The Olympics... and beyond

There are some things about covering the Winter Olympics that are always tough to deal with and one of those things is not getting to see the teams I covered throughout the season until that point continue on with their seasons or in some cases finish out those seasons. The Winter Olympics have, at least for the last 12 years, fallen right in the middle of the high school ski championships. That week has traditionally been one of my favorite weeks of the year, getting the chance to see ski races all over the state in quick succession. But when I'm away, I don't get to see that. So, I am grateful to all of the coaches and parents who have sent me either results or pictures from the alpine State Meets. So far, I've gotten results for everything but the Division IV girls, so we're most of the way there. I've written up stories on the Division II and Division III boys and girls and the Division IV boys for each of my schools. I know there are four team championships amo...

I learned some things today. I learned that the buses here don't always run on schedule. I learned that the bus drivers don't always stop at every stop. And I learned that the app we use to get to and from different places is not always accurate. And all of those things I learned today, led to me spending a lot of time on a bus without actually going anywhere. I headed out to Antholz/Anterselva to catch Kennett graduate Sean Doherty in the biathlon. That was the good part of my day. It was great to see Sean for the fourth Olympics after covering him in high school at Kennett. While it wasn't his best day, we talked about how how he's been dealing as he has gone from the newbie on the team to the veteran. And that's when the good stuff ended. I wanted to catch the curling gold medal match in Cortina and checked the transportation app and it said if I got on the bus out of Antholz by 3:30 p.m. I should be able to catch another bus at the end of the valley and get to t...

For the first time in my six Olympics, with the exception of the time I spent in the COVID quarantine upon my arrival in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, today was a day with Olympic action and I didn't see any of it. At least not in person. That's because I spent the majority of my day on one mode of transportation or another as I moved out of my hotel in Milan and up to my hotel outside Anterselva. This is something I have never done before at any of my previous five Olympics. I have always stayed in the same location for the duration of my stay. Sometimes they've been really convenient (PyeongChang, Beijing), sometimes they're not (Tokyo, Paris) and sometimes they're perfectly fine, one way or the other (Sochi). But with the spread out nature of these Olympics, it would be impossible to stay in one place and see more than just a couple of sports.  I made the decision to stay in Milan for a few days, seeing the Opening Ceremony, some hockey, figure skating and speedsk...

I slept in an extra half-hour this morning (I forgot to set the alarm and woke up just after 6:30 a.m.), but that was fine, as I had nowhere to specifically be first thing this morning. The only Olympic action going on in the morning was up in the mountains and I am not there yet. So, after breakfast at the hotel (their breakfast buffet is absolutely incredible and included in my room rate), I went to take the usual train that I take from the hotel, but as it turns out, that train doesn't run on Sundays. So rather than take the bus to the other train station, I decided to walk there and realized it's not a bad walk at all (for future reference, it's good to know). It does seem that Italians take Sundays off, or at least start later. The streets, with the exception of the large flea market going on outside my hotel, were pretty empty, as were the trains, making the commute into the Main Press Center a little easier than normal. I had some stories to write on the New Hampshir...

Milano-Cortina marked my third Olympic Opening Ceremony, following Beijing back in 2022 and Paris in 2024. Out of all of that, I am not sure I thought that Beijing would still rank at the top of the list all these years later, but after last night, it still does. The biggest issue with Beijing was that it was very cold. Credit to the organizers, they left gloves and hats for all the media members in the press seats, which was a great touch and greatly appreciated, even if I had a hat and gloves already. But we got in and out of there relatively easily (there were really no spectators, so that helped). Paris had a grand idea of having the parade on the river and in many ways that was great. It allowed more people to see the athletes as they floated down the river. The problem, at least from the media standpoint, was that they had us in certain zones and there was absolutely no protection from the rain and there was no place to plug in any laptops or phones. When the ceremony ended, we w...

It's officially Opening Ceremony time (or will be in two and a half hours) and I am sitting in a seat that is not all that comfortable waiting for the action. I got here early because I know it was a tough ticket to get, even for the media, so as soon as I finished up at this morning's figure skating, I got the train back to the Main Press Center for a few minutes and then caught the special media bus to take us to the Opening Ceremony. The trip was a short one and the process to get into the stadium was not that bad, though they did make me dump my water so I had to buy some once I got inside. And the old guy that I am didn't like the stairs, but waiting for the elevator wasn't too appealing either. So, I am sitting here waiting for things to begin, so a good time to look back on a couple of days now. The issues I have had so far are mostly just things I need to learn. I have to figure out exactly how to navigate the public transport system, though I am slowly getting ...