Winter Olympics Ten Days Away

The countdown is on for the start of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The slate of activities begins on February 12th. For some reason a ski jumping qualifying event is being held at 10am, and the opening ceremonies are being held at 6pm to kick off the action. Nothing like starting off the games with ski jumpers that WON'T qualify for the olympics!

Here are a few highlighted events and times for week 1 that I am looking forward to. Will post separately about week 2 events next week.

2/15 - Pairs Figure Skating Medal Event. Back off I am not a freak for liking this. I wonder if Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy will place in this event? Just kidding, this sport is pretty awesome, and the possibility of huge accidents is great. I want to see a pair that is skating a perfect routine to go up to their last lift, and then fall on their asses. Get the judges all in a panic. This team was on the path to the Gold, and now they have to rethink the scoring. Classic awesomeness.

2/16 - Men's Round Robin: Curling, The United States versus Germany. Will the US be able to keep the swagger they gained with a bronze medal finish in the 2006 Winter Olympics? This should be a W for the States, as Germany finished 3rd to last in 2006 with just a 3-6 record. But, don't forget that the Germans had 12 stolen ends in 2006.

2/16 - Men's Hockey, The United States versus Switzerland. The US didn't place in 2006, they look to avenge that issue this year. They finished in the 8th position in 2006. In game 1 they are up against a team that finished 6th, the Swiss. This is a rivalry to end all rivalries. The Americans sport a team with our good friend Phil Kessel, Chris Drury, Patrick Kane, and our very own Tim Thomas, among others... For Switzerland, the household names of Andres Ambhul, Goran Bezina!, Thibaut Monnet lead the charge. Certainly this will be a big challenge for the States.

2/20 - Short Track Men's 1000m Medal Event. Totally awesome if you have never seen this. Here's a description of the event: "Short track speed skating takes place on a 111.12-metre oval track within a hockey rink. Tight corners make it difficult for skaters to maintain control. A boardless padding system is now used replacing the stand-alone board system. This ensure an increased safety for the athletes.Short track speed skaters compete against each other, rather than the clock. The competition consists of a series of heats with four or six athletes. The first two athletes in each heat advance to the next round until only four skaters remain for the final."

This event is sick, and the crashes are awesome. I am sure we will see some crazy stuff go down in this event!