Vancouver 2010 Olympics Coverage Daily - canada

The Duff Man! - Olympic Laughs with the Superhero Skeleton-ist Duff Gibson - Olympic Outsider #8

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:42:58 -0800

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)

Olympic Outsider Podcast #6 - Hockey Tournament Wrap-up with Dave and Dan

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 21:12:13 -0800

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.

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Olympic Outsider Episode 6 - Hockey Tournament Wrap-up (m4a)
Olympic Outsider Episode 6 - Hockey Tournament Wrap-up (mp3)

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Olympic Outsider Podcast #5 - Wrapping Up Turin XX Part 1

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 19:39:54 -0800

Olympic Outsider Episode 5 - Wrapping Up XX Part 1

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)

Olympic Outsider Podcast #4 - Quarter-final Hockey Predictions

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 17:06:37 -0800

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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Olympic Notebook for Feb. 19th - Day Eight 'not so Great' but Day Nine 'looking Fine'

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:38:48 -0800

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.

Canadian choke on Swiss Cheese

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 08:11:07 -0800

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.

Bertuzzi in a Visor

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:26:55 -0800

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?

Olympic Notebook for Feb. 17th - Day Seven Heaven

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 19:15:27 -0800

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.

Olympic Notebook for Feb. 16th - Canadian Trail is a freeway today

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 15:52:56 -0800

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, ...)?

Olympic Outsider Podcast #2 - Canadian Men Open With Win!

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 14:01:45 -0800

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!

Hockey Poll Results and Analysis

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:02:52 -0800

Well the public has spoken and they are crazy! Well really, you never know what will happen in the Olympic tournament so I should keep my mouth shut but ...

Besides Canada (who i never pick against), I suggest that the Czechs are the team to beat. Two top goalies, forwards on fire and a better crop of defensemen than in years past. Further, the Czechs play great as a team with a patient style which can explode at any minute for a couple of quick goals.

Russia ~~(winners of this poll shown below)~~ (oops, i accidentally thought the Russians, who were ahead through most of the poll, had won, sorry - Russia finished 2nd, Czechs third - see below for full details) are somewhat enigmatic darkhorses - they are disorganized like usual and don't always play with heart for their country (the old guard are resentful of the young players' money and lifestyle and vice versa). That being said, with a crop of young guns taking over from the venerable stars, you could see some exciting performances if not a medal.

SLC Winter Olympics 2002 Flashback P.5 - Hockey, Trophies and Hockey

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 10:58:57 -0800

Up next, more Women's hockey, this time at the new E Center in West Valley City, a SLC suburb located in the flat remnants from when the lake was much larger.

While walking to the rink, we saw a fairly low-key sign in front of a hotel across from the rink saying "NHL Trophy Exhibit." There were also a bunch of NHL and various Hockey Federation-marked vans around. We wandered in and were greeted with EVERY SINGLE TROPHY in the NHL collection in a gallery with almost no one in it.

_{Stanley, Dave and Guy}

I ran around like a lunatic touching the trophies, looking at the names, gazing at the splendor and smiling at our luck. Dan had seen the glorious mug before so was a bit nonplussed (as is his style) but i made him take my pic with Lord Stanley. I pointed at Guy Lafleur in 1977 and you couldn't smack the smile off my face.

I also ran my finger over the Vancouver Millionaires and the Seattle Metropolitans insciption and noticed the missing year 1918 when the Spanish Flu epidemic wiped out the cup tourney and sent Montrealers home sick and dying, and saw the corrected Adam Deadmarsh entry. I also spent some time observing some favorites, the Selke (best defensive forward) and the Clarence Campbell (which the Canucks have won twice). I wanted to stay longer to just "sit" but game was waiting.

_{Vancouver Millionaires won in 1915 over the Ottawa Senators}

A couple of Sunday morning notes and observations ...

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 09:10:24 -0800

Greetings this Sunday Morning!

Just a couple of observations from last night's and this mornings events from coverage I've managed to catch - augmented by a few notes by Dan Funboy.

Besides Jennifer Heil's awesome performance and Women's Hockey rolling over Italy (as I type they are leading Russia 10-0), i enjoyed an inspired performance by Italian long-strack speed skater (insert name here), who absolutely looked like he was being pushed by the Italian crowd. Great to see the homer country get on the medal board early too.

More about Speed skating, that hotshot American kid is fast and determined, watch his technique, a double push but they'll likely talk about this on TV-coverage. CBC has Catroina LeMay Doan doing color commentary and she was quite good (though she looks rather soccer-mom-ish now - cause well, ... she probably is) but she called on Canada to support more and help the athletes to "own the podium" (the Canadian mantra).

Canucks Outsider Episode 22 featuring brief Olympic preview

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 13:20:31 -0800

Along with the SLC Flashback series, I produce a podcast called the Canucks Outsider, the latest episode of which features Dan Funboy and I talking about the upcoming Olympics over beers at the Eastside Club in Olympia, WA. In this case, mostly the re-vamped Canadian Alpine skiiing team, Men's hockey tourney and ski-jumping.

If you enjoy home-grown commentary (and don't mind moderately ribald hockey talk) then I encourage you to subscribe to the feed for more Olympic chatter over the upcoming games, or you can just download the episode.