Olympic Blog III: The Olympics have begun!
It's 6:57 pm, and I'm on a Greyhound bus awaiting a 7pm departure for Squamish where I'll sleep before my 7am shift at Whistler tomorrow.
40 minutes ago, however, was a very different story. 40 minutes ago I was standing outside at Canada House, watching the finals of the men's moguls competition on the big screen, with about 200 other fans. The energy and excitement was palpable. I'm not sure if every Canadian there knew who Alexandre Bilodeau was, but when he made his final run and clinched Canada's first gold medal of the games (and first ever on Canadian soil), the emotion and pride for what this athlete had just brought to Canada was sensational. If there ever was a event to unify this nation as one, it could be these Olympics. Without a doubt, I thought, Canada's Games are here.
I haven't blogged recently as i've had a few days off from Whistler, though a lot has happened in the last few days. I won't say too much about the tragedy that happened the morning of the Opening Ceremonies, except to say that it is a horrific tragedy, and my heart goes out to the family and friends of the young man whose life was cut way too short.
I've been staying with my parents in South Surrey the last few days, and it's been great being home. On Wednesday, my parents, cousin and I attended the dress rehearsal for the opening games. All Olympic volunteers (and their +1s) had been invited to the rehearsal. The energy in the stadium was incredible and it was great to share the experience with the other 25,000 Games volunteers. In that way, I think it made the experience unique for us volunteers. The show was the same as the one broadcast on Friday, though we did get to rehearse the pre-show with Ben Mulroney and Tamara Taggart. The audience on Friday were all given a drum and a few lights and were coached on how they'd be used in the show. From an artistic perspective, I really liked the decision to make the audience a part of the artistic "canvas". I'm not sure if it had been done before, but I liked it.
We also heard from Stephen Harper, and were very entertained by the volunteer "stand-ins" for IOC president Jacques Rogge and VANOC head John Furlong, who had to talk for 4.5 minutes about nothing in particular in rehearsing the opening speeches.
I won't go on too much about the show itself except to say that I thought it was pretty well done. In particular, I was a big fan of Nicki Yanofsky (though I know many disliked the rendition of O Canada), and I was blown away by k.d. lang's "Hallelujah". I know it's not everyone's cup of tea (a text was received: "Hallelujah, it's over!"), but I thought she sang wonderfully and really owned the world stage, if only for a few minutes.
As well as I thought the show went, I am sure many others winced along with me at the near-gong-show ending to the ceremony. The technical issues of the cauldron-lighting aside (I understand sometimes these things just happen no matter how much preparation), I just couldn't believe how disorganized Gretzky's run to the torch appeared. For all the security of the games and years and years of preparation, we were given a very uncertain-looking Gretzky desperately trying to make his way through crowds of people en route to the torch. It was as if they just hadn't planned it out. I mean, I've been surrounded by hundreds of police officers all week in Whistler. Thank goodness it all worked out, but I won't soon forget the image of Gretzky on the back of a truck, looking nervous in the rain, flanked by teens at the side of the truck with no apparent security presence present. Alas, I digress. All in all, I loved the ceremonies.
Tomorrow I'll be back at Whistler Olympic Park and will have my first taste of the Olympics in full swing, with spectators. We're anticipating upwards of 12,000 spectators, so getting them in through 16 (ish) bus spots might prove to be a challenge. However, there are some very good people up there, so I'll see tomorrow how it all runs.
I guess that's it for now. I know I promised pictures, but it will have to wait a few days until I return from Whistler.
My cousin Alison had the honour to be at the Olympic Village today greeting the men's hockey team, and I'm very excited for what I figure will be the most-publicized event at the Olympics. I should say though that I'm genuinely interested in every Olympic sport, and looking forward to Canadian success across the board.
The Games have begun. We're on the board, and the energy is right here, right now. Go Canada Go!!!
Cheers,
Jim
40 minutes ago, however, was a very different story. 40 minutes ago I was standing outside at Canada House, watching the finals of the men's moguls competition on the big screen, with about 200 other fans. The energy and excitement was palpable. I'm not sure if every Canadian there knew who Alexandre Bilodeau was, but when he made his final run and clinched Canada's first gold medal of the games (and first ever on Canadian soil), the emotion and pride for what this athlete had just brought to Canada was sensational. If there ever was a event to unify this nation as one, it could be these Olympics. Without a doubt, I thought, Canada's Games are here.
I haven't blogged recently as i've had a few days off from Whistler, though a lot has happened in the last few days. I won't say too much about the tragedy that happened the morning of the Opening Ceremonies, except to say that it is a horrific tragedy, and my heart goes out to the family and friends of the young man whose life was cut way too short.
I've been staying with my parents in South Surrey the last few days, and it's been great being home. On Wednesday, my parents, cousin and I attended the dress rehearsal for the opening games. All Olympic volunteers (and their +1s) had been invited to the rehearsal. The energy in the stadium was incredible and it was great to share the experience with the other 25,000 Games volunteers. In that way, I think it made the experience unique for us volunteers. The show was the same as the one broadcast on Friday, though we did get to rehearse the pre-show with Ben Mulroney and Tamara Taggart. The audience on Friday were all given a drum and a few lights and were coached on how they'd be used in the show. From an artistic perspective, I really liked the decision to make the audience a part of the artistic "canvas". I'm not sure if it had been done before, but I liked it.
We also heard from Stephen Harper, and were very entertained by the volunteer "stand-ins" for IOC president Jacques Rogge and VANOC head John Furlong, who had to talk for 4.5 minutes about nothing in particular in rehearsing the opening speeches.
I won't go on too much about the show itself except to say that I thought it was pretty well done. In particular, I was a big fan of Nicki Yanofsky (though I know many disliked the rendition of O Canada), and I was blown away by k.d. lang's "Hallelujah". I know it's not everyone's cup of tea (a text was received: "Hallelujah, it's over!"), but I thought she sang wonderfully and really owned the world stage, if only for a few minutes.
As well as I thought the show went, I am sure many others winced along with me at the near-gong-show ending to the ceremony. The technical issues of the cauldron-lighting aside (I understand sometimes these things just happen no matter how much preparation), I just couldn't believe how disorganized Gretzky's run to the torch appeared. For all the security of the games and years and years of preparation, we were given a very uncertain-looking Gretzky desperately trying to make his way through crowds of people en route to the torch. It was as if they just hadn't planned it out. I mean, I've been surrounded by hundreds of police officers all week in Whistler. Thank goodness it all worked out, but I won't soon forget the image of Gretzky on the back of a truck, looking nervous in the rain, flanked by teens at the side of the truck with no apparent security presence present. Alas, I digress. All in all, I loved the ceremonies.
Tomorrow I'll be back at Whistler Olympic Park and will have my first taste of the Olympics in full swing, with spectators. We're anticipating upwards of 12,000 spectators, so getting them in through 16 (ish) bus spots might prove to be a challenge. However, there are some very good people up there, so I'll see tomorrow how it all runs.
I guess that's it for now. I know I promised pictures, but it will have to wait a few days until I return from Whistler.
My cousin Alison had the honour to be at the Olympic Village today greeting the men's hockey team, and I'm very excited for what I figure will be the most-publicized event at the Olympics. I should say though that I'm genuinely interested in every Olympic sport, and looking forward to Canadian success across the board.
The Games have begun. We're on the board, and the energy is right here, right now. Go Canada Go!!!
Cheers,
Jim
posted by Jim Wilson at 8:06 PM
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