Loving the Olympics

My Olympic hockey watching schedule has been a little crazy.  For the round robin and quarterfinals hockey schedule, the first game of the day kicks off at midnight, and I watch that until the game is decided.   Thankfully, the game is usually decided during the second period. Then, I drift off to sleep on the couch -- setting the alarm for sometime between 5 and 5:30 am. This means I miss the first period of the second game, but that is the best I can do.  I watch the game as the daylight slowly creeps into the house - under my sleeping bag and cozy as could be. The final game(s) start at 9 am - I watch until they are decided and then head to the resort to ski.

It is kind of a disorienting schedule, but one that I relish. Olympic ice hockey is the highest quality of the sport and is an absolutely delight to watch. The speed of the game is superb, the flow of the competition without TV timeouts makes it even better, and the joy of rooting for my country never diminishes. Having played hockey for over two decades, the quality of the play is captivating. I looked forward to these games months ago when I realized we would be in Tahoe for Sochi 2014 (okay, maybe I planned it a bit).
My Vancouver experience

Beyond my standard joy in the Games, the Sochi Olympics has me fondly recalling the last winter games - 2010 Vancouver. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to those Olympics for a few days because my old company, Avaya, was a supplier of high tech communications infrastructure. They are a sponsors and supplier again for Sochi, which is a great honor and achievement for the company. From what I have read online during the Games, they are doing a great job.
These 4 years have passed pretty quickly, and I can still vividly recall the highlights of my time up in Vanocovuer. Guess what? The memories are heavy on the hockey, as I got to attend two quarterfinal games and see the US team win one of those games in person. I remember very strongly walking to the game, buying a scalped ticket (for maybe a bit more than neccsary, but I had to be there) and in an arresting few moments walking into the arena. I would see the US play in person!

Here is what I wrote in 2010 about the US Olympic hockey quarterfinal game I attended, or one of the sporting spectator highlights of my life.

Got back an hour ago from an electric Olympic event, the U.S. hockey team’s tight 2-0 victory over the scrappy and feisty Swiss team. This was my first Olympic event and it was even better than I had expected, and I am big hockey fan having played the sport since my childhood through today. The intensity and effort of the players is phenomenal, throughout the rosters. Both goalies played amazing. Perhaps the best part was that the atmosphere in the game was really cool, with rolling chants of usa, usa often overpowered by the swiss chants, which were pretty liberally picked up by the many Canadians in attendance.
The game was super exciting, with only one goal without an open net and two reviews by the referees of possible goals, one for the U.S. and one for the Swiss. The Swiss goal was off the far post, and did not go in. I have to confess that it was impossible for me to be 100% sure even though the play took place at my end of Canada Hockey Place. The referee was able to quickly check the review, provided by Omega, the Official Timekeeper of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and determine that the puck did not cross the line. Overall, a pretty straightforward process.
The first disallowed/reviewed goal was really interesting/complex, as the U.S. was initially awarded the goal at the end of the second period on a bouncing puck that went in right at the buzzer. However, after careful review by the ref, it was determined that the goal did not cross the line until after the period had expired. Now, this was within a tenth of a second, so it was absolutely essential that the review was perfect. The whole process got me thinking about the system for review. Basically, the referee had to have complete confidence that the video and time was perfectly synced up, so that he could view the replay and make an informed and correct decision. All this with over 18,000 spectators in the arena and millions more watching around the world waiting with baited breath.

Our adventure started when the London games were ongoing and now we are already at the Winter games. Wow. In some ways, it feels bookended by Olympics. Not a bad way to mark time.
- Link to the rest of my work posts from the 2010 Games, if you are interested (or bored?)
http://www.avaya.com/blogs/archives/tag/olympics

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