You know, after all the crap surrounding the number 13 this year... The 13th man with the Roughriders, the 13th goal that got Team Canada in OT in the WJC, Cammy getting injured by Volchenkov in a flubbed hit... It's nice to see this right now. Canada has more gold medals than any other country right now in the Olympics and have tied the record while breaking the record of gold medals held by a host country. Tomorrow they have a chance to break that record if our men's hockey team can get it together. Though I'm a little wary of Luongo meeting Patrick Kane again in a high pressure game... Remember where "7UONGO" comes from? Yup. However nothing will match my fear of what stupidity will pour out of Pierre McGuire's mouth.
In the end, that official guy who came out and said that "Canada will not own the podium" should be slapped. The medal count is irrelevant, but the stunning amount of gold won should be noted. For who knows how long, the athletes never really had the financial help of the varioius programs set up like Own the Podium. I know all about that... But something must be working as we're seeing not just a spike in gold, but did you see the end results for Canada in the cross country events?! They might not have gotten any medals, but to be right on the heels of the powerhouses in that sport is unprecedented, especially on the men's side. There appears to be a gradual shift from the traditional one, two, three punch of European countries to the North American shores. That's right, the Canadians and the Americans. Was that the first ever gold won by an American in 4-man bobsleigh, coupled with the first medal for Canada in that event in like 40 years? Figure skating and ice dancing isn't automatically given to the Russians anymore. Our men's long track speed skaters actually got gold, beating out the Dutch at a sport they're born to do. Did you see how fast Charles Hamelin went to gain a huge lead and make sure the Koreans had no chance to sneak up on them?
So while I still have plenty of complaints about this Vancouver Olympics, one being they held it in the summer (badump ching), I'm very proud of our athletes. In the end, the ceremony is all pomp and circumstance... It's the athletes and their accomplishments, their triumphs, smiles, and tears that ARE the games.
Only one more day left and it's the big game. Check your Millercles at the door. It's gonna be a war.
