Sunday 21 February 2010

Deli - Scalped - The Throng


It is nice to be flexible.  I headed back to the curling venue from the coffee shop, a might peckish, and stopped in a couple of grocery stores looking for some grab and run food.  I picked up a couple of samosas to eat and run, and pried them apart to start to gobble, and yetch.  Mouldy.  They gave me my money back and I walked to the corner of 28th planning to get a smokey at the game.  I turned the corner, and there was a lovely little Bakery/Deli sign.  I got a terrific pastrami bagel with sprouts served with crunchy chips and a pickle to go.  It was fantastic and I was shoving it into my gullet, hoping to have it done by the time I got to the spectators gate.  I was just finishing the sandwich and crossing the street to start the long block to the gate when a tall dark fella in the shade called me over.

"Hey!  Wanna sell your ticket?"

Well, that hadn't been my intention.  I certainly didn't want the ticket to go to waste.  I had tried to give it away but couldn't hook up with the person, and thought I'd take in a draw, from the other side of the fence, for pleasure.  Now all that had changed.

I said, "Sure!"  The thought of being back to my bed early for a full night's sleep, and maybe catching the second half of the game on TV was an appealing one.

"Here," he said.  "Here's twenny bux."  And he practically threw the money my way.  I had to think fast.  I had paid $67.50 for the ticket but that was well back in 2009 and it really didn't matter that much to me any more.

"No," said I.  "Fifty bux."

"Awe, cummon," he said.  "I gotta make a living.  There are lots of people out there.  I might not be able to sell it anyway.  I'll give you forty."  He must've been new at his job.  He must've forgotten that he was the one who had approached me.

"Naw," I said.  "I'll just go and watch the game."  And I started to walk away.  He had a fist full of bills, among them some nice crisp orange ones.

"Okay," he said and he fumbled with the money and a fifty fell onto the wet muddy splotchy Vancouver grass.  I covered the bill with my foot.

"I've got it," I said.  I handed him my folded ticket, picked up the bill and walked away.  My mind wandered back to Wednesday when I'd stopped at an IGA on Main and 14th to buy some granola bars (2 boxes for $4).  I paid for them with a fifty and the cashier asked me to wait while she went to the customer service desk to verify my bill.  I probably just sold my curling ticket for a couterfeit fifty.  Oh well, a guy has to make a living.  I'll find out eventuallty.

I walked to the Canada Line, munching my chips and pickle.  Riders were heading to the the Czech Republich Belarus Hockey Game and from the Netherland's Heineken House in Richmond.  I got off at Vancouver Central in the middle of the meilee at Granville Street and West Georgia.  There was a 5-piece acoustic busking band singing Bad Bad Leroy Brown and the crowd was singing along.  There was art all around me.  The folks were happy.  The air was seaside mountain fresh and I walked up a block, past the art gallery and across the street, moving with the crowds until I edged my way to The Bay to hop my bus back to West Van.  I never tire of that night drive over the Lions Gate.  I made it back to watch the last four ends of the Murdoch Martin Match-up.

As I said earlier... the Scots are crumbling, or did I say cracking.  Do you think they will qualify?  I will go out on a limb and say they will.  No they won't.  Oh, you just can't count those wiley rock huckers out.

Enjoy the pictures.  Some of them are high rez so if you click on them you can zoom in on the detail.  It truly was a lovely night.

Saturday 20 February 2010

Main Street - Double Espresso

I had a short change last night, moving from evening draw to morning and afternoons.  I have a ticket for tonight's men's draw but needed my double injection of espresso.  I walked along main and found a great spot.  Am sitting outdoors listening to the traffic and smelling the restaurants.


The curling venue is completely accessible to Main Street, and the bus service up and down is great and the transit workers are mostly really funny and engaging.  I will be hungry by the time I get back for the game, probably late, but honestly, I've seen a lot of curling and a good night's sleep is sounding pretty good to me.  To quench my hunger, I think I'll grab a cup of noodles and inhale or slurp them as I walk around to the main entrance of the Vancouver Olympic Centre.  Until now, I've been entering by the volunteer entrance.

I work among timers, statisticians and timing technicians from Omega. It is a great crew of people, all dedicated to making the games as good as they can be.  I've been hearing tales of pavillions and musical shows and roaring throngs of people whooping it up, but mostly, I've been keeping my nose to the grindstone and attending my draws.


The Danish women have been curling in skirts.  I like that.  They are not getting the attention that the NorwayPants guys are, but they look good.  Too many of the teams are wearing red this year.  That alone has made the Swedish Blue and Yellow stand out.  Speaking of Swedes - Norberg gave up three on a pick and ended up being tromped by the Russian women.  Hmmm.  The Chinese women are winning some, but are certainly not presenting themselves as invincible. I almost wish I was at home watching because for the first time ever, all four sheets are being streamed live on the internet.  You can watch every game of every draw.  Our game has hit the global big time.  The Japanese women looked strong last night.  The Scottish women are cracking, methinks.

The sun has set and the draw begins in 20 minutes.  I'd like to get there for the second end, so I'll post a few pictures of fans, and of main street, and try to catch you here tomorrow.

BTW - I have Russell connections..... dozens of dead relatives in the cemetery there.... and worked under Eldon ... Jon Montgomery's dad!  Lots of my FB friends are cheering the glory of their home town boy and I'm all wrapped up in their excitiment. What a guy eh!  Gotta love him.

Friday 19 February 2010

Under the Bridges

I'd make a crappy spy.  My day started with a pleasant Granville Island excursion as I picked my way across the city toward my evening draw.  On the island under the bridge the crowds were enthusiastic and festively decked out.  There were line-ups for the Swiss Pavillion and for PEI day at the Atlantic Pavillion, but the Francophone House was welcoming and easily accessible.  Their restaurant was active, but not packed, they had a great live show of singers and guitar players and even had a show room with exhibits and palm rubbing, reminding me if trade shows of the eighties.  Free apple ice wine.  mmmm.

After assuring myself that I was not being followed, I took the Bombardier tram  from its loading stop underneath the Granville Bridge, along the east shore of False Creek to the underbelly of the Cambie Bridge near the Olympic Villiage stop.  I strolled along a brand new ashphalt walkway to see what I could see, and what I could see was still very very far away, beyond non-descript industrial parking areas and what appeared to be open commercial space.  I took a picture while the security workers at the gate leered at me.  I started to feel guilty.  Maybe I was.  Gulp.  There was a septic truck roaring and an outside worker wearing a hard hat, orange overalls and a flourescent pinny, who I am convinced was part of an Ultra security team, in drag, watching the gate to the Olympic Villiage.   Next time I try to break into the Oly Village, I'll take the Canada Line.  I'll keep you posted.

Security at the curling venue nabbed me today too.  I am hoping it is random and that they hadn't caught me on survillance while I was sneeking around the edges of the Oly Village.  I wasn't strip searched, but they shook my coffee cup.  "Ma'am.  Is there liquid in here?"  "Uhm, yes.  I stopped at a Starbucks to check my internet.  It is black."  And at the same time he was rifling through my back pack, I was being wanded on the other side of the security tent. "Beep!"  "Oh, sorry, pocket change."  "Beep!"  "Oh, sorry, my ID."  "Beep!"  "Oh, sorry, it must be the zipper!?  There are so many pocket in these darned volunteer jackets.  Maybe it's my touque?  I dunno"  "That's fine ma'am.  You can go."  "Heh heh.... they didn't find my curling pins."

My draw tonight was a well curled game.  The Danes were conquered by the Scots, but it was not a runaway.  The crowds can make me cringe when collectively they pick and underdog and chant relentlessly in their favour, but I guess that is just one of the hazzards of hitting the big time, if you are a compettitive curler.  When the crowds stomp the Queen drum beat intro... 1-2 THREE 1-2 THREE weWill weWill  Yikes, the stands totally shake.  I am thinking of packing a rope and if the temporary stands start to buckle, I'll climb up to the media bench behind me and dangle myself from the I-beam rafters above, and wait for rescue there.  Someone said they saw engineers double checking the bolts yesterday.  I don't think they factored in the thunderous foot stomping.  I kinda wish they'd just stick to the wave.   wwwhhooOOAAAaaaa.

Another gold in speed skating.  Bernard still looks calm.  I hope Martin doesn't start to believe he is unbeatable or again, he will become his own worst enemy.  Tonight against France, they substituted their fifth for Ben Heibert, and still that win came easily.

My final evening draw is tonight and then I go on the day shift until the end of the round robin.  Photos will probably become inside shots of the Nat Bailey Stadium and close-ups of Chicken A-la King. 

 

Thursday 18 February 2010

Down Town Arts and Line-ups

 I finally found the Olympic flame.  You can see it from down below, when you are on the waterfront and then, as soon as climb the stairs, it is right there, behind a winter fence, front and centre, for all of the photo-ops.  And still, there are always hundreds in line, winding their way up the stairs to view it from the otherside, but the no-wait view has the mountain backdrop.  That's good enough for me.

Folks are walking around down-town Vancouver with their camera's wide open, staring into their screens or else texting while walking.  There is a lot to see and talk about.  I even saw Johnny Depp pulling a sulkie offering free rides!

Granville Street promenade is full of sculpture of all kinds, from early years student's art on paper cups to amazing found media art to bronze castings.

Robson Square is a zoo of people.  I fell in love with some of the art buskers in proximity to that zoo.  The copper girl with brilliant blue eyes, holding her pose and the bari-sax man in blue plaid with the tarnished gargantuan horn warmed my heart while across the street the ZipLine screamed people over the heads of the throngs, along a wire, from one end of the square to another.  I could hear music and inched my way past a couple of dead-end stair cases and to an amphitheatre beneath the bubble that you can see in the back-ground of the Global TVcoverage.  There, I watched a zamboni cleaning an ice rink and listened to no less than thirty people asking how you could get to skate on it.  In front, there was a dance performance where Mime met MJ.  Well done. 
Mostly though the people were just resting their tired legs on the concrete steps while they took pictures of themselves in the Olympic throng.  It is all positive engergy; lots of kids in strollers and an endless stream of folks wearing sensible shoes, CDA and other country colours and apparel and leggy women with uggs or over the knee boots with jean tights and HBC sweaters.  Even though it is warm, the red mitts abound.


The YaleTown stroll was a bit different.  They have fair smells all along the lower ridge of the streets.  Candy floss, smokies, and even barker-style games with barkers pulling in happy passers-by with calls like, "Manitoba!  Do we have anyone from Manitoba here?  Step right up!"  I was almost lured in, but with my blue "smurf" outfit, I am mistaken for a local and constantly asked for directions.  I do my best, but really have a hard time orienting myself.  Even when I'm walking along False Creek, I could swear that Pacific Boulevard runs East West and then, I doubt.  I guess it doesn't matter.

The evening was pleasantly cool.  The locals like to remind the Easterners that their cold is really much harder to bear than the Manitoba kind of cold weather.  It is so damp!  For crying in the sink.  It is clear and plus 5 at 11pm and I do not find that hard to bear.  But burr, for the locals.  Yes.  Our cold is dryer and not so bad as this.  And oh yah, don't wear capri pants and flip flops when it is only plus five, that also can make the damp cold a bit more difficult.


I timed the women's draw last night.  The Chinese team has a huge cheering section.  I hear they have almost popStar status in the local Chinese community.  Ms. Muirhead, the barely 20 UK skipper attempted and missed, then attempted and made an exciting across the house double, to the stomping roar of the crowed, but ultimatley, succumbed to Sweden's Norberg crew who looks fit and ready.  I beleive they can through the straightest and hardest of the women out there.  Watched Dane's skip Dumont try to put the heavy duty weight with an extention release, but her accuracy is hit and miss.  But she wants it and she's working on it.  They went down to the Russians in a final end that should become a textbook scenario of what not to do when you are 2 up without and lying three.  Two time-outs later, the Danes had a shot (albiet a miracle shot) for the tie... but missed.  The men are on the ice, and I'm heading back across to do the evening Men's draw.


I'm leaving the sports journalists to give you pictures of the curlers, but maybe I'll get some fan shots and behind-the scene venue shots.  The photos today, are mostly cropped small thumbnails, but the Robson Square shot is a large image.  I think if you click on it you can zoom in and analyze some detail.  Try that.  See you tomorrow.

Go Canada!  Yes yes yes on the Short Track silver.  Lots of people are talking figure skating around me.  I don't really get it, but okay, Jump High, Spin Fast, Look Good.  Go team go.

Wednesday 17 February 2010

Nose Bleed Seats and Roaring Fans

Hey!  Comments are coming in!  That is motivating me to keep posting.  Finding wireless for the little web broadcasts has been problematic but there is no problem with the blog. 

At the curling venue, there are no telephones!  So, if you plan to come to watch some games, you'll have to make outside contact through a cell phone... hopefully if you don't have one, someone will help you out.  Also, they completely clear the facility between draws, so if you have back-to-back tickets, you have to exit for about 30 minutes and hang around.  If it is raining, be prepared for that.  The Vancouver Curling Club is still open (it will move into this venue after the games) and you can get a bite to eat there, it is only a few hundred meters from the main gate.  Also Main Street, only 2 blocks away, is funky... antique shops, lip-care salons, lots of asian restaurants and european bakeries.  Stop there before your game and stroll between King Edward and 30th, as you approch the Venue.

I have completed my first game.  It is nice to get that behind me.  It all comes back to you after the first stone.  (For those of you who don't know... I'm a Timer at these games.)  I have a bird's eye view of the venue.  I'm completely up in the nosebleeds, but people have paying seats right in front of me.  Some of the spectators have a long climb (56 steps) to get to their seats too.

If you've been watching any draws, you will know that the crowds are really enthusiastic.  You can feel the stands shaking when they do their foot-stops and yells.  The fans are starting to cheer on other teams besides Canada too, and that brings a lot of smiles and sheepish sideways glances, depending on who the pet-team's opposition is (often USA or Scotland).The 3Main Bus is working great for me.  As a volunteer, it saves me about 15 minutes of walking (compared to the King Edward train station at Cambie).  But for spectators, since the main entrance is on the opposite side of the venue, the difference is not as great.

Russ Howard held the broom for the ceremonial first rock.  The commentator welcomed the Chinese teams to their first ever Olympic Games for curling.  The pipers for this event are really really great.  They are giving us a broader repertoire than Mary's Wedding and Road to the Isles.  There are only four teams in the event that do NOT have both a men's and women's contingent here:  Russia, Japan (women  only) France, Norway (men only). 

Off the curling site, there are huge crowds downtown.  My bus transfer is by The Bay and even at 11pm last night there were 500 people standing in line to GET INTO The Bay, along Seymour Avenue.  I think they want some of the touques and sweaters that are only available there.  My favourite is the made in China Cowachin knit sweater with the moose antlers on the front.  But, I'll pass on the line-up.  One of my colleagues waited 4.5 hours for the zip-train ride over Robson Square.  I guess being in line has become a party.

Today I don't work until the evening shift so finally, I will take in some Pavillions and get some shots of other things.

Wowsers - 2 golds.  I'm also thrilled for the Korean team's wins in the speed skating - I have lots of friends cheering them on.  This city is full of good will and enthusiasm and I think the main stream media is having a hard time finding controversial stories to quench master control's lust for the negative.  It real is almost all good!

Today's photos show the flags, from a Stat's monitor.  The junction bus seat on the 3Main bus.  My work station in the Nose Bleed seats, and a bit of the opening ceremonies of the curling event.  See you tomorrow.  Back to the bus.  I'm meeting lots of folks there.

Monday 15 February 2010

Into the Venue

The curling rings are green.  They look really great.  And the bumpers are green too.  Everything is in the Oly's colour theme.  That's the good news.  The not so good news is the food for the spectators's system.  Prepare yourself for a long walk if you come to the Vancouver Olympic Centre on the Canada Line.  Plan for a 30 minute stroll.  Prince Edward is residential between Cambie and Ontario, so there are no food nor beverage stops in that part of the neighbourhood.  From last year, I remember that Main is much closer to the venue than either Cambie or King Edward so starting tomorrow I'm leaving the train and sticking to the bus 3-Main.  A very friendly bus driver, and an equally friendly street dweller gave me what feels like solid advice and I'm gonna diverge from the recommended commute and see if I can reduce my hike from 30 to six minutes.  I'll let you know.

Wow! Today was Sunday and sunny.  Warm and everyone was so spirited.  As I write, Bus 250 is crossing the Golden Gate and I can see the Russain tall ship on my right and West Van lights on my left.  Cyprus Mountain can bne seen from almost everytwhere in the city and was a gold mine for Canada tonight.  The transit system really is working, though I did see some line-ups to get on the Canada Line heading to the Waterfront where the cauldron is.

My afternoon was spent at the curling venue.  The teams have practice sessions eighty minutes long.  Every twenty minutes they move to another sheet.  It takes five sessions to give all teams their practice time.  And they'll go through it all again tomorrow.  Then our games will begin. 

I still have not seen many of the entertainment sites, but there is one here in West Van at their lovely community centre, and there is action there every night.  Truly, the whole city is involved.  Canadian shirts and hats and flags are everywhere.  Families and couples and packs of friends and wandering souls are all united in thier wanderings along the streets of downtown Vancouver.

Today's photos show the arena.  There are jumboTrons on both ends that show feeds of other Olympic events as well as close-ups of the games at hand.  

So wtg Kristina Groves and Alexandre Bilodeau and Jenn Heil.  Go Cda Go.

Sunday 14 February 2010

So Far So Good Transit



Welcome to Lotus Land. Everyone is happy and enthusiastic. At every turn, folks have been offering directions and transportation tips and the system is working. I am off the sea bus in North Van, relaxing myself into the spirit of the games, with a nice coffee, on a patio at the boat ramp. Great for people-watching.

The accreditation and apparal pick-up at the Forum, on the PNE grounds was seamless, and that included getting there from the airport. The new Canada Line train is great.  It's quiet, fast and efficient. I switched to the Millineum line and the transit system set up an experss bus from there, north along Renfrew to the PNE. It cost me $7.50 to get to the PNE, buy now that I have my accreditation I ride for free. That is so nice.  It is not just the money savings, but also the not having to line up for the tickets and needing the change. There are even transit info volunteers to help you at almost every corner if you haven't found a friendly local citizen to point you where you are going. It is only day one. I really don't think transit will be a problem.

I've seen buskers and protesters and street people and enthusiastic tourists and lost of smurfs. That's what we volunteers look like in our blue get-up; but it is such nice quality. No complaints from me.

I've had feedback on the Mint exhibit and the Nunuvut Pavillion so far as both being good news destinations. I am completely out of touch with the curlers but will touch base tonight. I was invited to “test the ice” (and give the camera crew some practice) with the rest of the curling volunteers in a fun game, but I didn't bring my shoes, so may end up on the sidelines watching that.... unless someone will lend me some. Of course, I'm always game to chuck or sweep a stone.

I like this seaside air. It is plus nine and cloudy and it feels so fresh. The rain comes and goes. The olympic sports are on all of the TVs in the coffee shops and the LED signs on the fronts of the busses flash from the name of the bus route to Go Canada Go!

Today promises to be chaos, with the Lunar New Year falling smack in the middle of the first weekend of the Olympics. Lucky for me, I go west to my venue and will not have to cross through China Town tomorrow, although.... hmmm. Maybe I should.

I'm walking the sea wall now and then will head back across the inlet.  More later.

The pictures today show the bus ride along East to West Hastings, the Sea Bus Landing and Lonsdale, and a Transit volunteer.

Friday 12 February 2010

Cigar Smoke and the Olympic Torch

Everyone... think of where you are sitting, and where the sun sets.  Get your bearings.  Now, look toward the west, where the sun sets, and think about The Games.  Look west.  The torch is almost at its destination and The Games will soon begin.
I am still enroute to Vancouver watching the CTV preamble to the Olympics on an HDTV in Regina.  I'll be in the midst of it all in by tomorrow morning and will have to head across the city to pick up my volunteer apparel and my accreditation.  After that, I'll be inside the games, moving through the city, in and out of the Vancouver Olympic Centre, and searching for WiFi nodes so I can sit and deliver a version of the games to cyberFriends and colleagues.  

I've started to deliver hokey webcasts, for free, at this link: www.ustream.tv/channel/nelski-curls.  I will stream video and audio showing backgrounds of where ever I happen to be writing.  You will get the sights and sounds of whatever I see.  I will announce broadcast times here, there at uStream, and on my FB.  I'll probably record for about 10 minutes so there is a small archive, and then just broadcast freely.  It is the same utility that showed us the Scotties Arena shot from The Soo.  You don't have to log in or sign up to watch the WebCam, but if you do, you can comment.  Ideas and feedback are appreciated.

Yesterday I drove 400 kliks to get within reach of the airport.  In every gas bar along the way, there was a buzz about the Olympics.  While driving I heard on the radio that Men With Brooms is becoming a TV show.... something like Corner Gas.  I'm thinking we'll have some stereotypical Bob and Doug McKenzie type curling icons that might evolve from the program that is being produced by CBC.  Do we want our cigar-smoking, fedora-wearing grandpas to be the stereotypical Canadian curler that is portrayed?  If I get my vote, I say yes.  I can still see them sliding out on their oxfords and smell the scotch whiskey and hear the gravelly-voiced cussing as I wove my way between their legs to rub the smokey steam off the glass to try to find my dad, curling somewhere out there on the ice.  I was a rink rat, and that is what made me a curler.  It is a cellular thing with me.  I can smell it and taste it.  I hope the new TV show captures some of that.  I think flash-backs a few decades to the early curling days, in Canada and across the pond, could add a lot to uncloaking the mystique of our roaring game.

And I sure hope that the fans in the Vancouver Olympic Centre don't take themselves to seriously over the next two weeks as our best, the world's best, put on the coveted Olympic bonspiel.  After all, it is still only a bonspiel.

As I leave the Vancouver airport in the morning and breath the spring-like seaside air, I'll be thinking of my curling comrades back home, and back east, all the way to the Atlantic.  I'll think about you stomping the snow off your boots as you enter your local club.  I'll think about you tying your curling shoes and standing at the home end of sheet 4 shaking hands before your weekly club game.  This week, say,, "Good game."  or "Good curling", and add "Go Canada Go".  I feel kinda choked and proud watching the dragon boat and war canoe cross False Creek as the torch nears the Olympic cauldron.  I'm ready to dive in to the games.  See you when I get there.  Good Curling.

Sunday 7 February 2010

Officials and The Anarchy of Curling

Imagine no officials.  I wonder if you can.  No need for flags nor whistles.  No threat of life-time ban.

Hey.  That's curling!  It's about the only self-officiated team sport that I can think of.  Sure, golf and darts have that "genteel" essence too, but on the sheet of ice, the curlers rule.  Even in the so-called officiated play, like at the Olympics, the umpires and officials just sort of hang out, walking around, sitting, standing, keeping an eye on the game.  There's really nothing much for them to do.  They help with the scoreboards.  They keep track of the rock positions in case someone wipes out by accident and they have to put a stone back where it belongs.  Stuff like that.

And the players get the officials to measure rocks for them, if they can't tell who is closest to the T.  Sure that makes sense, but it's not as if the officials are enforcing a rule.  And in the olden days they tried to have folks guarding the hog lines, peering down to catch a player's finger cross so they could haul the rock out of play and drastically disrupt the game.  Technology solved that with the electronic hog line that flashes a RED light in the rock-handle when the curler crosses the line.  Same with the time clocks.  Teams know they get 73 minutes each per game.  Limiting the time helped with TV coverage, and the players don't mind.  Technology now enforces a couple of the rules but the players are still in control of their own game.  The players know how to play within the rules without "interference" by any so-called officials.  In fact, if there is any sort of violation, like sweeping early, or double clutching the stone, or even burning a rock (touching a moving or stationary stone) it is up to the players to confess or accuse their opponent and then try to solve the problem (and 99.9% of the time, they do so, very quickly).  If they absolutely cannot agree then they can turn to one of the official by-standers to help them adhere to the rules for this most unusual situation.  Curling is like no other sport.

Sure, the rules are there, but there are no enforcers, so I think is the perfect sport for Anarchists.  Because in curling, the game is played without outside influence, it really is something that is under its own control. Both teams know the rules and conduct their game.  There is nobody breathing down their necks.  They watch each other and if necessary, call violations on one another.  It works fine.  That's why the Anarchists love curling.

Though the Olympic Games has garnered its share of protests, the Activists and the Anarchists are just as excited about the games as anyone else. What a great opportunity to come out and protest the opulence and the so-called political corruption and the abuses that may have been suffered by displaced people or by business entrepreneurs who couldn't network themselves onto the right side of VANOC.  Lots of people will be coming to the gala to let it be known they are not in favour.  What fun!  Everyone together for a cause!.  Hmmmm.  That is just like the Olympics.  So, welcome one and all.


And to the Activists who need a break from their protests and marches, and the Anarchists who need a break from their apathy or dissidence, hey, come and hang out at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.  Our game if full of all kinds..  It is the best game on the planet, bar none, and you are so welcome to help us find our champion.  In Curling, it is anybody's game... rich or poor, young and not so young, anyone can hit the button on any given day.  There have been attempts to quash curlers who in someone's eyes, did not conform on some arbitrary standard, but more often than not, the dispute was solved on the ice and the curler rose to the top by winning a few more games.  Just ask Andrea Schöpp or Gail Munro.
 








You may say I'm a dreamer.  But I'm not the only one.  I hope someday you'll join us and the world will play as one.  (Thanks John.)

Friday 5 February 2010

Make hay while the shines... or doesn't.

An unfortunate incident got me thinking about some of the inconveniences I might face in the mêlée that will be remembered as 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

 Ever since the Atlanta summer games, when unexpectedly, the story became transportation instead of sport, the logistics of moving people around at an Olympic Games has had to become a solemn promise, set in stone, by every city bidding on an event.  Vancouver made the promise and I'm counting on them to deliver.  For my daily commute to and from the Vancouver Olympic Centre, near Main and 33rd (right beside the Nat Bailey Baseball Stadium) I'm counting on a couple of hours on the lowly transit bus, the novel sea bus and the heretofore untested rapid transit line running along Cambie.  I think it goes under False Creek - but I'll let you know more about it later.  I do see, from my handy "Official Spectator Guide" that the Olympic Villiage is one of the stops on this line, and the folks staying there can take the "Olympic Line Streetcar" from there to Granville Island.  That should be cool.

But I have faith that the transportation system will surpass the expectations of the pessimists.  I know that's not saying much, but last February when I went to Van to work the 2009 World Juniors, I rented a car to go back and forth to the the Vancouver Olympic Centre and I paid $14.95 per day for that cute little red sub-compact.  This year, for the same car, the best price I could find was $72.00 per day (Canadian dollars) and rising.  So, VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) has found ways to discourage the use of cars and encourage the use of the public transportation system.  Plus, if you are a volunteer, your accreditation gets you a free ride on all public transit, and if you have a ticket to an event, the date on the ticket is inscribed in very large numbers, so all you have to do is flash your ticket and if the date matches, you ride for free that day.  That's not too shabby.  From the beginning VANOC has boasted the "green" games, and public transit can help meet that goal.  I'll play.

So, the transportation is not my worry of the day.  I'm prepared for delays.  But a couple of days ago, somehow, I cricked my back and started through the process.... should I wait or should I go.  To the back-fixer, I mean.   I waited thinking, well, it might get better then I started to imagine the dollar signs blocking the irises of the google-eyed chiropractors, massage therapists and physiotherapists between Whistler and Abbottsford. Like every other industry in the lower mainland and the sea to sky corridor, these medical professionals have been given a goldmine of an opportunity.  Then I started to pity the poor, unsuspecting Olympic tourist who slipped in a puddle or twisted while jumping off the Oly Streetcar.  Where on hearth would they find someone to fix their back so they could enjoy the rest of their costly adventure?  I made my decision quickly.  I would GO!  And off to my smiling chiropractor went I to get bonked and twisted and popped, hopefully back into forgetting about my back.


I hope that the athletes, and in particular, the curling athletes bring a crew of health-care professionals with them.  It is always hush-hush when a curler is injured.  We usually play through the pain.  And maybe this time, through the rain.  Do you think I should take a rain coat?

The Streetcar from the Olympic Village to Granville Island

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Another Curling Point of View

Sports journalism is almost a contradiction of terms.  Good thing a blog is not real journalism.  Good thing curling is not really a sport.

I've been posting on CurlingZone and some folks there know me.  I've been travelling the world for curling and have managed to remain quite invisible among the real sports journalists.  However... I have observed many interesting things at home and abroad.

The highpoint of my reporting as a curling journalist was witnessing the replay of an end between Sebastian Stock (Germany) and Pal Trulsen (Norway) because of an intervention by the EuroSport TV crew in their game at the 2004 European Championships in Sofia Bulgaria.  The head official was Leslie Ingram-Brown from Scotland.  A stone had been burned and not removed from play.  None of the players noticed, but it had been caught on camera.  Word spread from the director's headset, back behind the arena in the mobile studio, to the headset of the hand-held camera operator on-ice, to one of Stock's team, who, well into the next end, finally went to an official to protest.

The low point happened just a few months later in Paisley, Scotland at the first World Women's Curling Championships after they'd separated the men's and women's events.  Much is known about that event and it being a fiasco, but what I recall is the shame I felt as a so-called sports journalist after the host editor of the daily rag for the event published the asses of the Canadian curlers (the Jones team) all bent over and sweeping, not once, but twice, as the feature photos in the publication.  I guess they thought it was funny.  In hindsight (no pun intended), publishing the photo went well with the spirit of the event where, although they were curling in Scotland, the home of the outlandish bagpipe shrill, they marched the women curlers in proudly to the tune, "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy".  I guess they thought that was funny too.


My photo of the day is not my own.  I snagged it a few years ago.  I just love the image of Jimmy (Je Ho) Lee, the young Korean curler, throwing without a broom.  I wonder why they are not teaching this method of throwing yet.  Photo by The Curling News who wrote a story about him.

Next week I'm heading to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  I'll be there for the entire curling event.  I also intend to take in as much of the Cultural Olympiad as I possibly can.  Those are my priorities.  I will be posting here about my daily life in Vancouver, during the Olympics.  Please join me.