Grazie Torino, Grazie Italia!!!
Thanks for a wonderful 2 weeks of fun, sports, and a celebration of humanity at its greatest!
The 2006 Winter Olympics at Torino came to a close last night at the Stadio Olimpico. And what a closing ceremony it was.
We had ‘Pagliacci‘ Clowns in a Carnival atmosphere, Italian Opera with Human Tarot Cards, dancers, Andrew Boccelli , Avril ‘call-me-sweetheart-and-I’ll-kick-your-ass’ Lavigne, [not forgetting] Ricky Martin shaking his ‘bon-bons, vintage Fiats, flying performers, and top top it off, fireworks that lit up the Torino night sky.
IOC president Jacques Rogge’s closing speech was briefly interrupted by an intruder who went …read more

Wow, what a games.
Seriously.
Some of the most poignant moments in sports history. From the aerial jumpers risking life and limb (and sometimes sacrificing limbs) to the upsets in mens hockey to the amazing final marathon ski race this was an Olymipcs to be remembered for every country involved.
Their decision was a big one: fund athletes to a much, much larger extent. Invite corporate sponsors. Organize charities and generally raise the funding level by about 1000%.
It was a 4 year test program. The goal was to: get 20 medals, achieve a top 5 finish. The committees felt that if either of …read more

The Torino Olympics was the third Winter Games for Italian cross-country skier Girogio di Centa. (Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Here are the Final Results of the only other event today, besides the Men’s Ice Hockey Final …
1 – ITA – Giorgio di Centa (2:06:11.8)
2 – RUS – Eugeni Dementiev (2:06:12.6 / +0.8)
3 – AUT – Mikhail Botwinov (2:06:12.7 / +0.9)
44 – CAN – George Grey (2:09:38.4 / +3:26.6)
Well .. must have been exciting when the top 28 skiiers all ended with 1 minute behind the leader … And especially exciting to all the Italian fans for Giorgio’s win .. …read more