Eagle Eye -- Biking Through the Park

After taking a walk along the seawall earlier in the week at Stanley Park, there was no question I wanted to get back and see more of the place. About a block or so away from the park itself, just off the main street, is a series of bike shops, so I rented a mountain bike for a few hours. I took a loop around the entire 1,000-acre park on the seawall, then headed into the thick of the forest and rode those paths for a while... When I'd climbed up to the highest portion of the park, just before reaching Prospect Point, I finally saw them... I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for bald eagles and sure enough, there they were. Absolutely unbelievable.

I came around a bend in the path, riding solo through an area in which the trees had been thinned out, and there atop one of the tallest tops were a pair of bald eagles in all their glory. They were pretty high up, making me wish I had one of those super-powerful camera lenses, so I had to make do with my point-and-shoot. Just incredible though. I went to a couple different spots nearby to keep watching them for a good long while, even listening to their call echo across the forest. Just a terrific way to start a morning. And to think the spotting of our national symbol came just hours after the U.S. hockey team's preliminary-round win over Canada...

Lots to see and do around the park -- this was a statue of a dragon along the seawall, with the Lions Gate Bridge in the distance.

The lady on the rock, a sculpture created for the park by a local artist to symbolize Vancouver's reliance on the water. In the distance you can see the ports that are a significant part of the city's industry, with $43 billion traded annually in goods from grains to potash.

A shot from under the Lion's Gate Bridge, which is the way the buses head out of Vancouver on their way up to some of the other Olympic venues at Cypress Mountain or Whistler..

A shot of Siwash Rock along the seawall.

One of the beaches at Stanley Park. Pretty, but not a beach you'd lounge on and catch rays,

I stopped by the Lawn Bowling club near the far entrance to the park, unfortunately they weren't open..

Either was the pitch-and-putt, which had an 11 am opening on this morning thanks to a frost delay.. While the sun was shining, patches covered by the treetops would still be frosty. As I rode up into the forest itself, I came across sights like the Hollow Tree..

And found another smaller bridge over Georgia Street that had some silent stone lions that made a good foreground for the Lions Gate Bridge.

On the drives up to Whistler, I kept scanning the treetops for bald eagles, to no avail. So was an incredible sight when I rounded a corner on the bike trail and spied a white dot at the top of one of the tallest trees in the area. As I got closer, I saw that sure enough, there was not only one eagle, there were two up there... They were pretty far away, as you can see from the photo above -- barely visible on the treetop. Made it all the way to Prospect Point, which overlooks English Bay as it comes into the Barrard Inlet. Very impressive views..
In all, I spent about 2 1/2 hours riding around the park -- made for a great start to a slow day at the Games and was nice to get out for some exercise after bouncing from venue to venue and being tied to the computer.

An Olympic Surprise

At the Olympics, it's natural to gravitate to the stars, the big names like Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Apolo Ohno and Bode Miller. Heck, I've done it already… But there are so many more Olympians at the Games, and many of them are relative unknowns.

I had the good fortune to meet one of those guys, 36-year-old U.S. bobsledder Bill Schuffenhauer.

He quit his job about two years ago to train and compete for another spot in the Olympics, only this time he was trying to do it with a family -- a fiancée and 4-year old son. Without the money from sponsorships that big-name athletes have, he had to pay out of pocket for a lot of his training, travel and medical expenses. When Ruthann's salary couldn’t cover those and the family's day-to-day expenses, they lost their house and one of their cars. While Bill was away in Europe training, the family was forced to move into a small apartment with the financial support of her family. Bill ultimately realized his dream of making the Olympic team, but it soon dawned on him that there was no way he could afford to bring his family in to share the moment.

In stepped one of the sponsors of the U.S. Olympic team, Procter & Gamble, which has a Family House for U.S. athletes and their families here in Vancouver. The 5-story "house" is loaded with P&G brands and has everything from a Pringles room with Wii games and a Pampers playroom for kiddies to a full-service spa with their cosmetic products and a full internet cafe.
P&G decided to surprise Bill by flying in his wife-to-be and his son Corben and putting them up in a hotel. They asked Bill to stop by under the guise of doing a few interviews, then brought him upstairs for the "reveal" after his family got in from the airport. It was a very cool moment. Tears were shed, hugs were shared.
It was a terrific reminder that for every Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White, there's a bunch more Olympians like Bill Schuffenhauer.

A great story and a great guy. Here's a piece I wrote on him afterwards:
http://tiny.cc/Vt8aL

Bode and Bobsleds

They pretty much broke the mold when they made Bode Miller. Man, the guy is fun to watch ski and he's almost as entertaining to listen to because you never know exactly what's going to come out of his mouth. After claiming a bronze and a silver medal in Whistler, Bode capped his medal set by finally winning the gold in the super-combined and erasing the painful memories of the 2006 Games, where he spectacularly flamed out in all five of his races.
Bode was seventh after the downhill runs and then blistered the slalom portion to snag the gold. Above is him shooting across the finish line as the crowd went nuts. Interesting thing about the Games in Canada is that while the Canadians have this seeming inferiority complex when it comes to competing against the U.S. -- almost like a little bro-big bro relationship -- they root hard for the Americans (as long as there are no Canadians in the mix). So Bode was getting a load of support from not only the loads of Americans in the crowd waving flags and ringing cowbells, he was getting love from the Canucks as well.Raising the flowers on the victory podium after the race..
And heading out of the media center after finishing his post-race news conference, which per usual Bode, was entertaining, rambling, tangental and existential all at the same time. The guy is out there, has that rebel quality and really couldn't care less what anyone thinks about him. I likened him a little bit to a James Dean on the slopes...

After the race, it was down to Whistler base, where the party was going strong -- bands, music, food, drinks, you name it..
Grabbed a great lunch in Whistler before heading up on the gondola for the bobsled competition in the afternoon. For several days now, I've been searching for a brew on tap that Cirullo ordered me to try called R&B Ravens Cream Ale... I've now asked at 11 different restaurants, bars, dives with no luck. Only one place even had it in a bottle. The search continues,
Up at the bobsled track, which is on Blackcomb Mountain, one chairlift and a gondola away from

the Alpine events. Now I've always wanted to take a ride down a bobsled track, but I'll tell ya what, it's not much of a spectator sport. The sleds are flying by so fast, they're gone in the blink of an eye. If you look closely, you can see the Polish sled blurred in between the light stanchions just before the V in Vancouver...

Here's what I did not know about bobsledding, luge, skeleton, what have you...

The track at the end actually has a serious incline to slow the sleds down. It makes sense of course, but I never could really tell that whenever I happened to catch it on television. After crossing the finish line, the sleds race up a hill and start slamming on the brakes, jettisoning a large cloud of snow and ice from behind.

As I watched the last few bobsledders finish up from the warmth of the media center, Team USA knocked off Canada in a men's hockey preliminary game, sending a shockwave throughout the entire country. (Needless to say, this was one game in which the Canadians definitely didn't want to see any U.S. success) After getting back to Vancouver more than 2 hours later, it was amazing how subdued folks on the streets were. The night before, people were chanting, drinking, yelling -- yet on this night, there was little revelry.. Amazing how much significance one preliminary round game can have. We found out the next day that it was the most-watched television event in Canadian history...

Stanley Park

One drawback aboot (yes, that's Canadian for about..) having a small crew here is that we end up working some pretty long days. The first week seemed like we were going a minimum of 12 hours every day, and one day I turned in a 17-hour shift... It's not like it's hard labor, but one drawback is that it leaves less time to actually get a taste of other things to see and do. Strangely enough, my first real opportunity to get out and wander came after Butch headed to Florida for the Tiger Woods circus. We were a man down, but the schedule was kind -- only four medal events on the day he was away, only one of significance, and that wasn't starting until almost noon. So, I decided to take the morning to wander, with Stanley Park my destination.

Stanley Park is, in a word, massive. Just a few blocks from the downtown core of Vancouver, you'll find a tranquil 1,000-acre park that has extensive running and bike paths, majestic hemlock, cedar and fir trees, plenty of wildlife, and terrific views of downtown Vancouver, the Lion's Gate Bridge, and various surrounding areas.
Stanley Park is named after Lord Stanley Preston, who was Governor-General of Canada in the late 1800's. Sure enough, he's the same fella the NHL's Stanley Cup is named after. Hockey is big in Canada, eh.. So are the red mittens adorning the statue above. They are without a doubt the hottest item at the Olympics. Just $10 for a pair, they're all the rage and I've had several requests to pick a few up...
The totem poles in the park. They're just one of the numerous sights at Stanley Park, along with Deadman's Island, Siwash Rock, Beaver Lake, Lost Lagoon, the seawall, the Aquarium, the Brockton Oval for rugby and cricket matches, the Brockton Point Lighthouse and the 9 o'clock cannon.

I walked the seawall for a while and then branched off into the forest to wander the paths through the huge trees that stretched as high as 250 feet and were hundreds of years old. I spent about 2 1/2 hours walking and only saw a small portion of the park..

I finished off my walk at the Lost Lagoon, where kids were feeding the water fowl and old men were playing golf at a pitch-and-putt course that I was inextricably drawn to.. Still hoping to sneak a round of Canadian golf in, if possible, but definitely plan to get back to see more of Stanley Park. Butch has spent a few early mornings running the seawall, but not being a runner myself I found a nearby place to rent bikes -- that's my plan for the next free morning, when I'll attempt to loop the entire park.

Tiger at the Olympics

There's no escaping Tiger Woods -- the biggest story in sports -- even at the Olympics.

While the flame of the Olympic torch (doobie) burns on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver, Tiger decided it was finally time to talk publicly about his philandering. His agent sent out an e-mail to golf writers for three wire services, including my buddy Butch (Mike) here at the Winter Games. He was sitting in the work room here at the media center when the following message hit his inbox:

Doug, Mike and Mark,
We wanted you to be the first to know on the record:

Tiger Woods will be speaking to a small group of friends, colleagues and close associates at 11:00am EST Friday at the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse in Ponte VedraBeach, FL. Tiger plans to discuss his past and his future and he plans to apologize for his behavior.
While Tiger feels that what happened is fundamentally a matter between he and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him. He also let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends and that's what he's going to discuss.

Butch's first reaction -- "Wow"

His second reaction (to our man running the show here in Vancouver) -- "Dave, looks like I'm heading to Florida."

(Here's Butch, still shocked from Tiger's announcement...)

So while the AP reporter was following the golf tournament in Arizona and his blackberry wasn't receiving messages amid the cacti, Butch breaks the Tiger story from right here in the media center in Vancouver. Tiger's mea culpa will come while the Accenture Match Play Championship is going on in Arizona... Oh, and Accenture dumped Tiger as a sponsor after news of his off-course exploits surfaced. How bout that for timing?

Of course, Butch's jaunt across the continent means that I get stuck watching Johnny Weir and the other men's figure skaters do their thing on the ice instead of going over to the halfpipe at Cypress to watch snowboarders Gretchen Bleiler and Hannah Teter...

Thanks, Tiger.

The "Vonn"-couver Games

After several days of weather delays at Whistler (snow, rain and fog), Lindsey Vonn finally got her chance to race in the women's downhill, so I made the trip up to the Alpine venue for first time..

I caught a 7 am shuttle for the most pictureque morning commute I've ever had -- a 2-hour drive from Vancouver to Whistler on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, a winding road that hugs Horseshoe Bay, Howe Sound and Lions Bay, and has amazing views of the snow-covered peaks in almost every direction. After arriving at Whistler Creekside, the next step was a brisk morning ride up the chairlift to the media center located just behind the finish line of the downhill course. Not a bad way to start the day!

Above is the finish of the downhill course, which was pretty icy thanks to the recent weather. It made for a series of wild crashes, including one in which a five-time Olympic medal winner from Sweden flew more than 200 feet in the air before falling backwards and wiping out spectacularly. She ended up sliding across the finish line...

Here's the grandstand behind the finish line with the mountains in the distance.

There were a good number of patriotic fans waiting for the finish, including the bare-chested American and those with oversized USA cowboys hats.

And then there were the Swedes.. I think I have to give them the nod. Because of the face paint, of course...

Since most of the action happens further up the mountain, the crowd eagerly watches the jumbotron next to the seating area. Here they are watching Lindsey's impressive run. I was just in front in the media area.. Even with the most famous "shinjury" in recent history, Lindsey ended up blitzing the field, finishing more than a second better than everyone except US teammate Julia Mancuso, who took the silver.

After the race and award ceremony, Lindsey stopped in the media center for her news conference. I decided I'd slip out a side door and snap a picture as she headed around the back with her husband and coach Thomas.. Needless to say, she was still all smiles..

Here's a link to a story I wrote after the event: http://tiny.cc/qkQwZ

The Agony of Defeat

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Lindsey Jacobellis of the U.S. -- the funky snowboarder with the distinctive blonde perm -- had the gold medal in snowboard cross locked up.. With a huge lead, she tried to grab her board off the last jump, ate it and a Swiss boarder passed her for the gold.

With redemption the name of the game for Lindsey in Vancouver, I headed up to Cypress Mountain for the women's event -- about a 45-minute bus ride outside of Vancouver. The weather was spotty at best to start the day, with a massive fog bank just hanging over the mountain all morning. It caused the competition to be delayed for two hours, but finally it started to lift, as you can see above. Notice the lack of snow on the slopes to the left of the freestyle mogul run. Snow has been a problem in Cypress, where rain and warm weather haven't been kind. Organizers were forced to bring snow down from higher elevations for the mogul course seen here and cover haybales on the halfpipe and snowboard cross tracks.

Waterfalls are everywhere on the drive up to Cypress. This one was right when we unloaded from the media bus for the walk up to the media center.
A shot of Lindsey Jacobellis (22) and her teammate Faye Gulini heading off after their early qualifying runs. Notice the Burton snowpants the American team is sporting -- made to look exactly like jeans..

Here's the finish line of the snowboard cross track itself, as seen from the mix zone, where the competitors walk through to talk with the media after the race.

The one video below is shot during a semifinal run from the mix zone, with gold medalist Maille Ricker of Canada thrilling the home crowd, while the second is of Jacobellis after she again suffered Olympic heartbreak and understandably didn't feel like talking right away.. Here's the link to the story I wrote after the event: http://tiny.cc/qoBZE

Weathering the Weather

Weather almost always seems to be an issue at the Olympics and it's no different here in Vancouver. I've been asked a lot about the conditions, which change quite a bit depending on the venue. I've spent most of my time in the Main Press Center in downtown Vancouver and this is the launching point to various venues, whether its a 20-minute shuttle to the hockey arena, a 45-minute bus to Cypress Mountain or a 2-hour+ bus trip up to Whistler for the alpine skiing events, luge, etc..

Here in Vancouver, there's no snow to be found. It's fairly nice, with temps in the 40's generally, though it's been somewhat damp and rainy early on.

Up at Whistler, it's been hit and miss.
(At left is the luge track at Whistler, by the way)





We've had rain and fog that's wreaked havoc with the alpine skiing events and generally made a mess of the slopes. After several days of that, it improved a bit, then a heavy snow hit last night that caused more cancellations.

Hopefully it won't cause too much of a backlog with the skiing events..

At Cypress, the weather has been pretty sloppy. They had to truck snow in there to begin with to cover the snowboard tracks and the rain that's been coming down has caused even more problems. A total of 4,000 standing room only seats at the snowboard cross venues were returned because more than a foot of snow had been washed away, resulting in some muddy slopes and treacherous footing. Keeping our fingers crossed that things get better,

So the four Olympic mascots in Vancouver are Miga, Sumi, Mukmuk and my favorite, Quatchi.
He's a hairy sasquatch-looking fellow.




I believe the hat I'm sporting here has Mukmuk on the top...

I decided the look wasn't for me and passed on buying it.

In Vancouver

After a three-day delay thanks to the crazy amount of snow that slammed the East coast, I finally arrived in Vancouver via Minneapolis in time for the first day of Olympic competition.

We have a significantly smaller contingent on site than at the Beijing Games, with just me, Butch (from our Atlanta bureau), Dave (from Toronto) and Chris (from Vancouver).

Butch, Dave and I outside the Main Press Center (MPC) in downtown Vancouver.

After arriving at the Vancouver airport, I caught the light rail train to my downtown home for the next three weeks, the Hotel Carmona.

Behind the totem poles to the left, you can see the train peeking out as it makes its way into the airport station. I quickly found that the snow in the northeast was nowhere to be found here in Canada, where rain was the order of the day -- and I had forgotten to pack an umbrella..

After hustling a couple blocks from the train station with my bags in the rain, I made it to the Carmana Plaza Hotel, which would be my home away from home for three weeks.

It's an extended-stay type of place, with several rooms including a full kitchen and a balcony with decent views of the city. I'm sharing the place with Butch, who's a decent enough sort. He did takc the fold-out couch we got stuck with, although that was only because the TV is directly in front of it.

Her'e's my bedroom to the right. It's an adjustment to have a bed all to myself. I'm used to jockeying for position with the kids while trying to avoid being pushed off the bed..

The hotel is about 15 minutes from the Main Press Center, which is right on the water with incredible views of the mountains in the distance.

Bloomberg's Vancouver office is en route to the MPC -- here's the entrance with the very Canadian eagle/wolf sculpture out front.

A look at the outside of the Main Press Center, which is where I've spent the majority of my time early in the Games. While Butch was up at Whistler handling everything luge -- after the unfortunate death of the Georgian sledder during a training run -- I held down the fort at the MPC writing our running and roundup stories.

Above is the main work room in the MPC, where we're joined by hundreds of fellow journalists from around the world. Always interesting to see how much the guys from other countries can be total "Homers," loudly cheering on their countrymen during events. In the U.S., we're always taught there's "no cheering in the pressbox", but that's certainly not the case at the Olympics.. The ever-present Olympics McDonald's in the media center. McDonald's is an Olympic sponsor after all! It's one of several meal options in the dining area, where I've yet to sample the Ploughman's Special at the Canadian food counter.

Here's a look from outside the media center -- this is the international broadcast center next door where many of the TV networks have their studios set up during the Games.


A couple more pics from the deck outside the workroom -- very cool to hear the pontoon airplanes taking off from the water and then flying into the distance toward the mountains!