No Olympics are free of controversies, logistical issues, and general mistakes. Vancouver is not the exception, it did get off to a rocky start, but finished with a flourish. So, my relfections:

Own The Podium

I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I think it is about time Canada stopped approaching the Olympics with a "we're just happy to be here" mindset and started with the goal of actually winning. It is, after all, competition. From that respect, I think it was a huge success. While we didn't win the overall medal count, we did win the gold count and set two records in the process: most home golds in the Winter Olympics, and the most golds, period, in the Winter Olympics. Understand, every competition has a winner and two consolation prizes. We had more winners.

On the other hand, our greed for medals is a contributing factor in the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili. Yes, all countries that host the Olympics ensure that their athletes get the most cracks at the facilities, but they don't usually beat their chests over it. We did, and that's just a little more than simply disturbing. For me, it's simply poor sportsmanship and one that certainly increased the odds of that young man dying.

Coverage

We covered these Olympics like a blanket. I couldn't believe the amount of coverage there was, we had cameras on everything. I can see why our American friends were a bit annoyed with NBC, because the Canadian coverage was spectacular in scope, if sometimes over the top.

What I did find annoying, which has nothing to do with the IOC or VANOC, was a lot of media websites blocked access to a fair amount material to out-of-country vistors. Notably, the BBC and NBC were ones that seemed anxious to do it. I can't speak for the CTV site, it was accessible to me, but for those I can. I like to read and watch coverage from a variety of perspectives, so I was disappointed by some of this. Come on folks, it's the Internet, stop trying to put borders around it.

Our Athletes

Alexandre Bilodeau finally cracks the gold medal jinx and begins the rush to the top of the podium. What I like about this story is his brother, I can understand the motivation he provides, and it's pretty heartwarming to see the elation that showed in Frederick's face when Alexandre won. That's awesome, really.

Joannie Rochette epitomized what the Olympic spirit is supposed to entail. I could not imagine the depth of courage and will that it took for her to go out there and skate two days after the passing of her mother. I know I don't have that level of focus in me and her well-deserved bronze is a victory. To skate that event is what, I think, her mother would have wished her to have done.

Our men's hockey team got it done, though many of us chewed off our finger tips in the process. Nothing says world hockey parity in the mens competition than a 3-2 overtime gold medal game. In some ways, however, the utter thrashing of Russia stands out more for me. The history there, on the international stage, is incredible and it boggles my mind that the Russian team fell with a wet splat so easily.

There is a lot more to be said of our athletes than I have here, but I think it is sufficient to say that this Canadian, at the very least, appreciates the huge effort and outcome they gave us for these games.

Women's Hockey Party

I don't have much to say on this one, my instantaneous reaction remains my continued one: Big Fucking Deal. Seriously, I couldn't care less that they partied on the ice, they damn well should. I also couldn't care less that an 18 year old had a couple of drinks. Why the hell not? She's a legal adult, the drinking ages in some provinces are retarded. 18 is an adult, enough.

The Fans

The fans rescued, I think, the rocky start to the Olympics. Through everything, I kept hearing about how friendly and gracious the people there were to all the visitors. They filled the venues, even when Canadians were not involved, and they partied. Oh yeah, they partied. Vancouver woke up with a massive hangover today, but I think it was worth it. I think the world got to see that not only are we friendly travellers, we're friendly hosts.

The Media

Those who live in glass houses should be careful of throwing stones. I'm looking at you Britain and Russia. Of all the media that were there, the most venemous press came from these two countries. The British press started to moderate their tone near the end, the Russians never did. It was sad display, however, from both of them and, perhaps, driven by the fact the next Olympics hail from them? Maybe. Which, of course, is why their antics were not wise, we have long memories so they had best run the most perfect damn Olympics ever or the knives will come out.

The United States

Canada won the gold rush, and thus the IOC official 1st place ranking, but the US was seen most frequent on the podium. Damn good on 'em in my opinion, though I'm happy they lost to us in both hockey tournaments. What does this mean? Well, it means North America owned these games, top to bottom and finally put to rest European dominance in international sport.

On a similar vein, American athletes should be congratulated on the humble way they went about their business. This is the first Olympics, in a long time, that I can remember them doing it this way and they won a lot of respect from me as a result. Good work folks, you were awesome.

Now, there was one downside: Ohno. I'm pretty sure he regretted the words as he said them, but accusing the judge of a lack of integrity is simply sour grapes and makes you look bad. Ohno pushed Tremblay, it's that simple and the replays showed it. Man up and deal with it.

Evgeni Plushenko

Get over yourself, your ego is utterly astounding. Sorry, just because you did a quad doesn't mean you should instantly get a gold, there are other factors in the judging process. You lost and calling your medal a "platinum" medal just makes you look like an utter infant. Wow, just wow.

The Closing Ceremonies

They started off well, especially the torch lighting segment. That was a brilliant idea, I don't think you could have rescued the Opening Ceremonies failure any better.

After that, well, not so good... The speeches weren't exactly inspiring to me, especially the tortured French, and went on too long. Then, well, the music was blah. Lets just say that most of the selections I could have done without, especially Nickleback. However, I did enjoy Neil Young and Alanis Morisette.

Now it's done. All in all, a hell of a ride.