Game 1- VICTORY!!!!

The boys had their first game today against the Host country, Austria.  They won 7-2!  Nick had 2 assists even though they gave him credit for only one. The second was very obvious to all in the stands, but apparently not to the refs on the ice..

Here is team USA pre-game. It was very cool to see all of the boys in USA jerseys.  They came out and scored two quick goals within the first 45 seconds of the game.

Here is Nick at his first shift against Austria. He played a great game.  We are looking forward to our game against Canada tomorrow at 6pm Austria time.  please go to my Facebook page for additional pics.

Opening Ceremonies

WOW....Really the only word I can use to describe opening ceremonies.  It was incredible.  I know that I will not begin to do it justice, but I will try... The ceremony was 3 hours long. It was located in an outdoor arena and the foot of the ski jump area.  There were 9000 + people in attendance. The stage was set at the bottom of the ski jump and the torch (multiple) was on the opposite side of the jump, up on a hill. 

After the athletes were placed in the stadium (there is no seating, just levels to stand), the program went "Live" and was broadcast in over 20 of the 70 countries that have teams competing in the games...Shame on US for not thinking this was worthwhile, but I digress.  The President of Austria was there and in attendance with the President of the Olympic Committee who both spoke and acknowledged the athletes. 

This is the stage and where you see the red carpet, is where the athletes paraded out from under. to the right is the ski jump hill and the stairs lead to another stage where the Olympic flag and Austrian flag were risen. The program began with some guy who thought he was funny, and proceeded with the parade of 1000 athletes from out of the tunnel. They came out by country; I believe all of them had to about die when they looked up and saw all of the people.  Nick is on the right of the picture above.  Thanks to my friend, Kathy, I had a great zoom lens on the camera she let me borrow, unfortunately the USER of the camera is not so bright as you will hear about later....

The program went on with different variety acts ranging from ball room dancing to hip hop to polka to clogging. The majority of the program was focused on the fact that Innsbruck is the only city to host the Olympics 3 times. They showed video clips from the 1964 Olympics and did a skit using 1960's music and dance while the video was running. Using the same platform, it moved to 1976 and had same type of show.  It moved to 2012, and did a whole montage of what has happened between 1976 and now, with music, video clips etc.. It ended with a group of kids looking as if they were IM'ing each other over a computer, using all of the LOL and BTW LMAO etc..It was very cool.

Then it was time for the presentation of flags. Our US team voted for one of the bobsled members to carry our flag. they announced each country separately and had a map to show where all of the countries are that were participating.

Finally, and by now everyone was freezing, it was time to raise the Olympic flag and light the torch. Ass the flag was being raised, my camera ran out of battery!!!! So, I was not able to capture the torch being lit! Sooooo mad! However, it was very cool.  The torch was skied down the ski jump, handed off to various past gold medal winners from Austria, walked through the crowd and then back down to the stage where it was carried up by the final torch bearer.  She then climbed 100 snow stairs to the top of the 3 cauldrons. The top cauldron was lit for the 1964 olympics by a medalist from those games. It was then given to the next medalist from the 1976 games who lit the middle torch and was finally given to a member of the Austrian luge team from 2012, who lit the final of the 3 torches. It was very cool. See the picture below and just pretend they are lit!!! I will get a picture of them lit at a later date. It was a very inspiring program. I could see Nick and Team USA from where I was standing.  He and his team were dancing , laughing, posing for pictures and really just having the time of their lives!!!  It was awesome to see....

Off to a hockey game!!!! More later...And yes, I grabbed the back up battery....

Additional info

Just got off the phone with Nick. He had a good practice, hates the food at Olympic village and an 18 year old bobsledder was chosen to be the flag bearer for team USA tomorrow at the Opening Ceremonies.

Nick is playing winger and is on a line with Ryan McGinnis and Feigl. He is #15. You can follow all of team USA at www.teamusa.org/yog.

And a side note- if you ever come to Innsbruck,Austria, do NOT attempt to eat at a sushi restaurant....

Day 2-Sightseeing

So I did not see Nick today.  This was the first full day with his team. He had a workout this morning, lunch and then off to the ice rink for practice this early evening. The entire team USA has a meeting tonight about Opening Ceremonies tomorrow. I did walk down to Olympic Village to meet with his team leader to get tickets for the games and opening and closing ceremonies. I started my day at a salon for all the P&G moms. We had our hair and make up done. I spent the rest of the day walking through the Old City and to Olympic Village. You can't imagine the support for these games.  There are signs and banners EVERYWHERE!!! In the middle of the city center, they set up a grandstand for the music events. All the hotels are booked and there are people and media everywhere.

This is the entrance to Olympic Village.

Opening Ceremonies are tomorrow beginning at 5:30. It is an outdoor arena and it is supposed to be freezing here tomorrow. The weather has been beautiful so far, blue skies and about 35-40 degrees.
www.usahockey.org has a section on the Youth Olympics that has the rosters and bios for the kids. In addition, you can check there for updated stats once the games begin on Saturday.

These are the "apartments" the athletes are staying in. Nick is rooming with 4 other hockey players. The countries fly their flags out of their apartments.  It is very secure and you are not permitted inside the village. I could not see from behind the fence, where the US section of the village was. :(.

This is a street in the old city. It is lined with banners for the Olympics and at the end of the street, you see the grand stands for the musical events that are in the center of the city.

I probably will not post again until after opening ceremonies or early Saturday morning.

Day 1- P&G Luncheon

Nick and I slept 12 hours! We are "officially" on Innsbruck time! We had the "Mom's Luncheon" today sponsored by Proctor and Gamble.  It was beautiful and very overwhelming. Nick said he felt like a movie star! It started with a photo op with the President of P&G, champagne for the moms and mango juice for the athletes. There was a small presentation by P&G and they showed all of the commercials that they will be running for the London Games.  I cried the entire time and Nick kicked me under the table and whispered "stop" the entire presentation! After lunch, Yoggl, the Olympic mascot came and and took pictures with the athletes. It closed with an interview with P&G reps that will be aired to their 136,000 employees around the world.

They lavished us with gifts and all the moms are getting spa treatments tomorrow, courtesy of P&G. We dropped Nick at Olympic village where he was checked in and met up with his roommates.  He has practice tomorrow and Friday and games start Saturday. We play the home country, Austria, to open up the hockey venue! Should be very exciting.

Mark and I would like to thank you for all the support back home!  It has been truly amazing! We appreciate all of you taking an interest in what Nick is going.  He is having a blast and we are so grateful for your kind words and sharing of his information!

We are here!

We made it to Munich on an uneventful flight. There were several athletes on the flight. All of our bags arrived at the same time we did! For those of you who remember Sweden last year, you will understand why this is a small victory! We were met at baggage by the P and G people who quickly escorted us to the train station where we enjoyed the most wonderful potatoe soup and pretzels ( when in Germany, do as the German's, I suppose). We boarded another train to take us to Innsbruck. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains. We arrived and took a cab to my hotel. Nick is staying with me tonight as his team wil not arrive until tomorrow. We checked into a gorgeous hotel and went to my room which is perfect for my long stay. Nick was completely horrified because the sheets were folded into the shape of a heart with a flower in the middle! Ha! Girly, girly! We are off to shower and find something to eat. P and G luncheon tomorrow.

In Chicago

We landed in Chicago and were met by the United States Olympic rep. She walked us to our next gate where there are 5 to 7 additional US athletes. Flight does not leave for 3 hours and unfortunately, we are not in the international terminal. Nick and I wanted to go to this sushi place here in the airport that is absolutely amazing. So here we sit, waiting to get on our flight to Munich and will probably need to feast on McDonalds...UGH!!!