From jubilation to (almost) disappointment

What a day.

I am writing this on the train from Verona back to Milan after the Closing Ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, my sixth Olympics, my fourth Winter Olympics and my fourth Closing Ceremony.

It was no doubt an exciting day, as I am sure it was for many people in America, waking up to watch some hockey over the morning coffee. Even my brother, who doesn't watch TV, got a free trial of DirecTV so that he could watch the game out in Wyoming. I think this was something that captivated the entire country, much like the women did earlier in the week. 

And that turned out to be one heck of a battle, as you should have when you're battling for the gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Team USA pulling out the overtime win to earn their first men's hockey gold medal since the Miracle on Ice team of the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics was a fitting ending.

But man, I did not need that overtime.

Earlier in the day I stopped at the Milano-Centrale train station to make sure I could get transportation to Verona after the hockey game so that I could make the Closing Ceremony. The young woman at the counter told me that there were trains at 5:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. and I wouldn't need a ticket, I would just have to show my accreditation. That sounded simple enough.

When the hockey game went to overtime, I knew it would be tough to make the 5:45 p.m. train, which provided the best chance of getting to the Closing Ceremony before it started. And sure enough, despite packing up right away, I was a few minutes later and missed the train out of the station. I checked in at the help desk again and this time I got different news. Those trains that the young woman told me I could take were not actually for media, only for athletes. Seems the communication wasn't working so well.

The woman at the table told me to go up to the platform when it was announced and speak to one of the staff who was there and if there was extra room, they'd be able to put me on the train. After I watched a parade of athletes walk through the train station and onto the train, I noticed a couple other guys with media credentials talking to a staff member, so I joined in on the conversation. He told us to wait a few minutes and he'd look into it. 

And just a few minutes before the train took off, he came back with tickets for all of us to get on the train. As it turned out, I was in a car with many members of Team USA for the ride to Verona. Once we got there, it was a shuttle ride (with a police escort, that may be a first for me) to the arena and through security. I missed the first few minutes of the ceremony, but I was there.

Today, I was, like Lin-Manuel Miranda once said, 'in the room where it happens' on a couple of occasions today and that was a solid ending to my Olympics. 

There'll be more of a wrap up to come once I get some sleep and get all my deadlines met, so stay tuned.


The highlight of the Closing Ceremony was the simple fact that it was in the historic Verona Arena.

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