Congratulations Canada!!!

[ReFur]

Great Hockey game!!! " title="Applause" />

 

I hated to see our team lose. But, have to admit, I was happy when Canada won. It is so odd when Canada players are on US teams, and US players are on Canadian teams. Coming from Michigan, I have always felt a kinship with Canada. Much more than New York, California or Texas. Odd isn't it?

 

Linda

[White Fox]

Yes, the Canadians had a pretty good Olympics all in all with 14 gold medals. There are always so many stats, but I believe it is more than any other country has ever won at the games. And almost double I think the number that any hosting nation has ever won at a games. If I am remembering all those stats correctly.

 

I love it when the guys win. But love it even more when the gals hockey team do. The guys are paid millions. On the other hand, I remember one gal for instance who asked for time off from work to play on their hockey team at the olympics. Her boss would not give it to her. So she quit a job that she loved, so she could go. That is the real Olympic dedication that I really admire. Too bad the boss did not realize the dedication he had there, and relent.

 

As you say, it does feel strange when there are so many "Cross border" players like that.

 

W

[FrBrGr]

I would like to add my two-cents worth here. I didn't get a chance to see all of the Olympics, but what I did see, I immensely enjoyed. I always enjoy the competition, and I always enjoy the international camaraderie amongst the athletes. I cheered when Shaun White took his upstart sport to a new dimension, I bit my fingernails to the quick during the men's gold metal hockey game (didn't everyone?) and I cried when Joannie Rochette showed so much courage, winning bronze in spite of her mother's death. It was truly a memorable Olympics.

 

There is one thing, however, that sticks in my mind the most, and that is the Canadian people. What wonderful hosts you were! I am happy for you and I am happy for the success your Olympians had at these games. I want to share a piece that sportswriter Dan Wetzel wrote about you wonderful, crazy people, which I thought hit the nail right on the head:

 

These Olympics began poorly. There was a lack of snow. There were events that had to be rescheduled. There was the tragic death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. There were embarrassing Opening Ceremony gaffes and the dumb decision to hide the Olympic cauldron behind high chain-link fencing. And Canada’s bold medal goals stumbled out of the gate.

 

But a funny thing happened. The people kept cheering. The athletes kept trying. And the Olympics, which too often are about a cold bureaucracy, about rules and arguments and pumped-up nationalism, somehow returned to the people. So what if the plans were going bad? There was no need to give up. Let’s grab a drink and watch some halfpipe.

 

A week into the games, with everyone still wringing their hands, a Canadian skeleton racer named Jon Montgomery came out of nowhere to win a gold medal. It was the epitome of unexpected excellence. Afterward, he walked through the streets of the mountain village of Whistler, still holding his helmet, with a television camera rolling. Unprompted, a passing woman handed him a pitcher of beer. Without breaking stride, he grabbed it, chugged it and the entire mood seemed to change.

 

It was a purely Canadian moment. It was perfect.

 

The people kept flooding the downtown streets and the mountain squares. Without tickets, they gathered to watch on giant televisions. They celebrated victories. They shared tears of disappointment and mourning. They rallied behind their hockey team and their bobsledders and their snowboarders and anyone wearing the red and white. Night after night they found something to go wild about. They just wanted to be a part of it, a part of something bigger than themselves, a part of the unique heights where spirits can soar when enjoyed in a group.

 

It wasn’t just here or up in the picturesque mountains. The video images came of bars going crazy in Toronto and Timmins, in Calgary and Charlottetown. Suddenly this country that had never embraced the enthusiasm of the Games the way some others have was showing the world how it’s done. Impromptu singings of the national anthem rang through the streets late at night, at karaoke bars, at curling matches.

 

You can’t wash away the tragedy of the luge track, but outside of that, you can’t stage a better Olympics. The city is beautiful. The venues are modern. The transportation is efficient. But this wasn’t about logistics. In the end it’s the people that power the movement. The Canadian people pushed these games back from the brink of disaster and right off into history.

 

I can't wait for the 2012 Summer Olympics! Brits, it's your turn!

[White Fox]

Thanks FrBrGr...

 

Not many here would remember the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal. There were some rather strange similarities there. Indeed even now, some of the people in the know consider it as the last of the "really great early days" World's Fairs. Some folks from other countries even consider it still to be among the very best ever held. But above all, it was actually given credit as having a lot to do with the birth of the so called "Modern Canada" in some ways.

 

Who knows where these Olympics might lead us.

 

As for the luge accident, that was a terrible start. He had been down that track 26 times before to practice yet, that one time something went wrong. Pushed just a little too much? And with such a fast sport it is just a matter of a couple of seconds. But above all as you mentioned, Joannie Rochette and her family as well showed such unbelievable courage through out that whole thing.

 

Indeed, it was a great experience! (Hey, winning that last gold helped just a little bit too! )

 

[White Fox]

On cruising through here tonight, I realized that there was another nation who deserves goodly mention in the Olympics and who we have missed. I've not heard the stats. However, I would think that the US probably had one of the largest "hauls" of medals on record! Way more than double the number of medals from Russia. A Northern country. Way more than triple the number from China.

 

One in 7 medals went to USA. One in 4 medals went to either USA or Canada.

 

Pretty impressive stats indeed! The US athletes certainly proved themselves the last few days!

 

W

[grouchomg]

Great Hockey game!!! " title="Applause" />

 

I hated to see our team lose. But, have to admit, I was happy when Canada won. It is so odd when Canada players are on US teams, and US players are on Canadian teams. Coming from Michigan, I have always felt a kinship with Canada. Much more than New York, California or Texas. Odd isn't it?

 

Linda

 

Oh, yes it was a GREAT game Either team deserved to win.

 

I also feel a close kinship with Canada. Coming from a land surrounded by Canada on three sides, I often feel closer to them in attitude and joie de vivre than with many of my countrywo/men from the Lower 48. When Canadians come here to visit in the summer - and they come in swarms - they are invariably more courteous and friendly than other visitors from away.

 

So, I salute them! " title="Applause" />

 

TyG

[Worker 11811]

Canadians are your friends... Unless you have the puck!

 

Congrats to the Canadian team!

[JGalanos]

 

I found this opening ceremony performance by Canadian K.D. Lang very moving.