Notes from an (ex) Olympic City

It's done. It's over. This evening, I drove home, listening to the Canucks play the Hurricanes ... Maybe it was the Blue Jackets... I don't know who they were playing. I do know it seemed small and sad.

Holy cow, did we go nuts or what!!?

That was the must remarkable 17 days in this city I have ever seen! I'd like to try to articulate some of the feelings I have, so here goes:

1.) Own the Podium - What an unbelievable success. Sign me up for more of that, please. We were, as I understand it, short on our goals for overall medals and we didn't "win" the overall medal count. We sure stomped where it counted, though! Fourteen gold!

And, perhaps more importantly, our athletes, these Olympics, went into competition with self belief and the expectation not just to do well, but to win.

I heard some people say that this was somehow "un-Canadian". I could not disagree more. I was both impressed and very proud to see how the Canadian athletes managed to weave that will to win into their "Canadian-ness". Ashleigh McIvor, Women's Ski Cross Gold Medalist, expressed it as - and I paraphrase - "When I'm not racing, I let people in front of me all the time... When I am racing, though, nobody gets in front of me."

Somehow, all our athletes - they did our country so damm proud - managed to win with grace and humility.

2.) The Americans - Americans don't need an "Own the Podium" programme. That nation, as personified in their athletes, competes like no other. They go hard. I watched 'em. It didn't matter whether they were in 45th place or first: They went hard. We all saw how Kesler tried to get into Booby Luuu's head: No way Canadian would ever do that, not to his captain.

From a Canadian perspective, that driving competitiveness seems more than a little crass and brash. It is, however, why the long dollar is always on the United States. Doesn't matter what shape they're in; they will not accept anything less than first and they'll kill themselves to get there.

3.) That Game, That Goal - Where were you when It went in?

Hockey has a hold us. It transfixes us, it defines us and that game, that game delivered us.

My son, Alex, "watched" part of the third sitting on a chair on our back deck. He said "Dad, every time you yell, the neighborhood yells!"

I told him the whole country was yelling.

And talk about pressure: Mike Babcock, who's face looks like it was hacked out of a boulder from the Canadian Shield, was crying on the bench at the end.

Save a spot in the Hall. Sid's in.

Some other images impressions and images I won't ever forget:

- Jasey-Jay Anderson finally winning his Gold Medal. 34 years old, a wife, two kids and 4 Olympics. He was one of the favorites in Nagano.

- Anja Paerson, racing to a Bronze on the same course where she was thrown 9m into the air for 60m, the day before.

- The utter desolation in Jeremy Wotherspoon's eyes as he sat on a bench in the middle of the Richmond Oval, as he tried to come to terms with the fact that, even as a World Record holder and one of the most accomplished speed skaters of all time, there would always be a hole in his resume.

- Christine Nesbit's face, twisted into a mask of pain and absolute desire, as she rounded the last corner of her 1000m race.

- Alexander and his brother.

- Bode Miller. Did it his way, without apology or explanation. Best skier I have ever seen.

- The Canadian women, smoking cigars and drinking beer, at center ice. God bless you, ladies. You earned every slug and puff. You sure as hell didn't need to apologize to me.

- Nodar Kumaritashvili. God bless and god speed. I'm too old and he was too young for the "he died doing what he loved" line. Next time I'm in Whistler, I'm leaving something at his memorial.