By Rob Ficiur

Olympics Week 2
Week 2 of the Vancouver Olympics found me watching sports I have rarely if ever watched before.   I wasn’t just watching, I was on the edge of my seat…hoping for more medals.
Curling - The Canadian Women earned a Silver medal.  A month ago I would have said “That is a good showing, good work.”  However, having watched the team play all week, it was heartbreaking to see them come so close to gold only to loose in extra ends.   So many athletic events come down to one play. The drama is great when you win, but heartbreaking when you don’t win.  A silver medal will still look good a month from now once the emotion of the last game defeat fades a bit.
Canadian Men Gold Medal; After going undefeated through the round robin, what would happen to Kevin Martin’s team?  In 2002, he came within one shot of winning an Olympic Gold Medal, would history be cruel and take away another gold from him when he dominated the tournament?  The answer was Gold…a 6-3 win in the final game gave Martin the color he missed six years ago.
Figure Skating – I haven’t watched figure skating since the last Olympics.  This year, the compelling story of Joannie Rochette.  Canada’s top female figure skater faced the trial of a life time.  Last Friday her parents flew out to be with her in Vancouver for to share her Olympic dream.  Saturday morning, Joannie’s world fell apart as she found out that her mother died over night from a sudden heart attack.
When Rochette’s people announced that she would still skate Tuesday it was no surprise.  She had trained all these years for the Olympics, going home would not take away her pain.  The amazing part of Joannie’s two skates was the quality of her performance.  WOW!   Before Joannie came on to do her final skate I watched about a dozen other world class skaters do their best.  The pressure of the situation took their toll on other athletes.  Some missed simple moves; others slipped (or almost slipped).  Seeing so many errors in this pressure picture packed sitiation, Joannie deserved a medal for performing with her heart so broken.
Joannie Rochette earned the Bronze medal that she won.  Somehow she had the mental toughness to think past her internal grief and do the performance of her life.  Only five other Canadian women have won Olympic figure skating medals; the last one was Elizabeth Manley in 1988.  Rochette’s accomplishment would be memorable under ideal conditions; under the trials she faced this week she will be remembered as the hero of the Hero of the Vancouver Olympics.  In recognition of her achievement, Joannie was one of two athletes to be awarded the first ever Terry Fox award.
Hockey - The Canadian Women won their third straight gold medal.  While we applaud them for this great achievement, one has to wonder about the future of Olympic Women’s hockey.  In the last four Olympics the USA and Canadian teams were so far above the other teams, there really was no competition for Canada until the final game against the Americans.  In 2006, the Swiss did upset the Americans and go to the Gold Medal game.   However one upset game in four Olympics does not create the drama we see in other sports.   How quickly can other countries bring their women’s team to a calibre closer to the North Americans?
Men’s Hockey - The 2010 Men’s Olympic hockey has been the best tournament ever.  In contrast to the Women’s games, upsets occurred on a regular basis.  Canada found that out early when the Swiss team forced Canada to a shoot out.  The high power Russian offense lost to the no-name team from Slovakia.
When Canada lost 5-3 to the United States on Sunday the 21st, many fear the men’s team was headed for another seventh place finish like they had in the 2006 Olympics.  That game, the most watched sporting event in Canadian history, was the best thing that could have happened to Canada.  On paper, the Canadian team should have beaten the Americans.  Even looking at the stats of the game, Canada out shot and out chanced the Americans by a two to one margin.  However, lead by an elite goalie, the Unites States won that game and every other game taking them to Sunday’s Gold Medal Final.
The Canadian team took a rougher road to reach the Gold Medal.  After loosing to the USA, the team rallied and regrouped.  They played with the emotion and focus they needed to defeat Germany in the Elimination Round.  While that win was no surprise, the quality of play made fans hopeful.  Wednesday the Canadians, showed there was another level of play as they trounced the Russians 7-3.  The 7-3 score makes the Russians sound better than they were.  The Canadians out hit and out raced the Russians to ever loose puck in the first 30 minutes.  That is how they could play.
Surprise surprise!  Another upset as Slovakia elimianted the 2006 Gold Medal from Sweeden.  As Canada out played the Slovaks and took a 3-0 lead, the game seemed so in hand, it was ho – hum boring.  Wait…what?  The Slovaks scored two goals in the third period….Don’t let them back in the game…Then the powerful Canadian team whimpered as the Slovaks came within inches of tying the game with six seconds left.
This column is being written before the Gold Medal game.  Whether Gold or Silver, Team Canada has entertained their fans (aggrivated their fans) and thrilled their fans….
All that with one more game to go…What kind of an encore will they give us?