Day 16 - I Don't Want Vancouver 2010 Olympics to End

February 27, 2010

It was another early morning as we made our way back to Vancouver Olympic Centre once more for Curling, this time for the Bronze medal match between Sweden and Switzerland. I wasn't sure who to root for since Canada wasn't playing. I decided to go with a majority rules scenario. If we were sitting with lots of Swedes in our section, root for them, and vice versa. Turns out Canadians in the crowd still outnumbered any other nationality and in the end we cheered for any good play by either team.

Despite not having a vested interest in the outcome of the game, it was a great curling match. At one point the skip from the Sweden team had a 4 rock take out. It was so amazing! No matter how much I watch curling, I'm in awe of some of the plays teams at this level can do. On my curling team, I'm happy to be able to throw up a decent guard that is sort of close to where my skip wanted it to be.

This game was much quieter than the ones we saw on Thursday. I guess that shouldn't be surprising. If Canada had been playing this morning the crowd would have been raring to go. In the end, Switzerland won the game and again it had come down to the very last rock that was thrown which seemed to happen a lot in the matches that I saw. You had to feel sorry for Sweden. They played so well.

One of the great things about Vancouver 2010 is that you are likely to start talking to anyone at anytime anywhere you are. On the Skytrain home from the Curling venue, it was crowded so my Mom and I stood most of the way. When the train started to clear out, some young boys took the empty seats. The Mom teaching her boys manners and how to be a gentleman, asked the boys what they would should do. It seems they have been through this before because they both knew they should offer their seats to someone. When the Mom inquired who they would ask, the boys came right over to my Mom and I and asked if we would like to sit down. We both declined and thanked the boys for asking us. I started talking to the Mom because I've never seen anyone teaching their children that. We talked for a bit and I gave her a Canada Loot Bag for the kids. They had visited the Ontario pavilion here so they had heard of Ontario and were so happy to have the pins. Then I thought it would be wise for the boys to each have their own Loot Bag. Turns out this was a good idea because they had already had fights about pins! They were very grateful and pulled the pins out of the bags right away. It has been nice to have my Canada Loot Bags to give out to people and provide them with some memories of Vancouver 2010.

We headed home in a hurry to make sure we saw the start of the Men's Gold Medal game. I was so nervous for Kevin Martin and team! That was a close game as well and eventually Canada won which was a great moment. We all laughed when we heard John Morris say to his teammates, "We did it boys"! That statement pretty much sums it up. It was another great moment for Canada athletes and Canadian history.

In the evening we headed out to Molson Canadian Hockey House. Someone had given me tickets for tonight and on the schedule was the Bronze medal hockey game and Colin James performing afterwards. It was a really fun place to hang out. I can only imagine what it is like in there when Canada is playing a game! I'm sure it is completely nuts! I started talking to two girls who were cheering on Slovakia. From them I learned this would be the best finish in an Olympics for the Slovakia hockey team. Even if they didn't win the bronze medal, that is quite an accomplishment.  I gave them Canada Loot Bags and they took out all the pins and put them on their Molson Canada scarfs they had won.  Looks like Olympic people love pins of any kind!

After the game Colin James came on stage. That was a great performance. In my younger years I was a big fan of Colin James but had never seen him live. I rarely see anyone live anymore and this was a nice treat. The hockey house is a small venue compared to a stadium which also makes it more interesting to watch. I can't believe how close we could get to the stage! My brother doesn't dance at all so we found him a place to sit down and I danced!

The emcee announced that some special guests would be showing up soon. I danced some more while we waiting for these "special guests" to show up. Time passed and we eventually decided to call it a night. As we were about to get our coats, the emcee came on stage and on the screens they were replaying the end of the Men's Curling Gold Medal game. Did this mean the special guests were our Men's Curling team? No way! Indeed it was Canada's Gold Medal champs in Curling, all onstage except for Kevin Martin who was supposed to show up later. The medal ceremony was replayed and everyone in the Hockey House sang O Canada at the top of their lungs. It was amazing. I never thought so many beer drinking hockey fans would be so excited about a Curling medal but they were! I can't believe we almost missed that, I would have been so mad at myself. When that was over we did leave but not before I accosted “Mo's Bro's” over by the drink ticket kiosks. John Morris is a member of Kevin Martin's team and I have read that his nickname is "Johnny Mo". I guess Mo's Bro's were big fans of his. I had seen these guys at the semi final match and thought their T-shirts were hilarious. I'm still not sure if they are related to John Morris, friends of John Morris or groupies of John Morris. If anyone knows their story can you email me and let me know? I will include it in this post if I get an update.

Singing O Canada with the Canada Men's Curling team.

Loved the all white suits on these guys. They high fived everyone walking by them.

The infamous Mo's Bros at Molson Hockey House. All I have to say is why don't guys in Toronto look like this, and why don't more guys who look like this follow curling? 

Click here to see the  photos of the day.

Thanks for reading everyone. I can't believe it is the second last day and this amazing time is almost over!

Canada Medal Results

Jasey Jay Anderson - Gold in Snowboarding Giant Slalom
Men's Speed Skating Team - Gold in Team Pursuit
Men's 4 Bobsled - Bronze in Bobsleigh
Kevin Martin's Team - Gold in Curling

Haiti vs Molson Canadian Hockey House

Ever since I heard the announcement of Molson Canadian Hockey House in Vancouver for the Olympics, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get there. When I first looked at the ticket prices they were way out of my price range. I had already spent so much money on Olympic tickets, not to mention all of the other costs associated with this trip, that it seemed impossible. I really wanted to take my younger brother to Molson Canadian Hockey House at some point during our Olympic trip. I figured it might be the one thing he would actually be excited about. I was also interested in checking it out, just to see what it was all about.
I gave up on the idea until last week. Fan zone ticket prices started to be sold at a reduced rate. It was becoming slightly possible that I could actually buy them. At the same time, I was wrestling with the idea of how I could give money to Haiti. I am so heartbroken to see what has happened to that country and its people as a result of the earthquake. Watching the news about it makes me teary eyed, not only for the people in Haiti but for their relatives here in Canada, anxiously awaiting news. I had resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t in a position now to donate money to this worthy cause. I am covering the cost of our trip to the Olympics all on my own and it has definitely been a stretch. I couldn’t see that I had any money to spare right now.

Then I came to my senses and realized if I could consider spending money on tickets to Molson Canadian Hockey House, I could donate to Haiti. I decided instead of buying the tickets I would donate the money to help the people in Haiti. All the money I would have spent on tickets to the Hockey House will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross. I can’t afford to do it all at once so it will happen in instalments. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if I had gone through with purchasing tickets and not have given anything to charity. Right now those people don’t even have a home to live in. I’m not going to die if I don’t make it to some place in Vancouver. Those people will die if they do not have water, food, shelter or medical attention.

I am not in any way saying that everyone else should donate to Haiti instead of buying tickets to the Hockey House or any other events. I think it will be a great place to hang out and make friends at the Olympics. I have decided to do without it, to spend my money elsewhere because for me I feel that is the right thing to do. I want to show people that money can be found somewhere if you are willing to do without some things.

For example, if you buy coffee everyday and spend $1.50, make your coffee at home and save that money. In a month you will have $45! That is a very decent amount of money to donate. Another idea I had was to visit sites where you can download grocery coupons. If you take $5 worth of coupons with you every week when you do your grocery shopping, you will have saved $20 over a 4 week period. That is money you can donate. If you can save $10 through coupons, you will have $40 to donate. Canadians have been extremely generous already with their donations. I am so proud of them.

As for Molson, I follow some pretty cool Molson people on Twitter and I know they would be very supportive of this decision. I see them tweeting about their company’s initiatives to raise money for Haiti so I know we all have the same goal, help others who need it. Maybe I’ll get lucky and win a pair of tickets or have someone hand me a pair when we are in Vancouver. Olympic karma has produced some really unique things for me so who knows! If you are going to be at the Hockey House, enjoy it! I’ll wave when I pass by.

If you have any other tips for how people can find money to donate to Haiti or other worthy causes, feel free to leave a comment and share your ideas with all of us.