Vancouver Bares All — the good, bad and ugly
The Olympic Gods were with me as I was one of the few who made it out of snowy Washington, D.C.
The first thing I noticed was unlike previous Olympic host cities, Vancouver has not covered up construction sites or run-down buildings. Visitors are seeing the good, the bad and the ugly.
The airport is clean and shiny with plenty of custom officers and volunteers. When I arrived Thursday evening, the airport was fairly empty compared to other Games, but this could be due to all the flight cancellations from the East Coast.
I thought the trees decorated in Olympic-colored Christmas lights was a nice touch. The Canadians are all extremely friendly and welcoming. Based upon informal conversations, it appears half of the population considers the Games an expensive inconvenience and are leaving town — newspapers report approximately 250,000 residents flying the coop — with the other 50 percent excited to welcome the world.
The biggest surprise of all is the availability of Opening Ceremony tickets below face value, primarily single tickets. Ticket prices in general are the highest I have ever seen for any Olympic Games, especially compared to Beijing, where tickets were priced for the local population.
USA Apparel Going For Gold
The price of Team USA merchandise by Ralph Lauren is out of most fans' price range: $90 for a fleece, $160 for a polo shirt, up to $785 for a winter jacket. Nike is offering less expensive T-shirts for $25-$45.
