Olympics Wrap-Up

Well, the Vancouver Olympics are wrapping up tonight, the last event was the men's hockey, won by Canada, 3-2. The US got the silver.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the Olympics overall. I prefer the winter games to the summer, almost every event in the winter is cool, even the curling and the biathlon (x-country skiing and shooting). The venues were nice, and the scenery in and around Vancouver was tremendous. I suspect there will be a dramatic increase in the tourism to that area over the next couple of years.... I know I would like to visit there!

The medal count ended up with the US #1, with 37, followed by Germany with 30 and Canada with a respectable 26, after a slow start - and a lot of pressure! And the Canadians ended up with the most gold medal, with 14. So, good for them. They put on a great show and deserved all of the success that they had, especially since they didn't beat the US in medal count!

The first week, I watched almost everything, but by the time the second Tuesday rolled around, I have to say that my interest was waning a bit. Too much Bob Costas will do that to you, I guess. And the coverage was a bit irritating, too, as it was impossible to not see what happened suring the day before NBC showed it at night. If you spend any time on-line or watch any TV, it's hard not to see what's going on..... And of course, the sappy segments are a bit much. But the athletes are very impressive, many of them not just one-trick ponies but real people with real lives outside their sports and ready to make contributions to society once their competition days are over (Shaun White excepted - enough with him, already).

Don't know who will have the next winter Olympics (ok, I looked it up, Sochi in Russia. So we'll be ready for the Putin Games, I guess...) but they will have a hard time outdoing our friends to the north. Congrats, eh!