After spending 24 straight hours parked in front of my TV set, the first full day of Olympic competition is nearly done.

Canada’s much vaunted Own the Podium program was not able to get off to the start we would have liked.  First Manuel Osborne-Paradis never left the starting blocks as poor weather conditions at Whistler forced the postponement of the alpine races.  Then our men’s and women’s short-track teams stumbled in early qualifiers failing to produce a medal.  Finally, with the crushing responsibility of winning Canada’s first home-field gold medal, women’s moguls star, Jennifer Heil, threw down a mighty final run only to find American, Hanna Kearney, up to the challenge, leaving Cyprus with a silver.  Some hope for the future was sparked by the Canadian women’s hockey team which crushed Slovakia 18-0 in a game that was never in any doubt.

Reports from colleagues at the game bemoan long security lines and disturbing violence by a small group of ‘anarchists’ who can’t decide what exactly they hate about the Olympics but, either way, seem to believe that smashing windows and destroying property will make it all better.

And yet, the excitement just seems to continue to build.  I’ll be flying out to Vancouver on Tuesday.  With my plane scheduled to land at 1:30pm local time I will have just three hours to solve the airport maze, hop on a Canada Line train, and negotiate my way through the intense security in time to take my seat as the puck drops on the Canadian men’s hockey team’s opening game in this Olympic tournament.

In the meantime, my couch will have to put up with me for two more days.