the house as the music ended and she covered her face with her hands and broke down. Everyone was on their feet crying and cheering her incredible bravery and poise. She's currently in 3rd place going into the final so she'll definitely be a crowd favorite tomorrow night for the free skate. I know WE will all be cheering her on.

We are able to enjoy the nightly fireworks show right from our perfectly situated condo. They occur each night at 10:45 and never cease to amaze and bring us all to "ooh's" and "ahh's". It's tough to get good pix of them but here's one that's not too bad.

Well, it's time to sign off as we need to start getting geared up for Ladies Aerials Finals tonight up at Cypress Mountain. It's been snowing there all day so we'll definitely need to break out the winter gear tonight. Should be a great competition!

Falling Behind on Blogging... Shame on us!

2010-02-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry the blogging has been a bit sporadic. We've been on the go-go-go, what with the weather having been so incredible the past few days. But the clouds, wind and rain have finally set in and looks to be our constant companion the rest of the week so that might allow more time for sitting indoors telling our tales to our online followers.

The weather may not sound the best but rest assured that it hasn't dampened the spirits of these Olympic Junkies. We have MANY fun tales to tell and pix to show!

Tomorrow... Blog Catch-up Day!

GO USA!!!

Yes it was great!

2010-02-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

Last night we were there for the Dance Finals. It was great to see Meryl and Charlie win the Silver medal. We were sad that Tanith and Ben finished fourth. That's not the way we had it scored. Of course the party at USA House was a who's who. Very fun.

Dana's Infamous Self Portraits

2010-02-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

So if you've ever spent any time with Dana, you know about the "Self Portraits. Lots more to show you, but we gotta run. Dana has promised to Blog this afternoon.

Those crazy costumes - too much Folk!

2010-02-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

From Original Dance on Sunday, February 21st all the talk was about the Russian's costumes. We were treated to a lot of cheek, and not in a good way. What do you think...haven't the costumes jumped the shark. We preferred the simple costumes the Canadian dance team wore. Also the theme for Original dance was Folk dances. We felt "folked out" by the time it was over, but with Charlie and Meryl in second place andTanith and Ben in fourth place we felt pretty good about our chances for a medal.

Don't you love an entrepreneur!

2010-02-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

A guy on the street corner in front of Starbucks is selling Canadian bandannas for dogs. Good call!

Lines Lines Everywhere Lines

2010-02-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

Lines lines everywhere lines, blocking out the scenery....oh wait that's not how it goes. Well that is how it goes here in Vancouver. It feels like everyday this Olympics has grown exponentially. There are huge lines to everything that is free. There is a free "Olympic Live Site" right down the street from us at David Lamb Park.They have free entertainment and sponsor activities. We have not taken in any of the free stuff. However we have been the beneficiary of the fireworks. Almost every night there is a beautiful fireworks display that we can see from our deck, and is a great way to cap off the evening. Toby took pictures but they turned out too dark. We'll try again tonight.

Are these the Spring Olympics?

2010-02-21T15:15:00.000-08:00

There here, there here!!

2010-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

Dana and Carl have arrived. We have the most convenient location ever for those flying in. They simply take the Canada line from the airport to the Yaletown Roundhouse. First stop Starbucks, which is just outside the station. Another beautiful day! Figure Skating Original Dance tonight.

We're having the time of our lives!

2010-02-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have to admit I am sitting in the closet of our condo to write this post (some wireless internet issues) but I can safely say, this has been exactly what we hoped it would be... an amazing Olympic experience. We started at Cypress Mountain. We witnessed six U.S. Olympic Medals in the four events we have attended at Cypress. They are calling Cypress Mountain their "special" venue. Special - in that it has had many challenges. From mother nature saying "No Snow for You" to crazy lines for concessions and transportation - to having to refund 20,000 standing room tickets because the standing room area became unsafe as a result of melting snow. But it has been very good to us. In addition to seeing Canada win their fist Gold Medal on home soil (Men's Moguls) we have seen an unbelievable medals haul at Cypress. Then you add to that Evan Lysacek winning his gold medal, the historic night we saw tonight, and Wow what can I say. It's the most amazingly beautiful city, and we are so lucky to be here to soak all of this in.

Going to Short Track - Saw Olympic History

2010-02-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to see Short Track Speed Skating where Apolo Anton Ohno won the bronze medal for the 1000 meters. It was edge of your seat excitement from start to finish. We were there to witness the most decorated Winter Olympian win his seventh medal. It doesn't get much better than that!

Vancouver is for the dogs!

2010-02-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

Vancouver is one of the most dog friendly cities I have ever seen. Toby has never met a dog he didn't like.

Boy you just never know what you'll run into at the Olympics!

2010-02-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

The Olympic Rings you see on TV

2010-02-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

Also along the beautiful seawall you pass fairly close to the Olympic Rings that are out on a barge in Coal Harbor. It's another amazing beautiful day.

Red Mittens Everywhere!

2010-02-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Today we went out for another bike ride. Vancouver is the greatest biking city! Here we encountered a statue wearing .... what else .... the famous red mittens. Toby is showing some form.

Sochi House .... Our only day with no events

2010-02-19T19:34:00.000-08:00

Today we have officially been here a week. It's gone soooo fast!! It was sad today - Michelle and Rich flew home, so we are flying the big Olympic ship solo again. We can't wait for Dana and Carl to arrive on Sunday. We did not have an event today, which I have to admit was really nice. Between celebrating Evan's gold medal late into the night last night, and having an event every day, with two yesterday, it's nice to not have anything that we have to do. It's been a good chance to do a little laundry and enjoy the most amazing weather. A nice walk along the sea wall, brings us to Sochi House. Each future host city has an exhibit that showcases their city. The line to get it was absurd - so needless to say we didn't go in.

The Medals Ceremony - It's nice to see the good guys win.

2010-02-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

This is such a thrill for us. As many of you know Evan has been very good to us. We jokingly said he was a part of our marketing team. He made a trip to Spokane before the 2007 Championships just to do a media day, and we worked him from very early in the morning with TV and radio interviews, then a lunch and pictures with sponsors, followed by a trip up to Eagles to do a clinic with the local kids, he was FABULOUS! When you work with athletes you can quickly tell who is the real deal. Evan is truely the real deal.

If you're a fan in the stands, one of the benefits of a sport that is very slow to change is that if you watch the finals you still get to see the medals awarded immediately following the event. All other sports have their medal ceremony the next day at a Victory Ceremony which as an event organizer I prefer. But it was sure nice to be there to see them drape that gold medal around Evan's neck.

Evan Lysacek's Grand Parents

2010-02-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

So if it's your birthday and you're grandson is competing in the Olympics what do you get for your birthday? Well if you're Evan Lysacek's Grandma you get a lovely Gold Medal performance! This handsome couple is Evan's Grandparents (Tanya's mom and dad). It was an absolute thrill to be surrounded by Evan's whole family and dozens of friends as he won the gold medal.

Speaking of Coaches....Meet Coach Parra

2010-02-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

We first met Derrick Parra right after he won the Gold medal in long track speed skating at the Salt Lake Olympics. He's a great guy, and now days he is a coach for Team USA for long track.

Frank Carroll

2010-02-19T17:48:00.000-08:00

At USA House Evan Lysacek presented his coach Frank Carroll with a medal of his own. It's about time they started handing out medals for Coaches!

Vancouver's Fashion Scene

2010-02-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

If you hear of a shortage of Olympic-logo'd apparel, here's why...

Toby's New Career Move

2010-02-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

With a few overlapping events, Toby sets up his own personal Star USA Ticket Exchange site at the neighborhood Starbucks around the corner from the condo.

"Tickets, Tickets - who needs Tickets? Get 'em while they're hot!!!"

An epic night...Evan brings home the GOLD!

2010-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Michelle here, posting for the team. We're a bit behind, only because it's been a busy few days! Last night Barb and Toby saw Evan win the gold. What an amazing night. They were sitting right behind his family, so got to enjoy seeing all the excitement. Rich and I were at the Slovakia vs. Russia hockey game, which was a huge upset with Slovakia winning! We all met up at the USA house afterward for the US Figure Skating party. What an event. There were many gold medalists there including Dick Button, Peggy Flemming, Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski.Vera Wang was there, as well as several speed skaters and snowboarders. Everyone was celebrating the first men's figure skating gold since 1988. The night was festive and we had a great time mingling with all the skating staff, friends and family. The best quote of the night was when Barb asked Frank Carroll, Evan's coach, what he told him right before he took the ice. If you've watched Frank, you know he's a very elegant and well-spoken man. We all expected he'd share some inspirational words he left with Evan that must have fueled that performance. Instead Frank deadpanned, "I told him he better skate his ass off!" That was classic. We're pretty sure that's not what he actually said, but we may never know for sure! Today is a gorgeous sunny day in Vancouver. Feels more like the summer Olympics than the winter Olympics! We've been taking full advantage of the sunshine, riding bikes along the sea wall, sitting outside at the great cafes and logging some hours on the deck. Rich and I leave today. Sad to see our Olympic experience end, but we are bringing home memories of a lifetime and the photos to match! More to come from the team here on the ground.....stay tuned.

2010-02-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek arrives at USA House to the throngs of his (mostly female!) adoring fans.

So exciting to have seen him last night skate the performance of his life. So deserving.

CHEERS from North of the Border

2010-02-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

CHEERS to Olympic caliber wine lovers!!! (Toby looking QUITE dapper in his new chapeau)

Mittens, Mittens, who's got the Mittens?

2010-02-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

The hottest commodity of these games... THE RED MITTENS!!! And we got 'em!

Life is Good...

2010-02-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

60 degrees and sunny for our outdoor brunch this morning. Could life possibly get any better than this? Oh wait -- USA vs. Norway hockey and Men's Free Skate tonight. YESSSSSSSS!!!

2010-02-18T13:18:00.001-08:00

Superman's fortress of solitude? No, BC Place

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2010-02-18T10:41:00.001-08:00

A cool Japanese snowboard competitor.

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2010-02-18T10:39:00.001-08:00

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia and supporters are already strutting their stuff.

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2010-02-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Awaiting The Flying Tomato's first run. PERFECT SEATS!!! Good thing we packed sunglasses and SPF!

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2010-02-17T14:28:00.001-08:00

Getting to Cypress Mtn. requires a train, a bus and a ferry ride. We're on the way to see The Flying Tomato!

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2010-02-17T14:26:00.001-08:00

Stunning skyline view from our amazing condo!

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2010-02-17T14:25:00.001-08:00

Are we sure this isn't the SPRING Olympics?!?!

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2010-02-17T14:23:00.001-08:00

The Olympic flame --not nearly as picturesque on a gorgeous sunny day as at night. But still awe-inspiring!

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On our way to the Opening Ceremony!

2010-02-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

Friday night, February 12th. On our way in to the Opening Ceremony. you can see the security checkpoint tents behind us. BC Place is just behind the tents. The lines were not bad. Of all of the Olympic games we have attended (Toby eight, Barb six) this is the first time we have attended the Opening Ceremony.

OK for those of you checking daily - you are one of only about six people who even know this site exists (yes that's you Dana) - We are headed out for a bike ride now. I will work on continuing to update from back at day one as soon as we return.

We've arrived at our beautiful condo just in time for the torch relay.

2010-02-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

Toby is checking out the torch relay from our deck. It's a fabulous view of false creek, and the athlete's village. We arrived just in time to see the torch relay come by Indian canoe and be exchanged with a runner on the dock.

Huge crowds awaited the torch on the dock. You can barely make out the torch runner in the middle of this throng (just about dead center of the photo). The crowd was thrilled to see the torch. No sign of protesters here.

Finally we have an internet connection!

2010-02-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

Day five of the Olympics, Tuesday February 16th. I will try to reconstruct backwards to the beginning.

Day one: Friday, February 12th. Pictured here is our boarder crossing experience. The sign says five minutes, but there was NO traffic. Because we had the nexus pass, we never actually stopped. The attendant just waved us through. So we're off to a great start.

Technical Difficulties... Canadian Style

2010-02-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Due to some temporary technical difficulties, blogging should resume within a day or two.

Rest assured that Barb & Toby are having the time of their lives and look forward to updating everyone on all the fun and festivites they're enjoying.

Highlights so far:

smooth sailing across the border (no wait tiime!)
watching the Olympic flame arrive in Yaletown by dragonboat right from their deck (pics to follow)
Opening Ceremonies (both in-person and later back home watching it on TV)
a morning bike ride around Stanley Park in the rain, followed by a warm-up cuppa joe at Starbucks

Hopefully internet challenges will be resolved soon and blogging will continue! 'Til then... Go Team USA!!!

Thank you Safeway!

2010-02-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today we visited Safeway's Seattle Division to meet with the key members of the team that supported Safeway's sponsorship as the Presenting sponsor of the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Thanks Adam Wampler and Bob Allison for your support of the Championships. Toby presented them with a commemorative poster autographed by the 2010 Olympic team, and a very special gift... the actual Gold, Silver, Bronze and Pewter medals from the 2010 Championships.

We're on our way

2010-02-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

Today we packed up the rig and drove to Seattle. We spent almost an hour packing all the stuff we decided we couldn't travel without. As we were pulling out of the driveway Toby referred to us as "The Clampetts". I said we needed to leave, or we would have the whole house packed. One of the dangers of driving. We are in Seattle today and tomorrow. Seeing sponsors tomorrow, and then Friday we drive to Vancouver. We have tickets for the Opening Ceremonies. We're so excited. In all the times we've been to the games, we've never been to the Opening Ceremonies before. We're off to dinner. Don't expect too much from this site. Remember, we're not on the clock!

Hello Again!

2010-02-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Can you believe blogger saved our blog from the 2006 Torino Olympic Games. Well here it is four years later, and yes...we're gonna do it again.

Our favorite part - The air surfers

2006-02-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

We thought the best part of the Ceremony - at least watching it live, were the air surfers. In this photo it is a little hard to see, but it was dramatic during the ceremony. Many of the displays are better on TV, because as a spectator you are part of the display.

The ceremony made us really excited for Vancouver, as they passed the Olympic Flag from Torino to Vancouver. Four years seems like a long time, but it will be here before you know it. This will be our last post as we leave tomorrow to return home. It has been fun. We hope you have enjoyed the blog! We hope to see you all at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane from January 21 to 28, 2007. For more info on the Championships visit www.spokane2007.com In the Olympic Spirit! Toby and Barb

Wearing all of our garb for the Closing Ceremony

2006-02-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

We received a bag full of items for the Closing Ceremony. The white ponchos, flashlights, silver bags that became flash cards, a seat warmer and a mask. It was great to be there and experience it live.

Joey Cheek - Closing Ceremony Flag Bearer

2006-02-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

Joey Cheek was excited when we met him. Last night he carried the U.S. Flag at the Closing Ceremony. He won Gold in the 500 meter speed skating, and Silver in the 1000 meters.

Day Eleven

2006-02-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

Our traditional photo with the flame. This photo is from the day we went to Hockey - so the weather was not as nice. Today is beautiful. Sunny and clear. Hopefully it will remain warm this evening for the Closing Ceremony. As many times as we have been to the games, this will be our first Closing Ceremony, so we are excited to see all of the pagentry live at Stadio Olimpico. We ran into Joey Cheek here at the USA House. He is very nice, and we are excited to see him carry the U.S. flag at the Closing Ceremony. He said he'll try to do a good job. We're sure he will!

Derrick Parra says hi!

2006-02-26T07:10:00.000-08:00

We met Derrick Parra at USA House at the Salt Lake Olympics. He had won a gold medal that day, and his whole family came with him to celebrate his win. There were probably 30 family members there. The most memorable part of the evening to us, was one of his brothers that was there. He was so excited. He introduced himself to everybody there, as "I'm Derrick Parra's brother!" It was fitting to see Derrick again at USA House. We told him we'll see him again in Vancouver in 2010.

Short Track - One word - Wow!

2006-02-26T06:42:00.000-08:00

Short Track Speed Skating was unbelievable! It was over the top fun - edge of your seat excitement.

Apollo Anton Ohno pulled out a thriller - to make it to the finals in the 500 meter race. In the semi-finals he came from behind to pull out a squeaker at the finish, and then went on to easily win the Gold Medal leading the entire race.

They saved the best for last with the 5000 meter men's relay. As great as Apollo's win was, the Bronze medal in the relay felt more important. It's 45 laps and we couldn't breath until it was over. My heart was beating out of my chest. We were sitting with all of the families of the team, and we were all screaming the whole time. At first it was all fairly close between Korea, Canada and the U.S. but as the laps went by, Korea and Canada moved ahead, and were battling back and forth for Gold, and there was quite a distance between the U.S. and Italy. But Italy continued to gain ground, and moved into the lead. When Italy passed the U.S. the entire place went crazy. Every Italian was yelling and jumping up and down. With just two laps to go, Apollo literally sprinted the entire lap, and pulled the U.S. back into the lead. We barely won the bronze. Rusty Smith's mom and dad and all of the families were laughing and crying at the same time.

Hockey Venue - Palasport

2006-02-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

This is what the hockey venue looked like. The Palasport is about the same size as the Spokane Arena, seating about 11,000 spectators. A perfect size venue.

Day 10 - Short Track Speed Skating

2006-02-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight we have Short Track Speed Skating. We are excited to watch Apolo Anton Ohno, our own Washingtonian! It will be a thrill, especially since we are sitting with the skaters parent contingent. You may recall, we got our tickets from skater Rusty Smith's father, Peter.

Butch and Shawn Rojeski

2006-02-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

We mentioned earlier in the blog about our U.S. Curling team, and the significance of the day for them.
It was really touching to meet Butch, and hear him talk about his wife Bonnie who had passed away exactly two years ago. It was raining like crazy, and he said it's Bonnie, crying tears of joy for Shawn and the team.

Look who we found - Our U.S. Curling Team

2006-02-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

These guys were so nice, and so excited to have won the first Olympic Medal for the U.S. in Curling. We are standing in front of a giant photo of all of the athletes marching in during the Opening Ceremonies. The photo is of the back of Shawn Rojeski and Pete Fenton, pictured far right and center respectively.

The guy on the far left, is Scott Baird. At 54 years old, he is the oldest athlete on the entire US Olympic team here in Torino.

Day 9 - We missed a day!

2006-02-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

We just realized we missed a day - well actually we did the figure skating recap on day eight, but after a while the days all start running together. Today we had tickets to the semifinals for mens hockey. We were concerned about Team USA making it from the get-go. They didn't start out very strong, so we figured if they weren't in it we would just cheer for Team Canada. Woops! Well, so we went to the game - Sweden against the Czech Republic in the men's hockey semifinal. Sweden won 7 to 3 over the Czechs! However we thought the Czechs were having more fun. There were three young guys not wearing their shirts from the Czech Republic just a few rows behind us. It seemed a little cold for that. The hockey venue rocks. There were cheerleaders in the isles, and great music. It was a lot of fun!

Yea! How about that U.S. Curling Team!

2006-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Check back to the Blog entitled: Here we are at Curling. The new title reads: Now we feel really guilty! We watched Curling today from the USA House, and Team USA beat Great Britain for the Bronze medal.

This is the first time in history that the U.S. has medaled in Curling. Boy am I glad I talked Toby into going to Curling. We had so much more of an appreciation and understanding of what was going on as a result of having been to see it.

It was another of those great Olympic stories. The vice skip for the U.S. Team Shawn Rojeski, lost his mom two years ago today to ovarian cancer. His dad "Butch" Rojeski was here to cheer on Shawn. They talked about how sure they were that Bonnie, Shawn's mom was looking over them today as he attempted to make history. Gives me goosebumps!

Fun with Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov - their memories from Spokane.

2006-02-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

Melissa Gregory and I were acting like Medalists with our flowers. Notice how small my bouquet is. That would be larger than my figure skating talent. Melissa, on the other hand, is very talented. Although they finished 14th over-all, they are on their way up, and they have been working really hard. They promised they are going to put out a great performance next January for the State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Melissa and Denis were in Spokane for Skate America, and they had a great time. The Davenport Hotel was the Presenting Sponsor and Headquarter Hotel, so all of the delegation stayed at the Davenport. They were telling us before we took this picture that they loved their bed so much they bought one. Another great testimonial for the Northwest Bedding Davenport Bed!

Official Time clocks

2006-02-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

Omega is the World Wide Time Clock Sponsor for the Olympic Games. So at every event, and throughout the Olympic Village and Media Center you will see these Official time clocks.

The window displays around Torino

2006-02-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

Virtually every window of every store-front has an Olympic theme. These were just a couple of examples of very small shops getting into the spirit. The second photo was a very small sewing shop.

The streets of Torino are beautiful

2006-02-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

Every major street in Torino is decorated with lights hanging above. This is planets, but each street has it's own theme. Some are colors, but most white lights. They are all beautiful.

Figure Skating Wrap Up

2006-02-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

With the end of the Ladies competition, all of the medals for Figure Skating have been awarded. The ladies, as has been a custom, was an extremely exciting competition.

The highlight was definitely the first gold medal for Japan. Shizuka Arakawa of Japan skated a flawless program, and earned Japan it's first Gold Medal in women's figure skating. We were standing next to a couple of fans from Japan during the awards ceremony, and they were so excited. It was a perfect Olympic moment.

The Australian fans at Aerials

2006-02-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

Ignore the hat that says USA, this is the Australia Fan Club.

Great Sponsor support.

2006-02-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a billboard with the Olympic Sponsors. They have had excellent support from their sponsors at these games.

Toby's reaction to the fog - A little better

2006-02-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

It was a foggy foggy night at Aerials up at Sauze d' Oulx Jouvenceaux.

Ladies Figure Skating Final Preview

2006-02-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

Here we are - at the Figure Skating office a block away from the Palavela, site of Figure Skating here in Torino. We are looking forward to tonight, the Ladies Figure Skating Final. Tickets for tonight have been sold out, and the hottest ticket of the Games. The price for each ticket for tonight were $375.00. Which makes the price of the All-Event Ticket Package for the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships at $495.00 (a minimum of 15 tickets - one to every ticketed event, plus a practice pass) seem like a real bargain. Great seats are still available at www.spokane2007.com, or by calling 866-USA-2007. (You know we have to give our plug.)

The U.S. Team all performed great Wednesday night. We are hoping for a medal tonight, perfect world, maybe two. Keep your fingers crossed!

It's a small small world

2006-02-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

The most amazing thing happened today. You never think when you travel half the way around the world you will run into somebody from your back yard - but we did. Today we made it all the way up to the mountain, and right before we were going to go into the gates to Aerials there was a little bar. Since we were early we decided to go into the bar, rather than sit in the cold. The bar was really crowded, but Toby found a place to sit next to three guys that were obviously Americans. I walked in and asked them where they were from. One of them said Spokane, Washington. I thought Toby had already been talking to them, and that they were pulling my leg. I said "Get outta here!" And the guy looked really surprized. He said "What do you mean?" Turns out, sure enough he and one of the other guys were from Spokane. So tomorrow you'll see photos on the blog of Tim Durkin, Paul Kirkpatrick, and Jeff Baeth. Tim and Paul are both from Spokane, and Tim is almost our neighbor. Tim is married to a former figure skater, and a great golfer - Lissette Carter. Jeff is from the Bay area, and when he found out we work with Figure Skating he asked if we knew Ron Hershberger. (See photo of Ron a few entries below.) Jeff's ex-wife used to work with Ron at a law firm in the Bay area. We just laughed and laughed. It's may be no big deal when you're from L.A. or New York, but when you're from Spokane, and you run into people from your home town, it's pretty amazing!

Freestyle Aerials Review

2006-02-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

Let me start with the most noticeable feature of the day - Fog. It was very foggy on Sauze. But what a fun event to watch. We were sure they were going to cancel Aerials today. It was so foggy several times that you couldn't see the giant video screen, leave alone the mountain. The grandstands were in perfect postition to see the whole run, so when the fog did finally clear up, you were able to see them from start to finish. The ladies go really really high!

It's a very up-tempo event. There is great music playing the whole time, and there were cheerleaders. The announcer was Italian, with a great grasp of English, but most everything ended with an -o- or an -a-. So every time the gals would start their run, he would say. . . Let's go back up to the top-a. It was the first time I have ever heard an announcer curse. When we were waiting for the fog to lift he said "Let's get this damn fog out-a-here."

Unfortunately we did not have anyone from Team USA who made it to the finals. We sat next to two young girls from Australia, so we adopted Australia for the Aerials. The best part, is we are already down from the mountain, and it is not even 11:30 p.m. yet, so the day is still young.

Day 7 - Back to the Mountains

2006-02-22T02:55:00.000-08:00

We are headed back to the Mountains to see Freestyle Aerials today, at Sauze d Oulx Jouvenceaux. It is another warm day here in Torino, but its always cold in the mountains, plus the competition does not begin until evening. The trip requires a bus ride, a train ride, and then a shuttle bus ride. It is a minimum of an 1 1/2 hour trip from Torino to any of the mountain events. It is always an adventure!

A fun day at the Figure Skating Venue

2006-02-22T02:42:00.000-08:00

The ladies short program always creates quite a buzz. The anticipation is obvious. We sat next to two young ladies from Japan, who were great fans. They cheered loudly for everybody, and when a skater from Japan was on the ice, I thought they both might faint! They had two Japan flags, and one of the girls had created this very elaborate sign made of cloth, sequins, and rhinestones. It was elaborate, and spelled out Fumie Suguri. She finished in 3rd place at the end of the short program.

Meet the other Toby - A bronze medalist

2006-02-22T02:24:00.000-08:00

Meet Toby Dawson - Here with his Olympic Bronze Medal for Freestyle Moguls.

The Ladies Short Program

2006-02-22T02:14:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night was the beginning of the biggest drama of the Games. The Ladies Figure Skating Competition has begun. It was great to see that Team USA had come prepared to skate! The entire team were on their game. It started early, the second skater of 29 skaters, was our own Kimmie Meissner. She looked great. She held the lead for a majority of the night. She was finally knocked out of the lead by Russias Irina Slutskaya, who ended up in second place. When Emily Hughes skated, she performed a Personal Best, and skated as well as we have ever seen her skate. The spin to end her program was dramatic! Then the final skater of the night was Sasha Cohen. She looked beautiful. She skated a flawless program, and just squeaked into the lead by 3/100 of a point. So that all sets the stage for a very exiting program Thursday night. We can hardly wait.

Meet Gold Medalist - Tenley Albright

2006-02-22T02:02:00.000-08:00

The lovely lady between Toby and I is Tenley Albright. Fifty years ago, she won the Olympic Gold Medal for Figure Skating right here in Italy. In 1956 the games were held in Cortina d Ampezzo, Italy. The gentleman to Barbs right is the President of U.S. Figure Skating, Ron Hershberger and to Tobys right is his wife Gayle.

Hello from the International Broadcast Centre

2006-02-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

This is just one of many entrances to the IBC. It is amazing to see the infrastructure they build that is only going to be used for less than a month.

Here's Brian Boitano

2006-02-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

We ran into Brian Boitano, 1988 men's figure skating Olympic Gold Medalist at the Figure Skating Venue.

Day 6 Visiting the media center

2006-02-21T05:03:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Olympic Committee gave us a day pass to the Media Center. It is located in the old Fiat Plant. As you walk in, you walk under this huge concrete structure that winds up about 6 stories. It was their test track, to test out new vehicles. The Media Center is huge, with all of the international and national media, every newspaper outlet you can imagine. It is a hub of activity. I am currently borrowimg one of the computers from a friend of ours that works for the USOC media department. Tonight we have tickets for the ladies short program, as they begin their medals quest. We also have ticket to the ladies Free Skate Final on Thursday night, where we hope to see another U.S. Medal!

Meet the FIRST Olympic Silver Medalists in US History!

2006-02-21T04:42:00.000-08:00

Here they are - as promised, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Olympic Silver Medalists for Team USA! It has finally started to sink in - the significance of what we witnessed last night. It was the first time in 30 years that the U.S. medaled in Dance, but 30 years ago it was a Bronze medal - never before has the U.S. achieved such success in Dance. It's surreal!

Yea! Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto win the Silver Medal

2006-02-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

We are here at USA House waiting for Tanith and Ben to arrive. After winning the first medal for the US Team in Dance in thirty years, they went to do the media interviews, and they will be here soon. Check back tomorrow for photos.

Day 5

2006-02-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

We started the day at our corner restauant, then proceeded to walk through the University District, where they have lots of displays set up for the Games. We caught a bus to the Vancouver 2010 House. They were having a private function with the Canadian Hockey Team, so we'll stop back later. Barb wants to get something with their logo on it.

We then caught a bus down to U.S. Figure Skating's office. It is just a block from the Figure Skating Venue, and they set us up here with a computer to do our blog. It is almost 6:00 PM, and we will be taking off to go see the Free Dance tonight, so we all have our fingers crossed for a Medal.

A Great Water Feature

2006-02-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

This is a great idea for Spokane. They have set this up just for the games. They have two huge fountains pumping a great big spray toward each other. They have two big projectors projecting these images - like you can see here the Olympic rings, and the images change constantly. We could do this over the Spokane River. - Note to self.

Here we are at Curling

2006-02-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

This is the Curling venue - You can't see much of what is behind us, but there are four long skinny sheets of ice, all four fit inside of a hockey rink area. Eight teams, or rinks, as they are called, can play simulatiously.

We sat with a group from Great Britian. We were right in front of two very avid fans. John, who took this photo of us, and Bob, who's son is the skip for the Great Britian men's team. The skip is the guy who throws the stone, and is responsible for the strategy for the team - basically the most important member of the team. It was ironic, because the next night our US team beat Great Britian's team. For some reason, we felt a little guilty.

These guys weren't having any fun at all

2006-02-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

We ran into the Italian fans at the Curling venue. Right outside the curling venue there is a concessions area, that is almost a little restaurant. In one corner, these wild young guys from Italy had set up shop. They were singing songs, and every time someone came in if they could tell where they were from, they chanted the country's name, so when we walked in it was U-S-A. - U-S-A. - U-S-A. The entire table was covered with beer. Toby looks a little wimpy with his cup of cappaccino, wouldn't you say!

Toby has gone to the dark side

2006-02-20T07:47:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken the night that Slovakia was playing USA in men's Hockey. We ran into these guys in the street, on the way to the game. They assured us they were going to win, and sure enough they did. They are one of the favorites. We have tickets to the men's semi-final game, so we just hope that the US team is still in it at that point. If not, I guess we know who Toby will cheering for.

So you're never far from Home

2006-02-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

Our apartment is a little out of the main part of town. It is a few blocks north of all of the action. We are probably the only Americans in the area. But at the corner of block is a great little restauant. Pastries, paninis, and Cappaccino has become our staples. In the corner of the restaurant is this display of Budweiser, which to me looks a little incongruous with everything else here, but it is very popular here.

Lindsey Jacobellis with her Olympic Silver Medal

2006-02-20T07:18:00.000-08:00

This is Lindey Jacobellis with her Olympic Silver Medal. We ran into her at USA House in the merchandise area. She was picking up some souvenirs for friends and family.

Photo from Snowboard Cross

2006-02-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

This is the photo from Snowboard Cross. From the grandstand you can not see the whole course, but you can watch it all on the big screen. There is this sky-cam that is on a cable over the course that shoots the whole run. You can see them once they get about 1/3 down the course, but the photo from above is much better on the big screen, because you can see how wild the twists and turns are in the course.

You can even try your skills at figure skating

2006-02-20T06:51:00.000-08:00

This rink was created in a circle around one of the statues in downtown Torino. Anyone can get out on the ice, and give it a go.

Sights from around Torino

2006-02-20T06:24:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of USA House and Bud World. USA House is the big yellow building. It is a rowing club that has been taken over by the USOC. It is where every USA athlete that medals goes to celebrate. Bud World is right next door. It is the huge red tent, that was orginally planned to be used for the Pope's visit. According to their info - It is a six story pyramid shaped nightclub, located on the Po River accross from Piazza Vittorio in the city center of Torino. The club includes a multi-level bar with observation deck, a massive dance floor, DJ tower.

Meet Jim Shea Sr. and Jr.

2006-02-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

This is Jim Shea Sr. and Jim Shea Jr. - Jr. won the Gold Medal in the Salt Lake Olympics in a crazy sport called Skeleton. You go head first on a tiny sled. It was the first time it had been an Olympic sport back in 2002.

Day 4

2006-02-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

Day 4 -

Great night in figure skating for the USA! The Palevala was rockin with two Italian Dance teams in the final pairings in Original Dance. Three of the final five Dance teams fell during their programs. Our team of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto were superb, skating flawlessly, they moved up from 6th place into medal contention in 2nd position. The only other team to skate without falling in the final group were the Russians, and they were excellent. We are pumped up for tomorrow's Free Dance.

Dan Jansen still looks great!

2006-02-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

Look who we found

2006-02-19T14:36:00.000-08:00

Look who we found at Club Bud. OK, this is another name that for you new fans to figure skating you're going to want to know. This is Evan Lysacek. Barb says isn't he cute? And he is as nice as the day is long. He will be in Spokane next year for the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. If you want to know more about the U.S. Championships in Spokane check out www.spokane2007.com. Evan finished 4th here at the 2006 Olympics. But watch out for him in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics!

This is Rusty Smith's mom with Toby

2006-02-19T14:33:00.000-08:00