An old friend posted something on The Book of Faces saying that he had 4 Olympic hockey tickets he was trying to sell for a reasonable price (less than double their $80 face value, which was very reasonable). I happened to mention this to a few of my friends and they immediately answered, "Buy them! Buy them! We'll buy them from you!" So I contacted my buddy and bought all four tickets. When I purchased them, I knew I had 3 definite buyers and I figured I would just sell the fourth ticket to make my money back, or maybe a small profit. After all, I thought it would be cool to go to the Olympics but I don't really consider myself to be a hockey fan, and the tickets were for a playoff-round game where we had no idea who we would see.
The error in my logic, however, was that I underestimated the persuasive power of my friends. Through some gentle cajoling and a few persuasive emails telling me how this would be an experience I'd never forget, I decided just to keep the fourth ticket for myself and go to the game. I got a little help when a big case I was working on ended up settling, as it would have been in trial for almost the duration of the Olympics.
So, now fast forward to earlier this week. We all took the day off work and left Seattle around 8:30 a.m. We stopped for some awesome breakfast in Kirkland and headed north. Fortunately, the border had about a 2 minute wait to get through, and after a leisurely 2.5-hour drive, we were suddenly in Vancouver and in the midst of the most culturally diverse, hyper-patriotic environment I've ever seen. There were Canadian flags EVERYWHERE - on the buildings, flying from cars, draped around people's necks, and it seemed like every third person was dressed in red. And those who weren't were wearing the national colors of some other country. Sidenote: I was the only stick in the mud of our group who didn't wear any country-oriented gear. Curtiss was sportin' the Latvia shirt and both Andy and Justin wore their Norwegian colors with pride.
We spent most of the day walking around Vancouver, as the game we had tickets for didn't start until 9:00pm. The only bummer was that the weather was terrible, and we were fighting a persistent rain/wind combination most of the day. But that didn't dampen our spirits and we had a great time. When we wanted to dry out and refuel, we managed to find a booth at a great little English-style pub to watch the Canada-Germany hockey game surrounded by rabid Canuck hockey fans. Fortunately for everyone, the Canadians bounced back from their loss to the U.S. (BOOYAH!) and won easily.
The game we ended up seeing was Slovakia versus Norway. Norway was supposed to be the big underdog, but they fought hard and made it a great game. The Slovaks ended up winning 4-3 but they had to score the winning goal in the third period. What made the experience even better was that one of the guys I was with is a former pro hockey player, so he could explain the nuances of the game to this novice, and the other two guys are of Norwegian heritage, so they were cheering lustily for the men in red (even ringing cowbells and waving the Norwegian flag). And I will say this for Olympic hockey - I'm totally a fan. It is a fast-paced, energetic, end-to-end game that is totally fun to watch. It was even better in person where you can really take in the sights and sounds of the game.
It was a really great experience, and one I won't soon forget. We ended up getting back to Seattle about 3:00am, and I had to work the next day, so I was operating on little sleep. But what is one tired day for memories like these, right?
Here are some photos:
Riding the train into Vancouver. The public transportation system worked really well for us.
With Curtiss and Andy on the Vancouver waterfront. You can barely notice the rock cairns that people had built to resemble the Vancouver Olympics logo. They were everywhere!
Requisite group shot
Requisite shot of the the Olympic flame
Requisite group shot in front of the Olympic flame
This guy affectionately referred to himself as "Canadaman"
GOOOOOAAAAAAL for the Norwegians!
Between the second and third periods.
The view from our seats. We were up sort of high but had great sightlines, so it didn't bother me at all.
Final Score: Slovakia 4, Norway 3
