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Torino 2006 Skeleton Gold Medalist athlete Duff Gibson chats with Olympic Outsider host Dave Thorvald about having a beer named after him, life as a Calgary fireman, being Canada's (and the world's) oldest gold medalist, training for technical and speed courses, the Whistler track, athletic challenges and the future of the sport at an Olympic rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery in May 2006.

Download The Duff Man! - Olympic Laughs with the Superhero Skeleton-ist Duff Gibson
(.mp3, 8MB, 9:53)

Host Dave Thorvald with Dan Funboy wrap up the Men's and Women's hockey tournaments from Torino 2006 in this enhanced podcast with pictures. 

Topics include team leadership, puck possession, tactical strategies, tournament surprise teams, and a bit of looking ahead to 2010.

Grab thew show:
Olympic Outsider Episode 6 - Hockey Tournament Wrap-up  (m4a)
Olympic Outsider Episode 6 - Hockey Tournament Wrap-up  (mp3)

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Host Dave Thorvald with Dan Funboy and buddy Lance wrap up the performances of Torino 2006 with emphasis on Team Canada's athletes.

Topics include notable Men's and Women's performances in Luge, Skeleton, Bobsled, Curling, Short-Track Speedskating, Long-track Speedskating, Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Biathlon, Freestyle Skiing, and Snowboarding.  Plus banter on doping measures, police raids, sportsmanship, new sports, and herbal remedies.

This 38:18 long podcast is enhanced with 'chapters' for your listening convenience. 

Grab thew show:
Olympic Outsider Episode 5 - Wrapping Up XX Part 1  (m4a)
Olympic Outsider Episode 5 - Wrapping Up XX Part 1  (mp3)

Quick wrap-up from the preliminary round of the Men's hockey tournament with Dave Thorvald and Toadler from upstairs.  Plus bold predictions for the quarter-final round and a wee bit of history tossed in.

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Well after the euphoria of Day Seven, Day Eight was a bit of a reality check after a variety of disappointments and underwhelming performances.  Day Nine though is shaping up nicely despite the being down 2-0 to Finland after 1 period.

A few notes: 

Men's Hockey loses to Suisse

For a loss, oddly this one didn't hurt all that much. Switzerland played their guts out and scored another huge victory.  I won't go on cause i blogged live during the game, but the short version is, ... Way to go Switzerland for stepping it up and (with your 2 huge wins) welcome to the big leagues.  

Men losing to Finland 

Underway now in the second which must be better than the first in which Canada stood around and watched Finland put on a clinic in team play, skill and hustle.  I am bit peeved right now so will hold my tongue in anticipation of a spirited comeback. 

In-game notes Canada vs Switzerland

Switzerland coming off a huge win versus Czech Republic while Canada has been clipping along nicely withs comfy wins versus Italy and Germany. 

The Swiss start goalie Gerber over Aebisher but no let down in play early as Gerber (wearing his NHL Carolina Hurricanes mask) is playing out of his mind.

Broduer looks a bit tired and unsteady and is coming out of his net a little *too* much for my liking but doing his soft goalie hands routine with some long lead passes and even getting passes back from the D (which isn't my favorite play).

Bertuzzi had an apparent goal disallowed when the play had been whistled down since he was in the crease.  Sakic, Iginla and Bert are playing OK but not as dominant as recent games and overthinking the plays a bit.  Bert's positional play and passing looks very good and he buried one guy into the boards.

Todd Bertuzzi does not wear a visor when playing for NHL Vancouver Canucks, and i don't think he was wearing one in the game Italy, yet here he is wearing a visor versus Germany (great pic Robert Scales). 

If i recall correctly, there is (an IIFC?) rule in which all players born after a certain age must wear a visor and perhaps Bertuzzi just found out about this rule?

Day Seven and I am in Heaven, How about you?

A few quick notes after busy day of attending the RainCity / Bryght-sponsored Symposium at Vancouver's Take 5 coffeeshop.

The event linked up the Torino street-maniacs Krug, Scales and (the not sooo maniacal) Bman at the BC lodge in Turin, Italy.  Participants on the Western hemisphere included Gold Medalist Ross Rebagliati, plus photo-machine Roland Tanglao, boy-wonder Will Pate, very public Michael Tippet, photo queen Spiral Goddess, my buddy Bread and many more.

Dropping in with some thoughts, comments, ... coming in briefly cause so much going on!

Skating away with medals

The Canadian Men and Women both earned Silver in a brand-new event - Long-track Speed-skating Team Pursuit relay.  Two teams of 3 skaters start at opposite sides of track and race around 5 times or so.  The clock stops when the third skater crosses so some team dynamics, drafting come into play. 

The Women (3 skaters per race, but may alternate through 5 team members during heats) lost to the strong Germans led by the legendary Claudia Pechstein (this is her 8th Olympic medal), along with Annie Freisinger and Daniela Anschuetz Thoms (sniff and i knew her when she was just Daniela Anschuetz).

The men went down to a Italian team skating on mission in front of the home fans.  Cool event and did anyone even notice Canada does well at new sports in the Olympics (freestyle, short track, ...)?

Bleary-eyed after waking for the 4AM face-off, Dave Thorvald discusses the opening game of the Olympic hockey tournament in this 9:24 long podcast. 

Olympic Outsider Episode 2

Description: Canada beat Italy 7-2 - After a slow start, Canada turned on the jets versus a hardworking and speedy, but overmatched host squad.  Bertuzzi, Iginla and St. Louis had particularly nice games.

In other hockey news, Slovakia (thanks to 2 late golas by Marian Gaborik) beat Russia, Czech beat Germany (though uber-goalie Dominik Hasek sustained an injury) and mid-way through the 3rd period, Latvia and USA are tied at 3. Go Latvia!