Olympic Outsiders
If you can't be inside the Olympic Games, then follow Seattle Times producers, reporters, videographers and Olympic fans as we take you to the streets of Vancouver, B.C., to show you what's happening on the ground and give you a taste of the scene swirling around the 2010 winter games.
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Wearing our American flag with pride
Posted by Seattle Times staff
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Submitted by Tom Brown
We had the pleasure to spend several days up in Vancouver (second weekend) with our condo a half block from Robson Square. We learned that Canadians are the friendliest people on the planet. On Saturday we had the opportunity to walk the downtown streets taking in the Olympics experience. Even though we were decked out in American gear with an American flag draped around us, everyone was extremely polite and friendly. They bought us drinks, food, and actually pointed us to the shortest ways to get to our venues.
However, things changed on Sunday (Feb. 21) when Team Canada played Team USA in a preliminary hockey game. I have never seen such dedication and passion from fans before, even more than NASCAR fans! We were treated as the enemy on foreign soil.
There were no "hellos" and no "Welcome to Canada." We walked through Robson Square while the game was 1-0 USA while waving the American flag. Waving the American flag in front of thousands of fans only brought more unity among its fans. The Canadians were not shy about sharing their feelings about hockey. I think the greatest thing about it was that no matter what background people came from, different cities, income levels, social status, it didn't matter, they were all united at that one moment. No differences, but rather one common interest...Canadian hockey.
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