Help Needed to get "Flat Lucy" to Sochi

Are you or someone you know going to Sochi? Any chance you have room to take Flat Lucy with you? Lucy is the character in the children's book Lucy Tries Luge by Lisa Bowes (@lucytriesluge). Wouldn't it be amazing if now that she's tried luge, she gets to actually go to the Olympics and possibly see Olympic lugers compete? Perhaps it would lead to a new book?

Have you heard of the Flat Stanley Project? The premise is that children create their own Flat Stanley paper cutouts and mail them to friends and family around the globe to encourage them to learn about the world and write about Stanley's adventures. People take photos of Flat Stanley with various landmarks or people.

My son participated in a Flat Stanley project. His "Flat Rio" (Rio is my son's name) travelled to Disney World, went on a sea plane from Victoria to Vancouver, Terry Fox statue at Mile 0, on a Caribbean cruise and numerous other places.

The late Randy Starkman, a Toronto Star sportswriter, used to take Flat Stanley to the Olympic Games. One of the Flat Stanleys he took was from my son's teacher's class. Here's Flat Stanley at the 2006 Torino Olympics with Olympic gold medallist and 2014 Olympian Chandra Crawford.

After Randy passed away in 2012, his family coordinated to have Flat Randy go to the London Olympics. You can click here for that article.

The tradition of Flat Stanley going to the Olympics is continuing with pairs figure skaters Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch tweeting photos with Flat Stanley on their way to Sochi. Their Flat Stanley comes from Mrs. Kelder's (@Mrs_Kelder) class in Mississauga.

I would love to see Stanley and Lucy meet in Sochi but more importantly for Lucy's luge adventures to continue to the Olympics. If anyone can help, you can reach Lucy on Twitter @LucyTriesLuge.

My interview with CBC's Scott Russell

(originally published on SportCafé)

We are 10 days away from the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The past few weeks have been filled with press conferences announcing members of Canada's Olympic Team. The athletes are tweeting about their preparations. Mainstream media are running almost daily stories about the athletes. The excitement is building.

In 10 days, we will all be focused on the athletes but this post is not about an athlete. I got to interview someone whose passion for the Olympics is infectious. I am turning the tables on Scott Russell who is normally doing the interviewing as he covers the competitions and shares the athletes' stories.

Scott will be hosting Olympic Daytime (10am to 3pm ET) on CBC. These are the events being held in prime time in Sochi (7pm-midnight). If you're an amateur sports fan in Canada, you know who Scott Russell is. He is a Gemini Award-winning broadcaster and acclaimed author who hosts CBC Sports Weekend. Sochi will be the 12th Olympics that he will cover.
When I had the chance to interview some of the CBC personalities who would be presenting the 2014 Games, Scott was at the top of my list. I love how dedicated he is to sharing the athlete stories and to following Olympic sports year-round. Scott has said that he never wants to meet an athlete at an Olympic podium. My interview with him did not disappoint. He was exactly as he appears on television and online.

Scott Russell was a torchbearer in the Olympic torch relay a few months ago. While being interviewed by Heather Hiscox afterwards, he explained that he has had a lifelong romance with the Olympics and that carrying the torch was a dream come true. Describing the experience brought him to tears. You can see that interview and photos by clicking here.

The first question I asked Scott was to elaborate on that experience and where his love for the Olympics began.

Scott started by telling me the story from when he was 11 years old and went to a summer camp called Kilkoo Camp in Haliburton. They held a mini Olympics where a runner would arrive with a burning kerosene torch and light an Olympic cauldron at the baseball diamond.
The camp director, John Latimer "always made a big deal" and would say the words of Pierre de Coubertin.

"The most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

Scott always remembered that and always wanted to be a part of the Olympics. He felt that it was a "great spectacle with a feeling of togetherness". Going to camp instilled that love of the Olympics and Scott had the chance last summer to return to tell his story to the kids at camp. The feeling at the camp remains the same with John's son David Latimer now being the camp director.
These childhood memories led to the University of Western Ontario where Scott graduated with an M.A. in journalism. He has been a CBC Sports veteran for more than 25 years.

I was surprised that Scott had not run in the torch relay before. He told me that he almost got a chance in Beijing when he hosted the Games telecast. CBC originally had two spots but his spot was transferred to his mentor and friend, the late Richard Garneau of Radio-Canada (who passed away a year ago). As a side note, Mr. Garneau who covered 23 Olympic Games will be posthumously honoured in Sochi with the Pierre-de-Coubertin medal at Canada House on February 6th. It is an award presented by the IOC to athletes and people who "exemplify the spirit of sportsmanship in Olympic events or through exceptional service to the Olympic movement". Hearing this story, I felt it was fitting that he got to carry the torch double the distance in Russia because the torchbearer scheduled after him was absent. Even with the double duty, he still felt that his time with the flame was too short.

With CBC not being the broadcaster for the 2010 Olympics, I was interested to know how Scott experienced our home Games.

"I was fortunate to be there and to see how the Games are covered from another perspective. It was difficult at that time to be outside of the fence and trying to make arrangements. What it reinforced for me was the currency we built up with Canada's athletes because of the commitment to them through the programming we had throughout the year on CBC Sports Weekend. They accommodated us as much as they could."

His favourite memory in Whistler was the night that Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse won the gold medal. When they came into the square, he depicted the scene as bedlam. He saw these two "strong, powerful, attractive women" who had done something of that magnitude on the Olympic stage and Scott described it as a magical moment to see all of Canada applaud their efforts. It's what he loves about the Olympics that there is an approach to gender equity, although he admitted that we are not quite there yet. He continued to explain that it was also partly magical because he had started his CBC career in Heather's hometown of Charlottetown so they have a history together. "It was great to see her enjoy that wonderful moment".
Scott left Hockey Night in Canada ten years ago because he was fascinated by the Olympics and in particular by the stories of those athletes who didn't receive much attention until the Olympic Games.

"I felt that as Canadians we were a bit on a bandwagon. It was convenient for us to cheer for them at the Games when they won medals and we didn't recognize them afterwards. They are such substantial people. They are ordinary people but they're capable of extraordinary things and I really do love them."

My last question to Scott was regarding the lack of attention given to amateur sports. I have often wondered what comes first. Do we need the broadcasters to show amateur sports more to get people interested, or do we need people interested in order for the broadcasters to show the events. Scott explained the challenge of broadcasting amateur sports as opposed to hockey.

"Don't get me wrong. I love hockey. I love Canada's connection with hockey. I love the players for the most part, because they are down to earth people from interesting communities, not all of them big and they're very accomplished athletes."

Scott contrasted hockey which is held in a manageable 200x85 box, whereas often times amateur events are held on a mountain or cross-country ski trail all over the world. Scott believes that the best way to support amateur sports in Canada is to host even more international events in our country.

"Somehow we need to convince the Europeans to come for more alpine races or cross-country ski races. We need to host World Figure Skating Championships more so that Canadians can go and see it and fall in love with it as I did".

He also touched on the fact that for most of these athletes, they are in individual sports. They're out there alone which makes for dramatic moments.

As you watch the Olympic Games, along with savouring these dramatic moments, take the time to experience Scott's enthusiasm. He is an inspiration to those interested in Olympic sports. The more people who can be like Scott Russell, the better.

My pick for Canada's flag bearer

It's 20 days until the Opening Ceremony.

The highlight for the Olympic Opening Ceremony for me is seeing our flag bearer enter the stadium followed by Team Canada. I also love to see all the countries' uniforms and who they chose as their flag bearer. Besides looking for international athletes I love, it also gives me an idea of who to watch for.

As much as I may like to see a "professional" athlete I love carry their country's flag, I love that the U.S. has stayed away from having a professional (NBA, NHL, tennis) player carry their flag. I love hearing the story behind the athlete they choose to lead their team (that I normally don't know and possibly most Americans don't know). Click here for one example.

I love trying to guess who will be Canada's flag bearer.

Here are our latest flag bearers:

Opening Ceremony:
2012 Simon Whitfield (triathlon)
2010 Clara Hughes (speed skating)
2008 Adam van Koeverden (kayak)
2006 Danielle Goyette (hockey)
2004 Nicolas Gill (judo)
2002 Catriona Le May Doan (speed skating)
2000 Caroline Brunet (kayak)
1998 Jean-Luc Brassard (freestyle skiing)
1996 Charmaine Crooks (athletics)
1994 Kurt Browning (figure skating)
1992 Mike Smith (athletics)
1992 Sylvie Daigle (short track speed skating)

Closing Ceremony:
2012 Christine Sinclair (soccer)
2010 Joannie Rochette (figure skating)
2008 Karen Cockburn (trampoline)
2006 Cindy Klassen (speed skating)
2004 Adam van Koeverden (kayak)
2002 Jamie Salé and David Pelletier (figure skating)
2000 Simon Whitfield (triathlon)
1998 Catriona Le May Doan (speed skating)
1996 Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle (rowing)
1994 Myriam Bedard (biathlon)
1992 Silken Laumann (rowing)
1992 Nathalie Lambert (short track speed skating)

That is quite a list of Canadian icons leading Team Canada in the past couple of decades. Quite a list to live up to. The past few Games, Canada has had a male flag bearer for the summer Olympics and a female for winter Olympics. Will the trend continue or will they switch it up in 2014? Although it has been a woman for the last four Closing Ceremonies.

There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a flag bearer. We could choose someone with past success at the Olympics like:

• Jasey-Jay Anderson
• Alexandre Bilodeau
• Chandra Crawford
• Charles Hamelin
• Kaillie Humphries
• Ashleigh McIvor
• Denny Morrison
• Christine Nesbitt
• Maelle Ricker
• Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir
• Women's hockey player
• Men's hockey player

We could choose someone who has excelled on the world stage who hasn't yet succeeded at the Olympics:

• Patrick Chan
• Justine Dufour-Lapointe
• Alex Gough
• Erik Guay
• Roz Groenewould
• Alex Harvey
• Devon Kershaw
• Mikaël Kingsbury
• Mark McMorris
• Spencer O'Brien
• Kaya Turski

Being a veteran or leader is a great quality for a flag bearer:

• Chandra Crawford
• Erik Guay
• Charles Hamelin
• Alex Harvey
• Denny Morrison
• Heather Moyse
• Christine Nesbitt
• Hayley Wickenheiser

We could choose someone with a great story like the U.S. have done in the past. 

• Jan Hudec who emigrated from Czech republic as an infant with his parents in a home- made raft. Has overcome multiple injuries.
• Larisa Yurkiw who funded her Olympic dream when she lost Alpine Canada funding last year while coming back from injury
• Heather Moyse (3 time Olympian, multi-sport athlete coming back from injury)
• Alex Harvey (making history in cross-country skiing, all in the family ... father is summer and winter Olympian)
• siblings - Hamelin brothers (father is Speed Skating Canada program director), Dufour-Lapointe sisters
• love story/2010 memorable moment - Charles Hamelin and Marianne St-Gelais

The competition schedule is a concern. Athletes competing the day after the Ceremony (or soon afterwards) often do not attend the Ceremony and wouldn't want to be flag bearer because it could affect their performance. Other athletes with their competition being in the second week may want to stay away from the craziness of the Olympic Games for as long as possible so may not be in Sochi for the Olympic ceremony.

Who does this cancel out? Quite a few, including Patrick Chan, Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Mark McMorris, Hayley Wickenheiser and Chandra Crawford.

Also looking at the past flag bearers, do we want to repeat recent sports who have been represented? 2010 speed skater, 2006 women's ice hockey, 2002 speed skating. Although worthy, this cancels out Christine Nesbitt and Haeley Wickenheiser.

Here is my short list of athletes to be Canada's flag bearer in 2014.

Alexandre Bilodeau
Pro - first gold medal on Canadian soil, if curse is real, another Canadian (Mikaël Kingsbury) could win gold (also sentimental for me having been at the moguls event to see him win gold in 2010)
Con - sportsmanship/frustration issues this season may put damper on leader criterion

Sydney Crosby
Pro - Although I would normally not want a professional athlete as flag bearer, the golden goal in 2010 ignited the country, we haven't had a male hockey player as flag bearer since 1948, he would need no introduction
Con - too mainstream/professional; has a NHL game that night - could he be in Sochi instead?

Erik Guay
Pro - most successful Canadian alpine skier with 21 World Cup podiums, crystal globe winner, world champion, downhill is well known and popular event
Con - has been SO close at the Olympics (4th and two 5ths), I'm worried about the flag bearer curse (I am SO hoping he medals in Sochi), also competes two days after the ceremony.

Charles Hamelin
Pro - 3-time Olympic medallist (2 gold within 30 minutes on home soil), 26-time World Champion medallist, family affair (brother, father, girlfriend)
Con - sport is high risk, so flag bearer curse could easily affect outcome

Alex Harvey
Pro - history making results in cross-country skiing (including 4 recent podiums of which 2 are wins), father is 2-time Olympian (1976 road cycling, 1988 cross-country skiing)
Con - has been SO close at the Olympics (4th), my fear of curse (especially with 4 recent podiums including 2 wins), competes 2 days later.

Kaillie Humphries
Pro - 2010 Olympic champion, perfect season last year
Con - competition starts Week 2 so may not be in Sochi, bobsleigh not as popular as other sports in Canada

History is being made at the 2014 Olympics with women being included in halfpipe and ski jumping. Slopestyle is also being added as a sport.

One of the major reasons for women freestyle skiing being added is Sarah Burke who lobbied the IOC for inclusion. I would love our flag bearer to be a tribute to Sarah who died January 19, 2012. Roz Groenewoud is an obvious candidate competing in the event that Sarah was the favourite to win Olympic gold. A recent injury and the event being scheduled in the second week makes me doubt that Roz would be available for the Opening Ceremony.

Another athlete inspired by Sarah is Kaya Turski who competes in slopestyle. As much as I would love to see Kaya carry the flag into the Opening Ceremony, I fear that Sarah and Kaya (or Roz) are not known enough in Canada for it to be a moment where Canada stands up with pride. It could be an opportunity however to share Sarah's story with a larger audience - especially with Canada Post releasing a Sarah Burke stamp as a pioneer of winter sports.

I received a tweet reply from Marc Durand, host of Objectif Sotchi on Radio-Canada.  He had a great idea to honour Sarah. Whoever we choose to be flag bearer could wear a Sarah sticker/patch on their uniform like many athletes do now. I would love for the whole team to wear a Sarah sticker/patch and the commentators to point it out and explain the significance.

So if the decision was up to me who would I choose as flag bearer? I would choose someone with experience and knowledge of what it takes to succeed and how to handle disappointment at Olympic Games. I would choose someone who is not competing within 48 hours of the ceremony. My choice doesn't "need" to win a medal to complete their career but are expected to medal. I would choose someone who has given us memorable moments and someone that the other athletes would be proud to follow into the stadium.

I would choose Charles Hamelin.

I don't have a vote though and I will be happy with whoever is chosen to lead Team Canada in to the Opening Ceremony.

The Heartbeat

With 3 weeks to go to the 2014 Olympics, our winter athletes are competing around the world in preparation for or in hope of qualifying for the Games.

 Keep checking the SportCafé calendar (www.sportcafe.ca/events) for ongoing event information with links and updates. I am also in the process of adding the Olympic events to the calendar. More info to follow to help make your Olympic viewing simpler and more complete.

If you are participating in or know of an event that could be featured, please contact me: suzanne[at]sportcafe[dot]ca or via Twitter @olympichearts.

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*all times Eastern unless otherwise noted.

Upcoming Events in Canada

Snowboard Jamboree
January 16-19
Stoneham and Québec City
More info

Short Track Speed Skating Test Event & Cdn Juniors
January 16-19
Montreal, QC
More info

Speed Skating North American Championships
January 17-19
Calgary, AB
More info

Moguls World Cup
January 19
Val Saint-Côme, QC
More info

Fast and Female Power Hour
January 26
Halifax, NS
More info

Olympic Sports on Television:

Alpine Skiing
Saturday January 18 3pm Sportsnet Men's Downhill (7:30pm Sportsnet ONE)
Sunday January 19 10am Sportsnet ONE Men's Downhill
Sunday January 19 12pm Sportsnet Ladies GS (5pm Sportsnet, 3pm SN ONE)
Sunday January 19 1pm CBC Men's Slalom

livestream Sunday on cbcsports.ca
4:15am Men's Slalom first run
7:15am Men's Slalom second run

Snowboarding from Stoneham Quebec
Sunday January 19 2pm CBC

Bobsleigh and Skeleton
Click here for livestream
Friday January 18 6:30pm Sportsnet ONE Women's Skeleton
Saturday January 18 1pm Sportsnet ONE Women's Skeleton
Saturday January 18 2pm Sportsnet ONE Men's Skeleton (9pm SN ONE)
Saturday January 18 3pm Sportsnet ONE 2-Man Bobsleigh (10pm SN ONE)
Sunday January 19 1pm Sportsnet Women's Bobsleigh
Sunday January 19 2pm Sportsnet 4-Man Bobsleigh (10pm Sportsnet W/Pac)

Track Cycling World Cup
Monday January 20 10am Sportsnet ONE

Objectif Sotchi 
Saturday 2pm Radio-Canada
Previous episodes can be seen here. Although in French, they do cover and interview English-only Canadian athletes.

Also check Sportsnet listings for coverage of
Australian Open Tennis (daily)
Tour Down Under Road Cycling daily starting Sunday
Ironman Triathlon World Championships (Tuesday)

Other Events And Livestreams 

Biathlon World Cup
January 16-19
Italy
More info
Click here for livestream

Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup
January 17-19
Austria
More info
Click here for livestream

Alpine Skiing - Men
January 17-19
Switzerland
More info

Alpine Skiing - Women
January 18-19
Italy
More info

Aerials World Cup
January 18
Lake Placid, NY
More info

Speed Skating World Sprint Championships
January 18-19
Japan
More info

Luge World Cup
January 18-19
Germany
More info

Slopestyle Ski World Cup
January 17-18
Switzerland
More info

Freestyle Skiing Grand Prix
January 17-18
Park City, Utah
More info
televised on NBC

Swimming U.S. Grand Prix
January 17-19
Austin, TX
More info
click here for livestream

Cross-Country Skiing
January 18-19
Poland
More info

Ski Jumping - Ladies
January 18-19
Japan
More info

Ski Jumping - Men
January 17-19
Poland
More info

Snowboard Parallel - GS
January 18-19
Slovenia
More info

Nordic Combined
January 17-19
Austria
More info

Sailing North American Championships
January 18-20
Miami, Florida
More info

The Heartbeat

With less than 30 days to go to the 2014 Olympics, our winter athletes are competing around the world in preparation for or in hope of qualifying for the Games.

 Keep checking the SportCafé calendar (www.sportcafe.ca/events) for ongoing event information with links and updates. I am also in the process of adding the Olympic events to the calendar. More info to follow to help make your Olympic viewing simpler and more complete.

If you are participating in or know of an event that could be featured, please contact me: suzanne[at]sportcafe[dot]ca or via Twitter @olympichearts.

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*all times Eastern unless otherwise noted.

Upcoming Events in Canada

Olympic Block Party
January 11 2pm-5:30pm MT
Banff, AB
More info
Over 40 Olympians and music from The Arkells and The Sheepdogs

Figure Skating National Championships
January 9-15
Ottawa, ON
More info

Para-Alpine World Cup
January 8-14
Panorama, BC
More info

Cross-Country Ski NorAm
Jan 8-12
Canmore, AB
More info

Olympic Sports on Television:

Alpine Skiing
Saturday January 11 4:30am livestream cbcsports.ca Men's GS Adelboden 1st run
Saturday January 11 7:30am livestream cbcsports.ca Men's GS 2nd run
Saturday January 11 4pm CBC Men's GS Adelboden

Freestyle Skiing
Saturday January 11 5pm CBC Moguls and Halfpipe from Calgary

Bobsleigh/Skeleton St. Moritz World Cup
Friday January 10 5pm Sportsnet ONE Men's Skeleton
Saturday January 11 1pm Sportsnet ONE Women's Skeleton
Saturday January 11 2pm Sportsnet ONE Women's Bobsleigh
Saturday January 11 3pm, 7pm Sportsnet ONE 2-Man Bobsleigh
Sunday January 12 9am-noon, 8pm rebroadcast Sportsnet ONE
Monday January 13 11am Sportsnet ONE Men's Skeleton (possibly 2nd race)
Monday January 13 12noon Sportsnet ONE 4-man bobsleigh

Figure Skating National Skating Championships
Friday January 10 3pm TSN Women's & Ice Dance Short
Friday January 10 7:30pm TSN Men's & Pairs Short
Saturday January 11 4pm TSN Women's & Pairs Free
Saturday January 11 7pm TSN Men's & Ice Dance Free
rebroadcast on TSN2

Curling - All-Star Skins Game
Friday January 10 8pm TSN2 (draft) followed by last year's final
Saturday January 11 1pm TSN Semi-Final #1
Saturday January 11 9:30pm TSN Semi-Final #2
Sunday January 12 1pm TSN Final
rebroadcast on TSN2

Tennis - Australian Open
daily starting Sunday January 12 7pm TSN2

U.S. Figure Skating Championships
Saturday Jan 11 3-6pm, 8-11pm
Sunday Jan 12 3-5pm

Ski Jumping - Four Hills Tournament
Saturday January 11 3pm CBC

Objectif Sotchi 
Saturday 2pm Radio-Canada
Previous episodes can be seen here. Although in French, they do cover and interview English-only Canadian athletes.

Other Events And Livestreams 

Moguls World Cup
January 9-11
Deer Valley
More info
Click here for livestream (or here) 2pm-8:30pm MT

Freestyle Skiing World Cup - Slopestyle and Halfpipe
January 8-12
Breckenridge
More info

Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup
January 9-12
St. Moritz
More info
livestream here
television coverage on Sportsnet ONE

Aerials World Cup
January 10
Deer Valley
More info
perhaps moguls livestream will be for aerials?

Luge World Cup
January 11-12
Oberhof, GER
More info

Snowboard Cross
Jan 10-12
Andorra
More info

Parallel Slalom Snowboard World Cup
January 10-12
Austria
More info

Ski Jumping Men
January 10-12
Austria
More info

Alpine Skiing - Ladies Downhill, SC
January 11-12
Austria
More info

Ski Jumping Women
January 11-12
Japan
More info

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup
January 11-12
Czech Republic
More info

Biathlon World Cup
January 8-12
Germany
More info
livestream and videos

The challenge of watching Olympic sports live

With a month to go to the 2014 Olympic Games, so many Canadian athletes are peaking at the right time. There have been amazing results recently, they are almost too difficult to keep track of.

• Erik Guay - 2 podiums incl. a win to break the Canadian record for most podiums - alpine skiing
• Jan Hudec - podium - alpine skiing
• Travis Gerrits - 1st World Cup win - aerials
• Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw - first time for a Canadian 1-2 World Cup finish
• Alex Harvey - 2 more podiums in first 6 stages of the Tour de Ski
• Dave Duncan - 1st World Cup win (and then 2nd) - ski cross
• Dominique Maltais - podium in Lake Louise - snowboard cross
• Sarah Reid - World Cup podium - skeleton
• Alex Gough - World Cup podium - luge
• Tristan Walker and Justin Snith - 1st career podium in doubles luge
• Alex Gough, Tristan Walker, Justin Snith and Sam Edney - podium - team event luge
• Justin Dorey, Noah Bowman, Matt Margetts - Canadian World Cup podium sweep in Calgary - ski halfpipe
• Mikael Kingsbury and Alex Bilodeau - 1st and 2nd in moguls WC in Calgary
• Justine and Chloé Dufour-Lapointe - 1st and 3rd in moguls WC in Calgary

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure I am missing some.

Being a huge fan of Olympic sports, all these great results should have me quite excited, but I was actually feeling sad on the weekend. Why? Because most of these events were not shown live on television or livestreamed by a Canadian (or reputable website). I was learning about the results on Twitter.

Even the world cup events in Calgary were not shown live and are being televised next week.

I find it sad that the demand in Canada isn't bigger for Olympic sports. There are so many sports stations now, it amazes me that more amateur sports are not shown. This begs the question, what comes first? If the stations showed amateur sports, would people become more interested or does the audience interest have to come first before stations show the sports?

I talked about this topic before in a post "Do Sports Organizations and Athletes Want Us to Follow Them Year Round or Only During the Olympic Games?" You can read that post here.

That post was more about live events around Canada and letting people know they are happening, but the same thing can be said about television coverage. It's not easy to find amateur sports coverage. I'm not sure how the average sports fan does it. Do they check the guide to see what is on and plan accordingly or do they just turn on and watch whatever is on?

I have to give CBC and Radio-Canada credit with the continual coverage whether it's CBC Sports Weekend, Objectif Sotchi, Olympic commercials or athlete interviews.  I'm thankful to Sportsnet for covering alpine skiing, bobsleigh and skeleton. So I don't want this to sound like I'm not thankful. I just wish there was more variety (like last week when ski jumping was aired on CBC - I don't think I have seen ski jumping on television outside of the Olympics). I'd love to see all amateur sports get some coverage, even if it's not every event.

Rather than showing skeleton and bobsleigh every weekend, could we mix in some luge or speed skating? Rather than alpine skiing every weekend, could we mix in some cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboard or biathlon?

Alpine skiing, bobsleigh and skeleton are not shown live, so if Canadian results aren't up to par one weekend, couldn't they show another event where our results are better? (Yes, I know television rights comes into play so it's not that simple). And really, in Europe, I believe they show most Olympic sports so why would we have to mix it up?

SportCafé also have a great new video player that is showing some of the highlights. It's great that some events are at least shown delayed or highlights available online, but there is nothing like live sports. Imagine hockey, basketball or football games being shown 8 hours or a week after they were actually played. Would viewers be as interested in those sports if there wasn't the excitement of not knowing what will happen?

Although I was sad to not see our Canadian athletes compete this past weekend, I will get to see them compete at the Olympics in one month. One of my goals for the 2014 Winter Olympics is to manage my Olympic viewing better.

Technology has changed Olympic viewing in the past 5 to 10 years. PVRs capable of recording multiple channels and livestream coverage of every event available on computers, tablets and phones makes it more difficult to manage. It's no longer as simple as watching the evening highlights.

In 2010, I missed most of the first 5 days. Not that I'm complaining. Having travelled to Victoria to attend a couple of events in Vancouver meant that I wasn't glued to a television or computer screen. When I returned, I was trying to catch up on what I had missed and keeping up with current events which made it difficult and not ideal.

In 2012, I used two PVRs to try to capture as much as I could. I would wake up and watch the telecasts I had recorded, while keeping away from social media and news. It was overwhelming.

I'm hoping to stay on social media this time which will mean understanding the schedule better and choosing which events I really really want to see live and which ones I'll be okay with knowing the results before seeing it. This was the mistake I made in 2012. I would be watching one recorded channel that would tell me the result from a different channel I had recorded that I cared more about.

Although the Winter Olympics schedule isn't as daunting as the Summer Olympics (here it is from the official website)...

and hovering over an event will give you more detail including the local time...

It's still not enough for me to ensure that I will see the events I want without finding out the result beforehand, so in the next few weeks, I will be uploading the schedule in SportCafé's events calendar with as much information as I can like the time of the event (local and Canadian), Canadians competing and which channel will be showing the events. So if you're like me and want to choose the events you're most interested in, check the SportCafé calendar in the coming weeks for more detail.

It's the one time of year that amateur sports fans are guaranteed to be able to watch any Olympic sport live. I'll be taking advantage of it and can't wait to see Canadian athletes "Give Their Everything!"

The Heartbeat

Check the SportCafé calendar (www.sportcafe.ca/events) for ongoing event information with links and updates.

If you are participating in or know of an event that could be featured, please contact me: suzanne[at]sportcafe[dot]ca or via Twitter @olympichearts.

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Upcoming Events in Canada

Speed Skating Selection Trials
Dec 28-Jan 3
Calgary, AB
More info

Speed Skating Canada Cup
January 3-5
Calgary, AB
More info

Halfpipe World Cup
January 3
Calgary, AB
More info

Moguls World Cup
January 4
Calgary, AB
More info

Pentathlon Winter Invitational
January 5
Toronto, ON
More info

Skeleton Intercontinental Cup
January 5-6
Whistler, BC
More info

Figure Skating National Championships
January 9-15
Ottawa, ON
More info

Para-Alpine World Cup
January 8-14
Panorama, BC
More info

Cross-Country Ski NorAm
Jan 8-12
Canmore, AB
More info

Olympic Sports on Television:

Alpine Skiing
Saturday January 4 4am 1st run 7am 2nd run livestream cbcsports.ca Women's SL
Saturday January 4 4pm CBC highlights Women's SL
(note: World Cup from Zagreb is cancelled)

Bobsleigh/Skeleton Winterberg World Cup
Friday January 3 2pm Men's Skeleton Sportsnet (Sat 7pm SN ONE)
Friday January 3 3pm 2-Man Bobsleigh Sportsnet (7pm SN ONE)
Saturday January 4 4pm  4-Man Bobsleigh Sportsnet (5pm SN ONE)
Saturday January 4 5pm Women's Skeleton Sportsnet (6pm SN ONE)
Sunday January 5 12pm Women's Bobsleigh Sportsnet
Sunday January 5 1pm 4-Man Bobsleigh #2 Sportsnet

Ski Jumping
Saturday January 4 8am livestream cbcsports.ca (Men's Innsbruck)
Saturday January 4 3pm CBC Women's Germany
Saturday January 4 5pm CBC Men's Germany
Monday January 6 10am Men's Bischofshofen

Objectif Sotchi 
Saturday 2pm Radio-Canada

US Olympic Trials - Short Track Speed Skating
Sunday January 5 4pm NBC

Other Events And Livestreams

Luge World Cup
January 4-5
Königssee, Germany
More info

Luge World Cup
January 4-5
Seiser Alm, Italy
More info

Cross-Country Ski World Cup (Tour de Ski)
Jan 3 Cortina-Toblach
Jan 4-5 Val di Fiemme
More info

Biathlon World Cup
Jan 3-5
Oberhof, Germany
More info