Winter Olympiad

Well, I was wrong about my prediction for the Super Bowl. Hopefully, the Saints winning the Super Bowl will remind both the owners and the players association during their negotiations what makes the NFL the best sports league in the US is its parity.

The Opening Ceremonies of the 21st Winter Olympics was last night in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Watching the national delegations march in is always moving, but never as moving as watching the team from Georgia walk in with their flag lowered and one member not with them having died in training earlier that same day. They were beautiful and insightful into what makes Canada great. My favorite parts were probably the bear constellation segue into the whales swimming across the arena or the slam poet talking about the genteel nature and realized dreams of all Canadians. I did not enjoy K.D. Lang adding her stylings to "Hallelujah", but Ana rightly said that they should have used the Canadian Tenors or even Celine Dion. It is my firm belief that K.D. Lang's singing is what made the cauldron malfunction and cause the "Great One" Wayne Gretzky to wait 5 minutes to light the torch.

As during every Olympics Opening Ceremony, I am reminded that I really want to learn how to speak French. Of course, by the time the next two weeks have passed, I will also want to learn to ski, ice skate, play hockey, snowboard, play curling and half a dozen other activities or skills that I have yet to accomplish. If I have not already said, I love huge athletic events that stretch over a period of time. Whether it's a 5- or 7-game series or the NCAA tournament, I love the bracket and the whittling down to a final matchup. College World Series or NFL Playoffs, the win or go home pressure of the tournament is awesome. I love the Ryder Cup and the America's Cup. I get excited for the Olympics because the international dynamic takes the weeks long competition to another level. Of course, the World Cup is my absolute favorite, but I will have to wait just four more months for that particular event.

Stay tuned today for Ski Jumping, Women's Hockey, Speed Skating, Women's Biathlon, Women's Freestyle Moguls, and runs 1 and 2 of Luge should be emotional and challenging. Alpine skiing events and training have been postponed for today.