Down the stretch they come.....

So here he is - the Fin that my dad had a bonding experience with. You can see that my description was fairly accurate - I just missed on the Viking helmet piece - but remember, I was across the rink from this guy. Great photo dad and thanks for sending it my way.

I want to get this straight, did Bobby, the guy on the outside, really give me a hard time in his post, and then wrap it up with a statement about going to the opera? I have a rebuttal, but sometimes you just have to know when to let a guy bury himself....

It has been an interesting couple of days in the Willage. There have been the typical highs and lows that go along with life. Apparently no matter where you go - you can't ever really get away from "real" life. When you are here - in an Olympic Village - you become so focused on each day and what you have to do, that it becomes easy to forget the reality of life. Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending on your perspective) reality has a way of coming up and biting you on the nose. Yesterday we faced three situations that you don't want to think about when you are at a Games. How the staff in this village worked together and reacted to each situation only reaffirmed what a great team we have here. Professionals all the way. I have said it before, but I am blessed because of what I get to do each day, and because of the people I work with.

A couple of days ago I posted something Tammie had written about pins and their power. The power of the pin was confirmed the other day. I was walking through the international zone of the Village and right behind me was Chris Chelios. I talked with him for a minute and as we were entering the last building we have to walk through to get to our housing area Chelly peeled off. The reason he stopped...he wanted to do some pin trading with a guy who spoke limited English. Of course there were a few people who had to have their picture taken with him as well. It was great. A Stanley Cup winning, probably Hall of Fame player, trading pins. Perfect.

There is no question that we are here to win medals. We want to win medals, and we want to win gold medals. Me writing that statement may make some of you cringe, but remember, we are a sporting organization. We are made up of athletes who are among the world's best in their particular sport. They all possess a very competitive spirit. As staff members we have to share that fire, or we will not be as effective in serving these athletes. So if you have any feel for drama and competition - you were probably watching the men's 1500 in long track speedskating yesterday. Hedrick vs. Davis was the billing. They both performed well, but the Italian stole the show. So while the Italian took the gold we so desperately wanted, you had to feel great for him. To pull off that upset, in his home country, amazing. Tonight he gets to hear his national anthem at Medals Plaza. It does not get much better than that.

Speaking of Medals Plaza, tonight the entertainment is Ricky Martin. That should be interesting. We will be there as we have Shani and Chad travelling from the Village to go down there and collect their medals. As Michelle put it, there could be some bon bon shaking going on.

One note before I move on - I am reading the same stuff you are about Chad and Shani. Let me just remind all of you that the press does not always get it right. Especially in an environment like this where expectations are so high, pressure is immense, and 10000 writers need something to do...or drum up.

Let's talk hockey. Today the US plays the first game of this tournament that matters. They face off with Finland. It is the quarterfinals and we are now in a sitaution where the boys have to win to stay alive. I know our record is 1-3-1, but I am asking all of you to have faith. We need all of you to send the fellas some love and give them some extra support.

The weird thing about the Olympics is that our housing - in particular where we have the men's hockey team housed - is 100 feet from the door of where Finland lives here in the Village. Countries seperated by thousands of miles are about to get it on in the Olympics, and they are housed that close to each other. Just over a couple of hundred feet in the other direction are the Italians - the ones who "took" that gold from us yesterday. In fact, within our V illage here in Torino, 82 countries are housed. Think about that for a second. Those types of things make this experience even that much more incredible.

Last night Eric and I went over the US vs. Russia game. Well, let me clarify - we got their for the last 10 minutes (some things in the village held up our departure). Walking wise, we can be in the Palasport and Olympic Stadium within 15 minutes from the Village. Our location here is fantastic. The game was awesome. We saw three goals and a flurry of activity. The place was packed and the flag wavers for both countries were in full effect. It was an electric atmosphere and one of those times when you just have to stop and look around and truly appreciate where you are and what you are seeing. Bobby G was there - but he was up in the stand of honor - where he should be.

After the game ended, JJ, the men's team leader gave me a call and asked me to help him out. In yet another example that being at the Games is all glamour, he asked me to go to one of the rooms, get a DVD, and walk it out to a nearby bar. The DVD was of a yet to be released movie that Chelios appears in. An actor - DB Sweeney - had given it to JJ so that the video editor here with the men's team could put Chelly's lines from the movie in a scout tape he was creating. JJ needed me to go get the DVD and take it DB Sweeney, which I did. So for those of you wondering what I do - add in DVD delivery boy to actors. Hey, whatever it takes.

We are in the stretch run here. In looking at what is yet to be competed, we see 10 or so solid medal opportunities. We will see how we end up these Games. We need all of you to send all the positive vibes you can to YOUR athletes.

As you can see, things in the Village continue to move on. Those of us who work in here just come in every day, put on our fire fighting hats, and wait for the bell. We have no idea what each day will bring. We do know that it will be unique. We are some dang lucky fire fighters.

Until next time....