It was a wet Gold!

Just a quick post about yesterday...
We went to Snowboarding Giant Slalom for Men. We had 3 Canadians in the top 16 after the qualifying round. The most for any country at this point in the competition, so a good chance to make it to the podium. The conditions were brutal and you could barely see the finish line. The fog moved in and out as well at the rain and sleet. Canada ended up winning gold! So the smaller than expected crowd went crazy! We had all stuck it out in the bad weather and it paid off. Just Awesome! 3 days of events and I've seen 4 gold and 1 bronze for Canada!

We are just about to head downstairs to catch a bus to the Men's Gold Medal Hockey game. I just know it's going to be insane! This will be one of those gamesthat I'll tell my future kids about when they get older... If Canada wins today this will probably be the most important hockey game in Canadian hockey history... I'm sitting in my hotel room on the 10th floor with the TV on and I can still hear people on the streets cheering and getting excited. So that means it time to go! This is a thrill of a lifetime and I wish you were with me to see it. And I do mean "you", I'm talking to every single Canadian!

Go Canada Go!

It was a Golden Day!

What a day! My brother and I had a great breakfast at a Aboriginal Art Gallery in Vancouver, then a presentation from someone from VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee) about Sustainability in the Olympics. Then a nice surprise, we received a pair of tickets to the USA vs. Finland semi-finals. So we left shortly after and headed to the game. At the game there was a large amount of American fans and few Fins... Most Canadians were cheering for the US with hopes that we could get a US vs. Canada final if Canada wins the game against Slovakia. The game started with a bang with a few mistakes from the Fins allowed the US jump to a punishing start 6-0 in the first period. Finland was definitely deflated after a few goals in the first period as well as the entire second period. The crowd died down since the outcome of the game was obvious at this point. Once the Fins started playing better, they scored a goal and the crowd was thrilled that the Fins could save a little embarrassment, but with no other action 6-1 was final score.

After a quick bit to eat we headed to our planned event; Short Track Speed Skating! I've done a little bit of short track so I had a even greater respect for these athletes, as I was thrilled to see the best in the world zipping around the rink! Some popular skaters were the Hamlin brothers from Canada and American Apollo Anton Ohno. 3 events: Men's 500m, Ladies 1000m and Men's 5000m relay! With quarter finals and semi's for the 500m and 1000m, and finals for all.


It was very exciting and the crowds were going insane! Charles Hamlin ended up winning Gold and Francois-Louis Tremblay taking Bronze in the 500m race. It was just amazing!

After all that excitement our Canadian ladies didn't fair so well by missing the podium. Next was the 5000m men's relay. Two teams were in the Men's B Final so it was less hectic than the A final to come. Great Britain and Germany battled with GB having a great finish to win the race. This was a great primer for the final which had five teams on the ice. Four players per team so that meant 20 skaters going around doing relays. It was 45 laps and the pace kept getting faster ever lap. By the time we got down to the 12th lap out of 45 the crowd was insane and Canada was leading!! The excitement in the arena was like nothing I've ever seen before. I'm getting goose bumps just recalling the finish. Charles Hamlin had a close call coming out of one of the corners around lap five but held on. With the crowd getting louder and louder every lap and the race pace getting faster and faster Canada finished first - taking GOLD! It was such an amazing moment, something that I will remember for the rest of my life! Everyone was high five-ing and yelling as loud as they could, it was just an unreal experience and I'm so proud I had the chance to be there!

The Medal ceremonies were great getting to yell Oh Canada twice was just awesome! Canada finished the night with 2 Gold and 1 Bronze! Oh and Canada's Men's hockey team won so they advance to the Gold medal finals! So Amazing! Hopefully the guys can repeat the ladies performance against the US! We'll have to see if the Gold Medal Hockey will be just as amazing as the short track relay, I can't wait! Snowboarding tomorrow up at Cypress!


Some celebrity citings: Vince Vaughn, Stephan Harper, Brett Butt (Corner Gas tv show..), Shawnee Davis (US long tack speed skater).

Sea of Red & Gold!

Our first day full day in Vancouver was fantastic. Started out with a trip back from North Van were we stayed at my handsome cousin's (So he says...) apartment. Thanks Barry! Then a stop at our hotel then the Olympic cauldron.

After a quick lunch we headed to the Arena for the Women's Gold Medal Final! After the metal detectors and some cheering outside the arena we headed in. The arena quickly filled and the crowd was amped to see Canada win Gold! Seeing them win was amazing! And to top it off was every Canadian in the crowd singing Oh Canada! Check out some of the pics below for the some Canadian Celeb sightings...

After dinner we headed down to Robson square to catch Joannie Rochette's skate with a big crowd at the CTV booth on the street. Of course, when she won 3rd the crowd went nuts!

One more trip to the Cauldron at night and then its time to hit the sack. I'm exhausted! Some short track speed skating finals tomorrow! Can't wait!

Bringing Home Gold!

I'm sitting in Pearson International Airport in Toronto on my way to Vancouver for the Olympics! My hands are shaking with excitement about going.

I've always dreamed about going to an Olympics, but to finally get the chance to go in Canada is beyond what I've ever dreamed about! On Boxing Day this past Christmas, I found out I had a chance to attend the winter games when my brother asked me to go with him. Since February 12th I've been glued to the TV taking in the whole experience watching as much as I could. Sitting on the edge of my seat every time Canada has a chance at a medal. Learning about the athletes stories and becoming invested in their chance at Gold!

We have tickets to 1 or 2 events each day which include Gold Medal Tickets to Men's Hockey! & Closing Ceremonies! A lot is riding on tonight's game against Russia not only for Team Canada but for my Olympic Experience... :-) Seeing Canada play for Gold on Canadian soil is beyond belief!

I will be posting photos and updates about my experience all weekend to share with my friends and family. One regret about this trip is that I can't share it with the women of my dreams, my wife Cassandra. I will do my best to document it with photos and video to share with her and everyone else.

To close out my first post, my goal with this Blog is not only to share this Olympic weekend with everyone but when I return I plan to post updates about my website: www.dennisbarnes.com and any photographic adventures I'm having or been on. Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully I'll be posting a lot about Canada Bringing Home Gold!

Cheers,
Dennis