Bringing down the curtain

That's a wrap, Canada. Well done, too.

Until Neil Young brings down the curtain along with a cast of thousands tonight, this finale to these Olympics just completed this afternon mirrors the arc of these Games: Halting beginning, lots of questions, a rising red and white tide – and finally a new generational touchstone with an epic gold-medal hockey final. Sidney Crosby has always been The Kid to Canadians. Today he became The Man.

(Photo: Julia Mackey, left, and Francis Sacurom of Vancouver celebrate Sidney Crosby's overtime winning goal in the men's hockey final as Canada beat the United States. The pair were watching on a giant screen at Vancouver's BC Place while awaiting the start of the Olympics closing ceremony Feb. 28, 2010 in Vancouver. ROBERT SKINNER/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

What has struck me being here the last two and a half weeks is the magnitude of the crowds downtown – and the lack of incidents (as of this writing, anyway). The athletes are always what these things are all about, but Vancouver, Richmond, Whistler and the visitors here joined them among the biggest stars of these Games. At the World Cup, this kind of fervour sometimes spills over, tribal affiliations and flags and beer running over and up against each other. I was in Marseille in 1998 when fans rioted, and in Dortmund four years ago when hoolies from Poland and Germany met up for a punchup that was contained by police far away from the stadium where we all sang I Will Survive. I've seen the Olympics at its best and less (Sydney 2000; Atlanta 1996). These are all privilege assignments, but as a Canadian with family ties to Vancouver, this one was especially so. Here, every night coming back on the SkyTrain from downtown to Richmond was a packed party on wheels. Every morning coming back in, you wondered if anyone was sleeping given the early lineups to get into the sights. 

I'll leave the rest for my colleagues to fill in. Meantime, one last link before I get on tonight's redeye for back home. It comes from overseas, from the BBC's James Pearce, looks ahead to Vancouver's influence on the next unfolding of the bloated, overhyped and entirely out of control Olympic circus, and it's a worthy coda to those way too early assessments that seem a long time ago and far, far away:

One senior official from London 2012, who's been in Vancouver, told me that she's learned more from five days in Canada than she had from three weeks in China. That's because, in terms of spectator experience, London will be looking to follow the Vancouver model.
(snip)
On Saturday I was outside the Broadcast Centre grabbing some fresh air when I saw a large crowd heading down the street towards me. At the centre of the throng was a big Canadian flag being waved proudly in the air. As the people moved closer I could see that the man carrying that flag was Jon Montgomery, a Canadian gold medallist last weekend in the skeleton.
Around him, an impromptu procession had formed - a celebration of home-grown success. The further down the road that Montgomery went, the more people tagged on behind. If this had been a scene in some other countries maybe there would have been accusations of over-hyped nationalism, but this felt spontaneous, natural and very good natured.

I had witnessed just one of hundreds of events that have been taking place on the streets here every day, but for me it summed up one of the successes of these Games.

Morning links, Day 17: Generational hockey touchstones

Every generation has its moments. A different set of morning links on that theme, as we've moved from Canada-Russia to Canada-USA in terms of matchups to make the blood boil. Blame NAFTA, the end of the Cold War, Gary Bettman - regardless, it's Canada vs USA that has topped the marquee the past decade, and at these Olympics in women's hockey, ice dance, freestyle skiing. Maybe today we get an addition to this roll call:

Depression era - Hockey Night in Canada debuts on TV:

Boomer moment to end all boomer moments:

Boomers in the U.S.: 

GenX moment, Gretzky to Lemieux:

GenY - 2002 Olympic final, Canada vs. U.S.:

Morning links, Day 16

The final full day of competition here. The final full day of morning links:

An essential read ahead of tomorrow's Canada-US men's hockey final: Michael Farber at SI.com takes a look at Brian Burke, dealing with the recent death of his son Brendan during these Olympics, "Man of his word":

The Olympics are an obligation, not an option, to the 54-year-old. As Team USA practices in a frigid community arena, Burke says, "Lincoln lost a son in the White House. So did Jefferson Davis in the Confederacy. They didn't go home. They finished the job. USA Hockey didn't ask me to do this on the basis of, Will you do this if your personal life allows it?"
Burke, a Civil War buff, does not mean to sound self-aggrandizing by comparing his situation with Lincoln's and Davis's. He just does. "There's not a shortage of ego to the man," says Mike Milbury, a former NHL player, coach and G.M., and Burke's friend of three decades.

In one of the more remarkable sports stories here, Norway's Marit Bjoergen goes for her fourth gold medal today in cross-country skiing - something no one has done before. But her rival, Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk, has accused Bjoergen of cheating. Kowalczyk has won three medals this Games, and was once cleared of a drug offence just before the Turin Games:

"She wouldn't have won without her medicine," Kowalczyk is quoted on the Polish website Wirtualna Polska. "Marit knows very well she wouldn't have much to show without her helpers, neither against me nor the other women."
Bjoergen uses medication to combat athletically induced asthma, medication that is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances. However, WADA has cleared Bjoergen to use the medication.

Here's Ron Wilson, behind the bench for the U.S. team and much to some Leafs fans' surprise, showing he can, you know, coach. From Damien Cox's early column yesterday:

"When you've got great goaltending, very mobile defencemen and skill up front, you just try to stay out of the way," Wilson, who coached the U.S. to victory in the 1996 World Cup, said after the resounding victory over the Finns.
Then he added, "I didn't come into the tournament to prove my coaching abilities."

Quote of the day, from Hayley Wickenheiser: "Get real. We were enjoying the moment. Things happen. Everybody just take a deep breath. Nobody on the team smokes. We are aware that it's not the image that we want to portray. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed."

And finally, Vancouver's English Bay lights have been illuminating the night sky during these Olympics. Vectorial Elevation is the installation that winds up tomorrow, so there's still time to enter your lights pattern from your computer at home. Check out Randy Risling's video for a lovely look-in.

Cigars all around

This one just arrived in the inbox, and it's no surprise. To mangle an old saw, a game is only a game - but a good cigar is a smoke:

"Although the International Olympic Committee is ready to rain on the celebration parade of the Canadian Women's Hockey Team, one company stands behind the cigar smoking and wine guzzling gold medal champions, Gurkha Cigars! The luxury cigar brand, Gurkha Cigars, is in full support of the group of athletes that were simply celebrating their victory and has even overnighted cases of their new Triad Cigar in order to show it.
"Whether they can or can't attend Sunday's closing ceremonies, these ladies will be celebrating in high luxury with $50 a pop smokes and $1,000 cases. Gurkha has also created a Facebook fan page so others can show their support on behalf of the hockey team: Support Canada's Women's Hockey Team."

Funny how this kind of stuff the IOC is worried about is celebrated and indeed televised into the living rooms of the nation in the world of men's pro sports, isn't it?

Live: Olympics hockey Q&A

Join Damien Cox, Paul Hunter and Chris Young for a live Q&A about Olympic hockey at 2 p.m. (ET) as Team Canada prepares to take on Slovakia tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET

Morning links, Day 15

One last Olympic weekend. The links:

The Canadian women, after playing a couple of in-camera exhibition games to keep sharp during these Olympics, won the gold in a tight one against the U.S. From Paul Hunter's report:

Twice after checking into the athletes’ village, they sneaked out under the guise of going to “the aquarium.”
Instead, the women played exhibition games against the Vancouver North West Giants, one of the country’s top major midget teams, winning one and losing one against the teenaged boys. They went once the night before opening ceremonies and again after the preliminary games, three outings they waltzed through by a cumulative score of 41-2.
Word never leaked out, so single-minded and united were the women in their purpose.
“We had to stay sharp,” said coach Melody Davidson. “We were winning 18-0, 13-1. We needed to stay sharp.”

But a couple of things are bugging the IOC. First, Jacques Rogge, who drops in on these gold medal women's finals once every four years or so, was hinting yesterday that the field has to get deeper. Or else. As Cam Cole notes in the Vancouver Sun, they're almost too good, these two teams – or more accurately, the rest of the world has remained too far behind:

After hearing IOC president Jacques Rogge's words of warning Thursday — coming, pointedly, on the morning of the championship game — you could not watch the sport's fiercest battle unfold without wondering how many more of these predictable climaxes to anti-climactic Olympic tournaments will be tolerated before the IOC throws up its hands and tosses women's hockey on the same discard pile that cost women's softball its place in the five-ring circus after the 2008 Beijing Games.

And oh, about that victory celebration – beer, champagne and cigars, at centre ice a half hour after the game – the IOC is none too pleased about that, as well:

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party.
"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said, referring to raucous locker-room celebrations that are a tradition in some professional team sports.
"If these athletes were of legal age, then it's not something that's against the law," he said. "We can understand there's a lot of sensitivity around celebrations."

Joannie Rochette finished up the most trying week of her life last night with class, dignity and a bronze medal around her neck. From Rosie DiManno's report:

This was a different Rochette than the skater whose career has been documented by national and international media for the past half-dozen years. Where once she was emotionally fragile, her cluttered mind often overtaking muscle-memory so that stumbles occurred in front of judges, the body torqued by psychological stress, Rochette has suddenly evolved into a skater of internal resilience and external poise.
But, oh, what a horrible way to arrive at this competitive composure: The discovery that, residing in her soul all along was this tough cookie who could rise to the Olympic challenge in what has been the worst week of her life.

As for the overwhelming winner, Yu-Na Kim, the most telling quote of the night probably came from skating analyst Jamie McGrigor, in Phil Hersh's Chicago Tribune report: "If this was track and field, we just watched an eight-second 100 metres."

As for Brian Orser, the coach who trains Kim out of Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, the cameras caught him doing aerobics along with her as he followed her along. Here's Orser's assessment, from Cam Cole's Vancouver Sun column:

 

"She didn't miss a step, from what I could see from my side. She was skating with her heart. I just wanted her to have an Olympic moment. I wanted it to be Olympic and not cautious, not hold back, just go out and embrace the space, and the Olympic Games."

From Russia, with bile, while Sasquatch lurks

Three links while you wait for tonight's hockey game, where, mercifully, Russia won't be on the ice against Canada. As Trueslant.com's Julia Ioffe notes from Moscow, the reaction to yesterday's Canada men's win over Russia has been as brutal as you might expect:

Hanging out in Vancouver?.

The city of Tomsk held a moment of silence. “Because of disgraceful performance of our team I’m afraid to approach TV-set,” tweeted Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s envoy to NATO. “How on earth could we have blown it so disastrously in hockey?”

Cathal Kelly rounds it all up back at the home office, noting a Pravda editorial from before the game that has been making the rounds.

But Pravda, which has morphed into kind of a Russian Weekly World News, has come back with an exclusive - "Canadian researcher snaps Sasquatch in Vancouver", after "Canadian cryptozoologist Randy Brisson" snapped Bigfoot, reassuredly noting the big lug was "quite far from sports objects":

Brisson assured his Russian colleagues that it was a photo of the legendary Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. The popularity of the mythical creature has won it the honor to become a symbol and a mascot of Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Mr. Brisson’s photo may mean that the mascots ramble somewhere in the woods of the Olympic city.

Interview: Cammi Granato

She's already a pioneer, the first woman to be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and one of the first three to go into the IIHF Hall of Fame. Just one more to go, then, for Cammi Granato, a cinch to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame, perhaps this year when the Toronto-based Hall opens its members' lounge to the women's game. Longtime U.S. hockey stalwart, schooled at Concordia, now living in Vancouver, married to ex-NHLer Ray Ferraro and serving as an analyst on NBC's women's hockey coverage – here is a woman of many allegiances, you would think. I talked to her yesterday at Canada Hockey Place – while Canada and Russia were taking to the ice, we were inside the building waiting for first the U.S. and then the Canadian women to go through their media paces ahead of today's gold-medal game matching the traditional rivals.(Photo: Cammi Granato celebrating Team U.S.A.'s victory over Canada at the 2005 world championships. Getty Images)

Morning links, Day 14

 And a busy one it is, with more to come today in figure skating, hockey, curling and aerials. We're almost home:

A bobsled one-two for Canada. Kaillie Humphries' secret recipe for gold: “I’m not really looking at times. I just push my butt off and make it to the bottom.”

Short-track silver for Canada, after Korea was disqualified – another medal for the Greggs, and a nice going-out present for Tania Vicent. (Photo above by Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star)

And one for the ages, as Clara Hughes goes out with another medal and heads into a new career (photo, Tara Walton/Toronto Star). From Randy Starkman's report:

“There is nothing like this. The thing working in broadcasting in China showed me is it's a really special thing to be an Olympic athlete.

“I thought 'I get to do this one more time.' And I never lost sight of what 'this' is. Because when it's over, it's over. And now it's actually over. Wow.”

The earth's rotational wobble has been corrected. Canada beats Russia at the Olympics for the first time in 50 years. Bryzgalov on the Canadian men: “Like gorillas coming out of a cage.” And from Yahoo! Sports' Dmitry Chesnokov's Twitter updates, a quote from Russian coach Bykov on the Russian media: "Let's put up guillotines & gallows in Red Sq & kill all players & staff. Why look for someone to blame?" and "Right now we're taking our hats off for Canada. They were better. The level of our team is lower. For today."

Outside the Canadian news, the latest episode of Vonncouver continues on the feud with teammate Julia Mancuso.

Don Draper goes shopping.

And a York University study says that wearing red helps you with the judges. Maybe that explains yesterday's run. Except that Canada wore their whites last night. But oh, that was hockey: “All things being equal between two figure skaters – including their actual speed on the ice – the judges will perceive a skater in red is moving with greater speed than a skater in blue, and may reward the skater in red with higher marks.”

Live hockey chat, 2 p.m. ET

Star hockey reporter Paul Hunter joins Chris Young for a live hockey chat at 2 p.m. ET today, taking your questions and comments.

Give us your prognostications, pose your questions and share your confidence or angst as we count down the hours and minutes until Canada's next - and possibly biggest - hockey test at these Olympic Games, the Russians.