OLYMPIC REVIEW
Ode to Nagano
CJSTer Alan Bresgi was in Japan for all the action and fun

The air crackled with excitement. The stadium shook with roars of approval as our team took to the ice. Team Canada. Beautiful. The talent, the expectation, the dream team.

Red and white pulsated through out the arena, and the pathetic pleas of "Go U.S.A., go" were easily drowned out. Pitiful actually! For a fleeting moment, one almost felt a twinge of sorrow for the American fans - NOT! O.K., let's get this out of the way. Everyone KNOWS what eventually happened. Everyone KNOWS that our brazen hockey boys dropped the puck in the end. But hey, I was not there for that so in my reality it did not happen!

I was in Nagano from 12 - 17 February, saw a total of 10 events including the men's short and free figure skating programmes, women's hockey, curling, freestyle skiing, and of course two Team Canada men's hockey games. We won both games! The first was a pleasant little warm up for Team Canada against Belarus. The second was the Team Canada-Team U.S.A. game that can only be described as incredible. Support for the good guys was overwhelming as there seemed to be far more Canadians in the stands then Americans, and even the majority of our hosts seemed to cheer our guys on. (I guess "Ganbare Kanada" is easier to say than "Ganbare YU ESU EH"!)

So, Canada kicked some American butt (4-1) sending the Yanks packing back to the Olympic village where they proceeded to trash the place. Ah, for one brief moment balance and harmony had returned to the universe and the natural order of things was restored.

That is the real reality of my Olympics, not this bizarre world I find myself in now. A world where Team Canada did not win gold in hockey, and some moron from the Bloc Quebecois - who flew all the way over to Nagano on our tax dollars - decided that there were too many Canadian flags! Too many Canadian flags?!!! At the Olympics?!!

Back in my reality, the one I paid for, no way were there enough Canadian flags and for the first time in a long time I remembered what it was like to feel Canadian. Actually, once you peel away the commercialism, corporate sponsorship, and pomposity of the IOC, the Olympics are a truly fantastic experience. And believe me, once you are sitting in the stands, surrounded by your fellow Canadians, and the athletes are out there condensing a lifetime of training into a few minutes of explosive action, the Olympics do actually become the spirit of peaceful competition. You just gotta love it!

The truly wonderful thing about going to an Olympics being hosted by another country is that you don't need to worry about playing host and you can really enjoy the experience. I certainly did! (More biiru please - actually, in retrospect, it was kinda like a really great Octoberfest with fantastic sports T.V.!)

Most of the Canadians in Nagano, if not all, stopped in at "Canada House" where you could pick up a complimentary Canadian flag, chat with an incredibly diverse range of Canadians from left to right coast, and of course meet our athletes. Arrangements were also made for the CBC live broadcast to be shown on two large T.V. screens. You could also purchase a wide range of great Canadiana, including the Roots Team Canada jackets and caps. It was the veritable home away from home and a really great place to hang out and feel proud to be Canadian.

Of course our Japanese hosts were...well Japanese! Incredibly polite, helpful, friendly, and naturally everything was punctual and efficient. In particular the transportation from Nagano station to all the events was extremely well organised and the obvious effort to keep corporate commercialism down to a minimum was appreciated.

In short, the Olympics are still something special, and still manage to bring the best out of all of us - both athletes and spectators alike. I don't know about you, but I am already planning for my next winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. See ya there!

Alan Bresgi

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