Greg Morrow

What a fantastic Olympic Games. A record gold medal haul for our athletes, not to mention global hockey supremacy, with the golden goal off the stick of Nova Scotia's own Sidney Crosby. The television coverage was great, aside from some understandable problems in the early going, and record crowds tuned in. In total, 99 percent of Canadians watched some portion of the event.

There were plenty of great moments from those 17 days in February, although I'm sure Crosby's goal will be the lasting image. Here is my recap of the Games.

Best moment I witnessed (aside from Crosby's OT winner, because that's too obvious): Alexandre Bilodeau winning gold in men's moguls in front of an electrified crowd, country, and, of course, his brother Frederic. The win finally put an end to all the talk of how we had never won a gold medal on home soil; that was getting really annoying, oh, six months ago.

Best moment I missed: Jon Montgomery's gold medal in men's skeleton, and his now-famous celebration and walk through Whistler. Did anyone have more fun during the Games?

Best events I never really paid attention to before, but I will from now on: Moguls, ski cross and snowboard cross.

Biggest disappointment: This sure looked like it would be the Canadian men's hockey team early on. Instead, it goes to Mellisa Hollingsworth (skeleton) and Chris Delbosco (ski cross). And let me clarify- it was disappointing in terms of the expectations heading in, and their results. We shouldn't be disappointed in them as athletes. Delbosco overcame a lot to get to this point; more on Hollingsworth in a moment.

Best "soldiers": Denny Morrison, the speed skater who faltered badly early, spread the blame all around, apologized, then came back to help win gold in the team pursuit; and Martin Brodeur, yanked after a sub-par game against the U.S. in the opening round, then stayed positive on the bench, offering advice and tips to teammates and the new number one, Roberto Luongo. Always one of the first to congratulate "Bobby Lou" after a win.

Gold medal for whining: Apolo Anton Ohno. The American speed skater got DQ'ed in the men's short-track 500 metre event, then implied a Canadian judge wanted to put a Canadian athlete on the podium on Canadian soil. Has he ever met a Canadian? As my colleague Paul Bradley pointed out early in these Games, it seemed as though Canadian judges were going out of their way to give Canadian athletes lower scores in some events. Second place goes to Dale Begg-Smith. The Canadian-born Australian citizen pouted like a baby when he finished second to Bilodeau. We're still waiting for video review, but it appearst he did manage to crack a smile during the medal ceremony. Still waiting to find out if it kills him.

Things you would never hear me say if it wasn't for the Olympics: (both times when my pregnant wife asked if I was coming to bed) "Not right now, I have to watch Patrick Chan"; and, "Yeah, I just have to watch ice dancing."

Closest I came to losing it like a blubbering idiot: The end of Joannie Rochette's short program. Rochette went on to a nearly-flawless skate roughly 48 hours after her mother died suddenly. She held it together throughout her performace, the crowd held its breath. She broke down the moment her routine ended, and the crowd absolutely erupted. The words "brave" and "courgeous" have been thrown around so much you might consider it excessive, if they weren't so fitting. The bronze she won was fantastic, but by the time she skated, it didn't matter to Canadians if she finished first, third or last- she had already won us over. A close second- Hollingsworth's tearful apology to the nation following her fifth-place finish. I watched with tears in my eyes.

Biggest waste of time: CTV's Olympic Morning. If you saw five seconds of this, you understand why. The only thing that made it remotely watchable was TSN's Jay Onrait, and his magnificant sense of humour.

Most begrudging case of credit where credit is due: Michael Landsberg getting past security to throw a few questions at U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (the V.P. was wrong with his pick for the women's hockey gold medalists, by the way...)

Best journalist Olympic endevour: Globe and Mail columnist Stephen Brunt's video essay from the last day. I've posted it above- you should watch, it's worth it. Fantastic stuff.

Women of the Games who would have had my attention if they were competing in sycronized knitting: Cheryl Bernard (Canadian, curling), Hollingsworth (Canadian, skeleton), Lindsey Vonn (U.S., alpine skiing), Maelle Ricker (Canadian, snowboard cross), Meghan Agosta (Canadian, hockey), Ashleigh McIvor (Canadian, ski cross) and Carmen Schaefer (Switzerland, curling)

And because I like to be fair to the other half, men of the Games my pregnant wife had an eye on: John Morris (Canadian, curling), Jarome Iginla (Canadian, hockey), Tommy Jakobson (Norway, hockey).

Best Olympic couple: Speed skaters Charles Hamelin and Marianne St-Gelais. These two young kids in love were more excited for the other person's performances than their own accomplishments. A true sign of a great couple.

Most glaring omission from the Opening and/or Closing Ceremonies: Kim Mitchell and Mike Reno of Loverboy. What could be more Canadian than these 80's rock icons?

Most patrotic renaming of a pet: Our dog Hanna became "Hannada" as the Games wound down. Of course, that's the only one I know. If you heard another one, let me know.

Send me your thoughts on that or anything else that caught your attention...greg@1015thehawk.com

Soooo...what do you think? Pretty snappy new website right? The best thing about it, aside from getting a blog, is that the powers-that-be can no longer deny I am a part of the Hawk family. No big deal- it only took six months to get my profile added. I'm still waiting on my station jacket- not holding my breath, either.

So this is my first blog entry. Not just on the new site. Ever. I'm afraid of technology and change. So bear with me as I find my way. I'd like to post consistently, maybe every Tuesday and Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

My blog will vary from post-to-post. Some days I'll talk about something going on in the news (it's sort of my thing), something in sports (also sort of my thing), maybe a personal story (not too personal, don't worry) or just something general that catches my attention. Maybe you have an idea. Always, always feel free to email me your feedback or ideas. I hope reader feedback drives this thing- it would be nice to know you are reading, and to know what you think.

I'll always try to keep it fun and informative- hopefully it will get you talking.

With the long-winded introduction out of the way, let's get going.

My very first topic is on one of, if not the most-anticipated sporting event I can remember- the men's hockey tournament at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Not much of a surprise- one of my favourite things to do is to talk hockey, and this is an event everyone is talking about.

As much excitement as there was for the 2010 edition of the Canadian team, there seemed to be a bit of nervousness and hesitation following a poor showing in 2006.

Those feelings grew as Canada failed to score in the first period against the powerhouse team from Norway. Goal scoring, or a lack of it, was a major issue for the 2006 team. But the opening frame required some patience. These guys had a total of one practice together before Tuesday's opener, so the first period looked a bit like a practice for the team. Thank goodness it was only Norway.

By the second period, things started to turn around. They scored, and a lot of Canadians breathed a sign of relief. In the third period, they looked really good. Chemistry seemed to develop all at once, obvious line combinations appeared, and there was some magnificent passing and outstanding play. Again, it was Norway, but some positives for sure as the tournament moves forward, and a chance to give the team, and the nation, some confidence.

The 2006 team looked good on paper at the time- it obviously didn't work on ice. Looking back now, there were a couple of players, you wonder what they were doing there. The 2010 team looks great on paper, and once it got rolling, looked fantastic on the ice (again, Norway) and you get the feeling, four years from now, we won't be questioning the selection of many, if any, players.

It is only one game- it is by no means our tournament to lose, but things do look promising. Next up- the Swiss tonight (Thursday) before a big test against the U.S. Sunday.

Your thoughts? greg@1015thehawk.com