RECORD NUMBERS TUNE IN FOR GOOD OLE GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY GAME
By Alex
The numbers were staggering.
Not just in Canada but in the United States as well.
I’m talking about the ratings for the epic gold medal match between Team Canada and Team USA. As many as 27 million viewers tuned in to watch the game in the U.S. and 16.5 million in Canada. The number rose to [...]
OLYMPIC HOCKEY: CANADA 3 USA 2 OT
By Alex
Canada’s 14th and final gold medal came by way of Team Canada’s scintillating 3-2 overtime win over Team USA.
No disrespect to the other sports, but this is the game everyone and their cousin from Nunavut was waiting to see. Despite the ironic fact that millionaire professional athletes were participating in what’s supposed to be [...]
VANCOUVER 2010 EXITS: CANADA OWNS GOLD PODIUM
By Alex
To say it’s been an emotional roller coaster ride these past two weeks is an understatement. From the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili and Therese Rochette, to opening day ceremonial glitches to track, arena, transportation and weather problems – to name a few. Most of it has already been well reported elsewhere and won’t be [...]
MAJIDIC, ROCHETTE SHARE TERRY FOX AWARD; SNOW LEOPARD ENTERS VANCOUVER’S ECO-SYSTEM
Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic – a pre-Olympic favorite – and figure skater Joannie Rochette of Canada will share the Terry Fox award “which honors athletes who embody Fox’s determination.”
Majdic fell off course during the individual classical sprint training run leading to four broken ribs and a collapse lung. She was determined to compete and [...]
OLYMPIC NOTES: ROCHETTE OVERCOMES GRIEF; TEAM CANADA POST- GAME CELEBRATIONS OVERREACTION
The death of a Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili wasn’t the only tragic even to hit the Vancouver games. Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette faced her own personal tragedy when she learned her mother – Therese Rochette – died suddenly of a heart attack.
Grief stricken, she could have opted to not skate but decided to soldier [...]
THIRTY YEARS AFTER U.S. OLYMPIC BOYCOTT, ATHLETES ADDRESS PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER
Thirty years after the controversial U.S. Olympic boycott of the Moscow Games, athletes who had their one and only chance at Olympic glory addressed President Jimmy Carter on his decision to boycott the Games. The responses below are excerpted from the book BOYCOTT: STOLEN DREAMS OF THE 1980 MOSCOW OLYMPIC GAMES.
“Athletes are humanitarians. We are [...]
WOTHERSPOON WILTS BUT LEGACY REMAINS IN TACT
By Alex
Before I get into Canadian speed skater Jeremy Wotherspoon, let me vent a little about an athlete’s legacy in the eyes of fans and media.
After Peyton Manning threw that pick effectively sealing the fate of the Colts, predictable commentating mayhem about his legacy ensued. Like how his 9-9 playoff record suddenly became the leitmotif [...]
STATS CORNER: OLYMPIC MEDAL COUNT TOTALS SINCE 1992
By Alex
With the Olympic games in full gear let’s have a look at some statistics.
First, I wanted to have a look at the medal count since Albertville, 1992 for selected countries.
- Germany has amassed 144 total medals – more than any country on the list. They also topped the list with 54 gold. Norway is [...]
FINALLY! CANADA WINS GOLD ON HOME SOIL
By Alex
It’s been a long time coming. In two Olympic games this country hosted; Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988, Canada never won a gold medal on its slopes, in its rinks or tracks. Never. It was a dubious distinction to own.
That sore point has permanently been stricken from the record. Today, in Vancouver, Alexandre Bilodeau [...]
IN JOY, CONFUSION AND TRAGEDY VANCOUVER WELCOMES THE WORLD
It wasn’t a good start for the Olympic Games in Vancouver. First came the expulsion of 30 athletes for doping, next in line was uncooperative weather, and most tragic of all the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training run accident.
As if all this wasn’t enough, protestors forced a re-rout of the torch’s [...]
