2010 Winter Olympics: Assorted Ramblings

Written by Ben Pogany Monday, 01 March 2010 10:32

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Some quick Olympic notes:

--Its always bugged me how they rank the countries by the total number of medals won.  That is why Definitive Dose has devised the AOMR, or Actual Olympic Medal Rankings (patent pending).  Each medal is weighted according to it's worth (3 points for gold, 2 for silver, 1 for bronze) and then a new total is formulated. Using this system, the US led the way in both total medals (37) and AOMR (70).  Although Germany had six more medals than host-nation Canada, the two tied for second place with an AOMR of 61 apiece.  Norway and South Korea round out the top 5 with AOMR's of 49 and 32 respectively. 

--For the first time in its history, Canada won gold at an Olympic Games that they played host-nation to, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Not only that, Canada also became the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count.  Their 14 broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics.  The United States' 37 medals broke the record for the most medals won at a single Winter Olympics.  Boo-yah!

--Blame Canada. Vancouver had what can only be described as a less-than-savory time hosting the game s in 2010.  First Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili is killed during a training run moments before the Opening Ceremony.  Queue Olympic torch statue to raise from ground.  Hello?  Anyone?  Then we have breakdowns of ice resurfacers that delay speedskating events, bad weather that delays a host of others, and thousands of voided tickets and angry would-be spectators.  Then again, Sid Crosby did win Olympic gold for Canadian hockey, so I’m guessing there aren’t too many Vancouverians (?) that are all that concerned. 

--Speaking of hockey, how good was that gold medal hockey game?! Although the US fell short in the end, it was everything you could have asked for and then some.  And how fitting that Sid the Kid got the game-winner in OT; 23-years-old and he's the best hockey player on the planet.  Sorry Ovechkin, but if we learned anything from this Olympics, its that Sidney Crosby is the heir-apparent, hand-down.  And congratulations to hockey itself; you've officially sold me.  And I suspect there are a lot more casual fans out there who feel the same.