Emotional Rollercoaster

Wow, another emotionally draining day.  First we had the Women's Hockey team's solid performance (and great goaltending) defeating the USA for the gold medal.

Despite the victory it was not all good news for Women's Hockey.  The IOC has warned the IHF that the sport must become more competitive, and that the dominance of the Canadian and US teams is hurting the sport.  Softball was removed from the Summer Olympics because of US dominance, let's hope the same thing does not happen to Women's Hockey!

In addition, the Canadian team did not do themselves any favours by coming back onto the ice more than 1/2 hour after the medal ceremony, still in uniform, and with gold medals around their necks, where they were reportedly drinking beer, and champagne, and smoking cigars.

Switching gears entirely, we then had this...

How could you not be touched by the depth of her emotions, and the courage and strength she displayed tonight?

It was a nearly flawless night of Women's Figure Skating, and Yu-Na Kim was phenomenal, setting records with both her Short and Free programs.  Here's something astonishing...  each element receives a GOE (Grade Of Execution) that reflects how well the element was performed, and which is added to the base score for that element.  Kim's cumulative GOE score was +17.4, which is worth more than two triple axels!

But it was Joannie Rochette that captured our hearts, skating only days after her mothers death shortly after arriving in Vancouver to watch Joannie compete.

Joannie showed us what true champions are made of, and though she could not catch Mao Asada for the silver, she survived a very good skate by Mirai Nagasu of the US to hold on to the bronze.

I lost my Mom unexpectedly to a heart attack in 1998 at age 53.  I cannot begin to imagine what it took for her to focus on skating and to deliver as she did, and I could not watch Joannie skate tonight here without tears in my eyes.