dear ryan kesler,
i don't care if you hate canadians, or vancouver fans, or french people. i don't even care if you hate me. but i want you to know that when you say you hate people, there are people out there who get mad. i wasn't one of those people. i stayed true. i wore my kesler jersey to your first game back in vancouver instead of my lu one. i defended you to all my friends who told me that they now hate you because you hate them. i think you're fantastic and you play great hockey. i think your wife is pretty and your daughter is really cute.
but my point ryan kesler, is that not all of the fans in this city are like the fans you hate. there are fans like me out there. fans who stick by you no matter what. fans who love the team no matter where they are in the standings (with the exception of bieksuck - can you please ask him to stop pinching?). fans who are not suits, who spend hard-earned money to go see you guys play, even when times are tough. hate on everyone you want ryan kesler, but not all of the fans out here are sucky fans. i just wanted you to know that.
your fan,
h
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
the great olympic hangover
we had 17 days of non-stop action over in our little corner of the world. the olympics came and went and i think it has changed everyone. except maybe the angry protestors.. i'm pretty sure they are still angry. but for the rest of us, we played hosts to the world. and despite all the misgivings and lack of feeling before the spotlight landed, once the opening ceremonies got the ball rolling, it was just action-packed for 17 days straight.
i was pretty into the idea of hosting the olympics from the start. i thought it would be fun to have it here, to have all those people here. i thought it would be fun to see the city get into it. by city, i don't just mean vancouver but all of the lower mainland. it was funny, nobody i knew wanted any of the gear ahead of time. i got a pair of mittens for my birthday back in october and i was SO excited! i got all my mascot dolls as soon as they came out. i got my hoodies in december before i headed south for the holidays so i could wear my colors with pride. i was ready.
well before the olympics, my own out-of-town houseguests arrived and they were going to be here for over a month. they brought with them more goodies for the rest of us. i got my coveted canada jersey, and a trapper hat. i was so ready. my godbrother had scored us tickets for 3 hockey games in the first week and one of them was a CANADA game! i was so ready.
so the opening ceremonies finally arrived and we were all gathered in my living room with our pizza and drinks and snacks and each other and we were ready! no opening ceremony will ever compare to beijing - i mean, they had the manpower and the venue to make that kind of magic. we're just a little city with a small number of volunteers. but it didn't matter. we had heart. from the start, i did nothing but watch events. i don't think i've ever watched the olympics the way i watched this one. i don't think i've ever cared so much. but now i was taking it all in. i learned what the biathlon is this year, and how it became an event. i learned names of athletes that were competing when in years past, i would only know the names of our medal winners. and those names would then fade from memory. and it wasn't just names, it was stories. stories of all these different athletes and how some of them made their way here and the hardships that they overcame. and knowing these small details made me cheer even harder for them.
i went downtown a couple of times. for the most part i try to avoid the crowds. but when i did go, it was so incredible. the vibe and the energy was unlike anything i've ever experienced here before. there was so much to see and do. i didn't get to see as much as i would have liked, but i'm okay with that. it was enough for me to just be a part of it all.
my first hockey game was fantastic. it was Canada vs Norway and i was ready to cheer for my team. i got to go up to the 4th floor and see a view of the rink that not everyone gets to see. gm place had been completely transformed to this wonderful olympic venue. the colors were awesome! all the blue and green reminded me of the canucks. and despite the rumors of long lines and long waits, i somehow managed to not have to wait that long at any time. looking out at the sea of red and all the canadian flags, i was impressed. one of my biggest complaints as a diehard canuck fan is that you would never see everyone wearing the same color on game night. sure there's a lot of blue, but there is also the old navy/maroon or the black and orange, or worst of all, the bright yellow orange and the red V. add to that the pink jerseys (barf) and the suits and the random people who just wore whatever, and gm place was always an amalgam of colors that didn't feel like love. but this was different. this was canada hockey place and it was a sea of red and white. everyone was in love with the same team and it was magical. winning that night made me feel so excited for canada's prospects in these games - i mean, 8-0, that's awesome!!
when i went to watch Sweden vs Germany, i decided to show my love for the sedin twins by dressing in a sweden hoodie and scarf. for one night, i was swedish! someone even spoke swedish to me! but then he realized i was just a poser and spoke english after that. but for 10 seconds, he thought i was one of them. i sat a few seats away from a gentleman from sweden who had gone to school with daniel alfredsson. what a cool thing to be able to tell people. during that game, i also tried to pick up some german chants, but they were pretty complicated. but i can say "deutschland!" according to the swedish dudes, they didn't have any chants, so we just hollered loudly the way canadians do. the swedes won that night, and i continued feeling elated.
the last game i attended was USA vs Norway. we decided ahead of time that we would cheer for everyone. sure enough, no matter which team scored, we jumped out of our seats and celebrated that goal. it was so much. i was sitting next to some coyotes fans from arizona, and they were having a good time, just taking it all in. a player from norway, vikingstad, he had the best name! and later in the games he got a hattrick. yay vikingstad! at that game, i also saw ryan kesler's family at the store. his wife is pretty, his kid is cute. and they were all so happy looking. but mostly, it was like, being thisclose to ryan kesler haha.
i was also lucky enough to attend a curling match! i do enjoy curling very much. it's not as complicated to follow and it's way harder than it looks. but every match starts with bagpipes - what's not to love?? jolly good times!
and then, as luck would have it, i met jon montgomery. he came into my workplace to support RIGHT TO PLAY (google it, it's an awesome charity) and give some interviews (yes, there were camera crews at my work). we were lucky he was cool enough to stick around for a bit and take pictures with us and i even got to hold his medal. it was so cool! SO COOL!! and then we spotted patrick chan on the sidewalk and ran out and got a photo with him as well. that was cool beans. i also got a picture with bryan wilson, the american bronze winner of men's moguls. it was a cool experience.
this past weekend i watched the last of the events with mixed emotions. one was nervousness - would canada be able to beat usa in the rematch? i just didn't know. of course i said "YES!!" to anyone who asked me. of course i believed we could. but a part of me was just nervous - what if we didn't? would i have to hear about it from all the americans i know? would i have to buy more in-n-out if i lost another bet? would luongo be able to come back and perform if he lost? what if ryan kesler scored the winning goal against us again? could i still love him after that? there were so many random things in my head.
of course after watching the most intense game and most exciting game ever, we WON THE GOLD!!! it was a record breaking year for canada - first gold at home, most golds ever won by one country, most golds ever won by us! i was (AM) so proud to be a canadian.
the closing ceremonies were quite blah after the intensity of that game but it was just one last thing to watch. and then it was over. so i had to go downtown. i had to suck in what was left. i headed down in my jersey and hat and high fived random people and screamed and cheered wth people on the street and got myself a cameo on the 11 o'clock news. and then it was time to go.
i think that's when it started sinking in. suddenly it just wasn't as exciting anymore. suddenly i realized there was garbage everywhere. what had they done to our streets? our clean clean vancouver streets. this morning on the train, there was so much room. no one was pushing or crowding.. and i almost missed it. but then at work, there was nothing going on outside my window. there were no more athletes coming or going. no more cops out patrolling. just no one. it was all so quiet.
the great olympic hangover has nothing to do with booze and partying. (well, maybe a little partying.) it's about the fun and the excitement and how we just absorbed everything. all the events, all the sports and athletes. and now there's void as we all walk around like drones the next day, wondering what to fill ourselves with. lucky for me, i've got the canucks vs blue jackets tomorrow and hopefully the emptiness won't last. but for today, it's just a dreary feeling of the glory days being over.
i hope though, that this city doesn't lose its spirit. i hope that all the fun we have will stay with us along with the positive attitudes that i hadn't seen here in awhile. i hope our olympic hangover doesn't take 40 years to pay off like montreal. there has to be a better legacy than that.
i was pretty into the idea of hosting the olympics from the start. i thought it would be fun to have it here, to have all those people here. i thought it would be fun to see the city get into it. by city, i don't just mean vancouver but all of the lower mainland. it was funny, nobody i knew wanted any of the gear ahead of time. i got a pair of mittens for my birthday back in october and i was SO excited! i got all my mascot dolls as soon as they came out. i got my hoodies in december before i headed south for the holidays so i could wear my colors with pride. i was ready.
well before the olympics, my own out-of-town houseguests arrived and they were going to be here for over a month. they brought with them more goodies for the rest of us. i got my coveted canada jersey, and a trapper hat. i was so ready. my godbrother had scored us tickets for 3 hockey games in the first week and one of them was a CANADA game! i was so ready.
so the opening ceremonies finally arrived and we were all gathered in my living room with our pizza and drinks and snacks and each other and we were ready! no opening ceremony will ever compare to beijing - i mean, they had the manpower and the venue to make that kind of magic. we're just a little city with a small number of volunteers. but it didn't matter. we had heart. from the start, i did nothing but watch events. i don't think i've ever watched the olympics the way i watched this one. i don't think i've ever cared so much. but now i was taking it all in. i learned what the biathlon is this year, and how it became an event. i learned names of athletes that were competing when in years past, i would only know the names of our medal winners. and those names would then fade from memory. and it wasn't just names, it was stories. stories of all these different athletes and how some of them made their way here and the hardships that they overcame. and knowing these small details made me cheer even harder for them.
i went downtown a couple of times. for the most part i try to avoid the crowds. but when i did go, it was so incredible. the vibe and the energy was unlike anything i've ever experienced here before. there was so much to see and do. i didn't get to see as much as i would have liked, but i'm okay with that. it was enough for me to just be a part of it all.
my first hockey game was fantastic. it was Canada vs Norway and i was ready to cheer for my team. i got to go up to the 4th floor and see a view of the rink that not everyone gets to see. gm place had been completely transformed to this wonderful olympic venue. the colors were awesome! all the blue and green reminded me of the canucks. and despite the rumors of long lines and long waits, i somehow managed to not have to wait that long at any time. looking out at the sea of red and all the canadian flags, i was impressed. one of my biggest complaints as a diehard canuck fan is that you would never see everyone wearing the same color on game night. sure there's a lot of blue, but there is also the old navy/maroon or the black and orange, or worst of all, the bright yellow orange and the red V. add to that the pink jerseys (barf) and the suits and the random people who just wore whatever, and gm place was always an amalgam of colors that didn't feel like love. but this was different. this was canada hockey place and it was a sea of red and white. everyone was in love with the same team and it was magical. winning that night made me feel so excited for canada's prospects in these games - i mean, 8-0, that's awesome!!
when i went to watch Sweden vs Germany, i decided to show my love for the sedin twins by dressing in a sweden hoodie and scarf. for one night, i was swedish! someone even spoke swedish to me! but then he realized i was just a poser and spoke english after that. but for 10 seconds, he thought i was one of them. i sat a few seats away from a gentleman from sweden who had gone to school with daniel alfredsson. what a cool thing to be able to tell people. during that game, i also tried to pick up some german chants, but they were pretty complicated. but i can say "deutschland!" according to the swedish dudes, they didn't have any chants, so we just hollered loudly the way canadians do. the swedes won that night, and i continued feeling elated.
the last game i attended was USA vs Norway. we decided ahead of time that we would cheer for everyone. sure enough, no matter which team scored, we jumped out of our seats and celebrated that goal. it was so much. i was sitting next to some coyotes fans from arizona, and they were having a good time, just taking it all in. a player from norway, vikingstad, he had the best name! and later in the games he got a hattrick. yay vikingstad! at that game, i also saw ryan kesler's family at the store. his wife is pretty, his kid is cute. and they were all so happy looking. but mostly, it was like, being thisclose to ryan kesler haha.
i was also lucky enough to attend a curling match! i do enjoy curling very much. it's not as complicated to follow and it's way harder than it looks. but every match starts with bagpipes - what's not to love?? jolly good times!
and then, as luck would have it, i met jon montgomery. he came into my workplace to support RIGHT TO PLAY (google it, it's an awesome charity) and give some interviews (yes, there were camera crews at my work). we were lucky he was cool enough to stick around for a bit and take pictures with us and i even got to hold his medal. it was so cool! SO COOL!! and then we spotted patrick chan on the sidewalk and ran out and got a photo with him as well. that was cool beans. i also got a picture with bryan wilson, the american bronze winner of men's moguls. it was a cool experience.
this past weekend i watched the last of the events with mixed emotions. one was nervousness - would canada be able to beat usa in the rematch? i just didn't know. of course i said "YES!!" to anyone who asked me. of course i believed we could. but a part of me was just nervous - what if we didn't? would i have to hear about it from all the americans i know? would i have to buy more in-n-out if i lost another bet? would luongo be able to come back and perform if he lost? what if ryan kesler scored the winning goal against us again? could i still love him after that? there were so many random things in my head.
of course after watching the most intense game and most exciting game ever, we WON THE GOLD!!! it was a record breaking year for canada - first gold at home, most golds ever won by one country, most golds ever won by us! i was (AM) so proud to be a canadian.
the closing ceremonies were quite blah after the intensity of that game but it was just one last thing to watch. and then it was over. so i had to go downtown. i had to suck in what was left. i headed down in my jersey and hat and high fived random people and screamed and cheered wth people on the street and got myself a cameo on the 11 o'clock news. and then it was time to go.
i think that's when it started sinking in. suddenly it just wasn't as exciting anymore. suddenly i realized there was garbage everywhere. what had they done to our streets? our clean clean vancouver streets. this morning on the train, there was so much room. no one was pushing or crowding.. and i almost missed it. but then at work, there was nothing going on outside my window. there were no more athletes coming or going. no more cops out patrolling. just no one. it was all so quiet.
the great olympic hangover has nothing to do with booze and partying. (well, maybe a little partying.) it's about the fun and the excitement and how we just absorbed everything. all the events, all the sports and athletes. and now there's void as we all walk around like drones the next day, wondering what to fill ourselves with. lucky for me, i've got the canucks vs blue jackets tomorrow and hopefully the emptiness won't last. but for today, it's just a dreary feeling of the glory days being over.
i hope though, that this city doesn't lose its spirit. i hope that all the fun we have will stay with us along with the positive attitudes that i hadn't seen here in awhile. i hope our olympic hangover doesn't take 40 years to pay off like montreal. there has to be a better legacy than that.
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