My 5 Vancouver things #1.

This is the second Olympic games covered by The LSF, and that brings us back to the same "My 5 things" format I started with Beijing. So, after the first full day of competition in Vancouver, let's get it started:

#1: Ohno skates into history with silver. Thanks, in part to a huge Korean wipeout on the final lap, American Apolo Anton Ohno started off hi final Olympic games (most likely) with a thrilling silver medal. Coming around the final turn in the 1500 meter final, two South Koreans (in second and third at the time) slid out and crashed into the wall, allowing the then fourth and fifth place Americans to skate in for an easy medal. Ohno earned the silver medal, tying him with Bonnie Blair for the most medals by an American winter athlete. Possibly even more exciting, for the world of American speed skating, was that Ohno's heir apparent, 19 year old JR Celski finished right behind him with the bronze. It was a huge comeback win for Celski, after he almost bled out on the track in the US trials in a bloody injury, and a proud moment for the US.

#2: Hannah Kearney denies Canada with moguls gold. I didn't really think that freestyle moguls was my thing, until I was watching it last night. I was really, really into it. Way more than I remember. And, watching golden girl and Canadian national Jenn Heil fall to the silver was almost as sweet as watching Kearney earn the gold. It was a solid, flawless run, which shocked the Canadian crowd who had all but given Heil the gold after her final journey down the bumpy mountain. Kearney finished with a 26.63 score, besting Heil's 25.69, which was thought unbeatable after the run. Hannah got to celebrate with bronze winner, American and pink haired dynamo Shannon Bahrke, as the US contiuned to pile on the medals.

#3: Canada's women's hockey team sets record with an 18-0 win over hapless Slovakia. Are you kidding me? This was crazy. In the first Winter Olympics appearance for the Slovakian women, the host country completely embarrassed them. However, as was pointed out, maybe Canada was just trying to right the wrong that Slovakia perpetrated on Bulgaria in a 2008 match. The Slovaks won that game by the score of 82-0. That's real. So, don't feel bad after the Maple Leafers romped them to open the games in Vancouver. Jayna Hefford tied the record for most points in a game, with 6, and Meghan Agosta nailed a hat trick (only one?). The Canadians outshot the Slovaks by the tally of 67-9, and face off against a tougher Swiss team on Monday. Meanwhile, the US women open against China in 3 hours.

#4: Simon Ammann impresses in Games' opening gold on the ski jump. I actually watched this entire competition, and really enjoyed it. After opening up the round with a 105 meter launch, Ammann (who they call a Harry Potter look-a-like) nailed a 108 meter jump to earn the Gold. Not only does her know how to jump, but he provides pretty priceless interviews as well.

#5: Sven "Sven-couver" Kramer leaves competition in the dust, gets Dutch a break on their electricity bills. Speed skating is the second most popular sport in The Netherlands, behind soccer, and they proved it in the 5000 yesterday. Sven Kramer, known as the "Flying Dutchmen," was insane in winning the Gold in the 5K event, getting the Olympic record of 6:14.6. The silver medal winning Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea finished a full 2.35 seconds behind. American Shani Davis (the US speed skating equivalent of Albert Pujols-sorry I picked him, but I was trying to think of a great non-Angel, non-douchebag ball player, and he's all that came up) was paired with Sven in his gold medal run, and nearly got lapped. For at least one day, it was Sven-couver, BC. To top it all off, and to really highlight how popular the sport is in The Netherlands, the nation's electric company is giving $65 US dollars off of every customer's bill for every gold that Sven wins at the games. Why is our nation so behind the times?

LSF's "What 2 watch 4 2night": Carrying over another tradition from the games in Beijing, it's time to ket our readers know what exciting Olympic things are coming up. First off, I don't think it gets any better than Stephen Colbert's Olympic poster. As for the Olympic TV action, we have the US competing in their first even Nordic Combined event at 1:00 pm (NBC) and the US women's hockey opening against China at the same time (on USA network). Primetime tonight, we have medal events in women's speed skating (3000), the really fun men's freestyle moguls, and the modified men's singles luge. Pairs figure skating also gets underway tonight, and please don't try to pretend that you aren't excited about that.

Set your DVRs for curling, starting Tuesday morning on USA network (USA v. Germany), and men's ice hockey, starting Tuesday afternoon on USA network (USA vs. Switzerland). Wow, Tuesday is a big day. Thank goodness I'm still on paternity leave!

Fun fact: I held my sleeping baby and typed with one hand throughout this post.