An Experience Worth Its Weight in Gold

Steven Holcomb and his "Night Train" crew won the 4-man bobsled competition, giving the U.S. it's 36th medal. This ties the all-time mark set by Germany in 2002. Tomorrow, the U.S. is assured a 37th and record-breaking medal in the men's ice hockey final versus Canada. Win or lose in that game, these Olympic Games have been hugely successful for the Americans. The Canadians have hosted a great party. The bronze medal pictured above belongs to Elana Meyers of the third place women's bobsled team.

Tomorrow, I leave for Vancouver where I will spend the next two nights before returning to Texas. Not sure if I'll be able to catch the Closing Ceremonies or where I will be for the gold medal hockey match but I do know that I'm just about ready to head home. It will be nice to spend some more time in Vancouver and hang out with the USOC crew down there. Go USA!

Click HERE for my flash quotes from today's men's alpine slalom event.

Canadian Observation of the Month: The Olympic Games will be considered a bust for many Canadians if their men's hockey team falls to the U.S. in tomorrow's final.

Medal Count: USA 36, Germany 29, Canada 25

Winter Winding Down

Tomorrow is the last full day of competition for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Today was the second to last day for me to stand outside in the freezing cold at the alpine skiing venue. Aside from these blogs, I haven't had too much time to reflect on my month in Whistler. I fall asleep almost immediately upon hitting the pillow. My best times for meditation have been on the ski lift rides to and from the alpine venue. On the way up, I get to see ten thousand flag-waving Olympic fans gearing up to cheer for their country. On the way down, I overlook Whistler Creekside and the forest that surrounds it. Every day brings new experiences and memories. Yesterday, I was able to visit the USA House in Whistler. This was my first time at the House on the evening after an American won a medal. I got to see the athletes and their friends and family enjoy the moment together. With their own medals hanging from their neck, the athletes present a special medal to their coaches, thanking them for all their hard work. It's a pretty cool sight to see and yes I was able to touch the medal.

Click HERE for the flash quotes from the women's alpine slalom event today.

Canadian Observation of the Day: Seems like half of the staff and volunteers with the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee are American.

Medal Count: USA 32, Germany 27, Norway 20

Bringing Home the Hardware

With the women's hockey team winning the silver medal, the U.S. now tops the medal count with 31 podium finishes. Three more medals will tie the all-time best finish by the Americans at a Winter Games, set in Salt Lake City in 2002. With over two full days left of competition, Team USA has already set the record for most medals earned at a Winter Games outside of the U.S. The U.S. Nordic combined skiing team arrived in Canada having never won an Olympic medal. Today, Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane finished first and second, bring the team's medal haul to four at these Games. At the Whistler USOC Media Services Office, we've been adding the names of each medal winner to the wall on either side of the entrance. It's a simple yet impressive display that might come off as showboating. I'm not sure even we anticipating this kind of performance.

Canadian Observation of the Day: The only thing they Canadians love more than hockey is talking about how humble and polite they are.

Medal Count: USA 31, Germany 26, Norway 19

The Cultural Olympiad

After sport, the Olympic Games is a celebration of music and art. Music and sport are both universally loved and great ways to bring people together. Everyday, four free concerts are within a quick walk from my office. I've been unable to see a few of the shows I had circled on my calendar, such as jewish rapper Matisyahu and costumed deejay Deadmau5. But recently I've made up for it by catching Damian Marley (son of Bob) and Canadian indie rock group Stars. The Games are nearing their end and Whistler goes out with a bang with hip-hop artists on three straight nights: the Roots, Knaan and Usher. Oh yeah, there are some sport competitions going on as well.

Click HERE for my flash quotes from the first run of the women's alpine giant slalom event.

Canadian Observation of the Day: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, affectionately known as Mounties, are everywhere, although not all of them wear the official red jacket, tan Stetson and boots.

Medal Count: USA 28, Germany 24, Norway 18.

Venturing Into Vancouver

Yesterday was my first entire day off so naturally I went to Vancouver to see experience the Olympic Games away from the mountains and in the big city. After freezing at the alpine venue the past week, I welcomed the opportunity to thaw out at some indoor sports. First off was U.S. women's hockey semifinal match against Sweden. Team USA won and go on to play Canada in the gold medal match on Thursday. Then I saw the U.S. men's curling match against China. Curling has been one of the few areas where the Americans have underperformed and yesterday resulted in another loss. Nevertheless, it was very cool to see the sport in person for the first time and to hang out with former USOC intern Maura.

In between the two competitions, I was able to walk around Vancouver, which is much more urban and diverse than I expected. It seemed like a less intense version of London or New York. It was every bit as visually stunning and hip as I expected with lots of interesting bars, restaurants and artwork. Tons of people were out on the streets, soaking in the Olympic spirit. I stopped by the USA House, where I ate a gourmet lunch and met up with former USOC intern Vanessa. It was a great day off and it has re-energized me to finish off these Olympic Games strong.

Click HERE for flash quotes from the men's alpine event today.

Canadian Observation of the Day: Tim Horton's is the Canadian Dunkin' Donuts, Blenz is the Canadian Starbucks, they also have plenty of Starbucks.

Medal Count: USA 26, Germany 23, Norway 17

Doing It His Way

Bode Miller is one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time. He is certainly the best American to strap on a pair of skis. Today, Bode won the gold medal in the super combined competition, completing his set of gold, silver and bronze for the 2010 Games. Add that to his two silver medals from 2002 and he has reached five Olympic podiums. He's now become the biggest story for two Olympic Games. Bode essentially took off the 2006 Games in Torino in a well-documented two weeks of partying and underachieving. This time around, the articles are praising Bode for returning to his old self. But through it all, Bode has maintained that he's never changed. He still gets nervous, he still loathes the media and he can still ski. I've gotten a chance to be in the presence of Bode and I truly believe that he is one of the most impressive and intriguing athletes of this generation.

In other news, the U.S. has just upset Canada in men's hockey, 5-3.

Canadian Observation of the Day: USA-Canada hockey certainly ranks as one of the top rivalries on this continent, up there with USA-Mexico soccer and Yankees-Red Sox baseball.

Click HERE for my transcript of the U.S. men's alpine super combined quotes.

Medals Count: USA 24, Germany 18, Norway 12

Alpine Aficionado

Today I attended my fourth alpine event. I have seen U.S. skiers win five medals. The U.S. alpine ski team has now won seven medals, the U.S. Ski Team 11, and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association 16. I have been up close and personal with three of the best U.S. skiers ever: Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso. After a mix of rain, snow and fog that has caused delays, the weather has been perfect. The sun is shining, just not on the print media area, where I'm stationed. The temperature drops considerably in the shade and it can make waiting for athletes to come through seem like an eternity. I suppose it's all in a day's work here in the Whistler. I'll probably never have as much fun working 12 hour days and weekends.

Click HERE for the post-alpine quotes I posted today.

Canadian Observation of the Day: The country has two languages (English and French), which seems like a huge pain in the butt, having to label everything twice.

Medal Count: USA 21, Germany 14, Norway 10.