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Pieter Uni
By Pieter Uni
Cheering along with the thousands of proud Canadian swarming through the city of Vancouver following the men’s gold medal victory over the United States, I couldn’t help release a drip of liquid from my eye.
The tear slid down my cheek and joined the local ale and delicious pizza that had found a home on my newly purchased Team Canada jersey.
While my appearance certainly embarrassed my friends and was admittedly un-manly, I wasn’t alone.
According to some preliminary factoids released by NBC and Nielson, 25 per cent of men watching the Olympics have cried. Naturally there were moments that produced the uncommon phenomenon amongst men.
Canada’s first gold medal, captured by Alexandre Bilodeau after winning the men’s moguls freestyle skiing title and Joannie Rochette’s display of courage were incredible moments, worthy of a box of tissue. There were so many moments of glory, heartbreak, triumph, tribulations and redemption that I thought all eyes would be too sore to work on Day 17.
But the best moment for weeping came after Sidney’s historic goal that gave our nation it’s 14th gold medal. As I looked for a fellow sap in the crowd only smiles could be seen on the faces of those who shared the same jersey as I.
In fact, I could find only one person shedding a tear. When I looked more closely I saw it was a man wearing an American jersey. And it was then I joined my country men in smiling.
Snap shots
In talking with a volunteer at the German Olympic pavilion, it was discovered that the pavilion had run out of beer Feb. 19. The 270 kegs of Wernesgruner pilsner imported for the Games was consumed by avid beer-lovers, though a new shipment arrived the next day. When asked how they ran out, the volunteer offered this response.
“What I was told was that Canadians drank more beer in that time than the last two Winter Olympics combined.”
If you think the Blackhawks are scary now with the likes of Olympic participants Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, think about how scary they would be with an Olympics netminder. Rumours circulating around the Olympics has Tomas Vokun, currently with the Florida Panther, heading to Chicago.
