2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

[2-czech]

I'd love to watch XC skiing, but nobody I know very well is in it

Man I wish I was there too ... I know Lukas Bauer well and I am telling you, he will dominate these games

[smalls]

definitely going to curling, short track, ski jumping and usa men's hockey. maybe some others if i feel up to it. workin for the usoc for the next 10-12 days, but then only intermittently so that i can have some time to explore and chill.

i'm pissed that the opening ceremonies are indoors. i didn't plan on going as i'd rather drink beer nearby and watch the fireworks, but instead we get to sit inside a 75 degree stadium and watch the ceremony. whack.

i'm down for beers any night of the week from now through the 25th.

[khyber.pass]

hey whistler crew, i got a best friend of mine arriving next week with the Czech Olympic team who would like to explore a little bit of Whistler/Blackcomb slackcountry if conditions are right... anyone will be around during the games? He is a good snowboarder and will have avi gear ... Beer in the Czech Olympic house in Burnaby obviously provided for free

Splitboard?

Ride to Burnaby & back included?

Czech women?

[PulverSchwein]

Czech women?

now there's the true spirit of the Olympics

any friend of 2-czech's has to be a cool dude

[rugbydave]

I'm gonna say what I've been saying from the get-go: Fuck the Olympics! I wish they'd all just piss off and leave us in peace. I will be working out my olympic hate on anyone involved with the olympics who pisses me off at my bar...

That said I'm catching a men's qualifying hockey game and the women's hockey semifinal (both gifts)

[Spark]

I know that it's costing for hosting, but it's here, and I'm totally getting stoked for it! I'm happy to be attending the Olympics at least once in my lifetime and the Winter Games too!

I'm going to catch the Olympic torch as it comes in my hood in North Vancouver on February 10th. Then, I've got tickets for preliminary women's and men's hockey, a Victory Ceremony, and then women's giant slalom.

I'm got family coming from Sweden that I haven't seen in 15 years.

And finally, I'm going to take advantage of all the free events and exhibits taking place in and around the city!

[tylerjames]

any word on Cypress Mountain's problems? read an article today that they are trucking in snow to rebuild the snow cross tracks.

[nesta]

so tired of all the negative local media with regards to the Owe-lympics. Sure it's disruptive to Vancouverites and Whistlerites, but it's only a few weeks out of your life, and I am stoked to see it be the best Games ever. They've been trying to get it here since the 60's and now it's mere days away, so let's all suck it up and have a great time. Be proud of your city and surrounding beauty.
I don't have tickets to any events, but I'll most assuredly be glued to my idiot box for most of February. I do get to do a week at Whistler ( my old stomping grounds) with my avalanche rescue dog helping out the folks who happen to find themselves in a spot of avalanche trouble. Let's hope there's none of that=more skiing for me.
Let the Games begin!

[filthyfrenchbum]

And finally, I'm going to take advantage of all the free events and exhibits taking place in and around the city!

This, and that's about it. The olympics are cool and all, but I'm not gonna make any money on it and I'm not gonna be able to put my season pass to much use, unless I can mooch a highway pass/parking spot.

So yeah, hopefully heading east a little bit for a hut trip, as I'd still like to ski as much as possible.

Good free concert line-up though, Damian Marley, Sam Roberts, Wilco, Matisyahu, Deadmau5, Califone, Mother Mother and some more.

Hopefully I'll catch the torch coming through the UBC campus next thursday as well.

[smalls]

I will be working out my olympic hate on anyone involved with the olympics who pisses me off at my bar...

what bar?

[khyber.pass]

^^^ Heh.

I'd like to catch the torch too. Then I can run away with it, and dowse this Nazi icon once & for all.

[Oarhead]

I am on the medical crew for womens ski racing in whistler.

Arrive Sunday. Staying a stone's throw from creekside base. Hoping to get some good turns in my days off.

[Keegan]

Selling 50/50 tickets at a bunch of hockey games. Free swag and free tickets when we finish selling after the 1st intermission. Lots of Canada and US ones, and the Men's Bronze and Women's Gold.

Got some curling tickets, and tickets to the Finland v. Sweden Men's Hockey game.

Gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

[legallyillegal]

canada/slovakia women's hockey prelim, aerials, and women's sbx for me

[Eldo]

I know it's hip to hate on the Olympics, with the cost and all. But '88 here in Calgary was a total blast. I was living downtown at the time and rode my bike to the Olympic Plaza every evening for the medal presentations. Then we would head to various bars to party with people from around the world.

I still remember being in a bar full of hockey fans who all got teary eyed when Liz Manley had the skate of her life and won the silver medal in figure skating. I only went to one event, some random XC ski race, but we met athletes all the time wandering here and there. Karen Percy, Eddie the Eagle. The Jamaican bobsled team at a fundraiser held at a local bar halfway through the Olympics.

When the torch run came through Calgary a few weeks ago I went down to the plaza for the welcome with my Dad who is a former Olympian. Being there with the place packed and seeing local athletes who are competing in 2010 brought back some good memories.

Have fun, Vancouver and Whistler mags, you will not forget it.

[wicked_sick]

I was in Vancouver yesterday and today. I saw quite a few dumptrucks full of snow on the stretch from Hope --> Vancouver. Based on how warm it was I'm guessing it's for one of the venues.

[XXX-er]

I am gona be here for the whole month ,its gona be great,I have absolutely zero planned excpet for working the womens DH and maybe watch some events on the big screen TV at weasal house while having a beer , I understand weasl house is up and running

This is going to play hell with the visa card and the diet ,but tele babe said to me before I left this is once in a lifetime don't worry about it

I just want to thank all you fellow canadians in advance for the free vacation and I promise to try and have a good time

XXX-er

[You Gooch!]

Now they're trying to ban the Aussie olympic team's icon from being displayed

Aussie Olympians to fly flag despite ban
From: AAP February 05, 2010 11:59am

THE display of national pride at the Olympics by competing athletes is a tradition, the Australian team says, so it will defy an order to take down a boxing kangaroo flag at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

The giant green and gold flag, which shows a red-gloved golden kangaroo, has been draped over a balcony in the athletes' village.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ordered the Australian Olympic Committee take down the flag because it was too commercial as it is a registered trademark.

Mike Tancred from the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said it was something Australian Olympic teams did at every Games.

"We put up a flag on the front of the accommodation section of the village where our athletes will be living," Mr Tancred told ABC Radio.

"We all do it, we do it every games.

"But someone from the IOC has told us the boxing kangaroo is too commercial because it's a registered trademark."

The flag is a registered trademark because it is used by the AOC to promote sport and fair play in schools.

The rights to the image were bought from Alan Bond, who licensed it after flying it from his America's Cup-winning yacht in 1983.

Australians are defying the IOC order and are keeping the flag flying.

[deliberate]

are there going to be security checkpoints to get into the free events/concerts?

[powslut]

I'll be staying in Whistler from Feb 22-26. I'm just going to go with the flow in terms of events, but to be quite honest will be doing more drinking/ skiing than spectating.

[smalls]

I was in Vancouver yesterday and today. I saw quite a few dumptrucks full of snow on the stretch from Hope --> Vancouver. Based on how warm it was I'm guessing it's for one of the venues.

likely going up to cypress. they've been trucking in snow for the last few weeks as a result of having the driest january on record. from what some of the canadian delegation have been telling us, the snow up there usually reaches the base of the mountain by this time of year, and right now its barely covering the top. but according to the venue architects, all should be well by competition time. unfortunately, it sucks for the athletes trying to train over the next 10 days. the US athletes would have been better off staying in steamboat for the next week.

[nbt]

I'm gonna say what I've been saying from the get-go: Fuck the Olympics! I wish they'd all just piss off and leave us in peace. I will be working out my olympic hate on anyone involved with the olympics who pisses me off at my bar...

That said I'm catching a men's qualifying hockey game and the women's hockey semifinal (both gifts)

Funny thing is I had the exact same attitude when they came to Park City. Then when they came it fuckin' ruled. My advice is to go to as many events as possible. The events rule because there is not a single advertisement in the stadiums. It really is sport at its purest. It went way beyond my expectations. I also did not buy tix just happened to get some.

[grapedrink]

i sympathize with those suffering because of the olympics. we can only hope that with all the media in town, the focus will finally shift off haiti so the world can witness the real human tragedy brewing in our own backyard. traffic on the highway, day lots closed, crowds on village stroll, line ups at iga.. and it hasn't even started yet. oh the humanity!!

[puma]

I'm gonna say what I've been saying from the get-go: Fuck the Olympics! I wish they'd all just piss off and leave us in peace. I will be working out my olympic hate on anyone involved with the olympics who pisses me off at my bar...

That said I'm catching a men's qualifying hockey game and the women's hockey semifinal (both gifts)

No matter how bitter you enter this, I would bet after it is said and done, you will have loved it, and consider it phenomenal to have been a part of it. That's my bet!

[puma]

Funny thing is I had the exact same attitude when they came to Park City. Then when they came it fuckin' ruled. My advice is to go to as many events as possible. The events rule because there is not a single advertisement in the stadiums. It really is sport at its purest. It went way beyond my expectations. I also did not buy tix just happened to get some.

I think it is the same attitude of every host coming in, and the same attitude going out. I so wish I could make it up north...