By the time you likely read this the 2014 Olympics in Sochi will be underway, and while the unpleasant side of the 2014 Games might run the risk of putting a damper on the events themselves it is still the Olympics and even with reports of unfinished accommodations even at the beginning of the week and threats from terrorist groups clouding things the world's oldest sporting event is still ready to take center stage.
There are plenty of other storylines that will be making the Olympic headlines not related to the ultra-political climate surrounding the country and the games.
From the obvious marquee event of the Olympic ice hockey tournament, to Saskatchewan talent searching for snowboarding Gold the events themselves should have Canadians excited for another Winter Olympics even if this time it won't be on home soil. With that being said, here is what you should expect and watch for during Sochi 2014.
CBC's return to broadcasting
After Bell purchased the rights to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games as well as London 2012 for the Summer Olympics, the government owned CBC's recent Olympic tradition returns for Sochi 2014. After TSN and CTV put such a commitment towards securing the rights to the magical Vancouver Olympics CBC is now in a tough position to match the quality of their competition which likely had a much bigger war chest to deliver the Olympic experience. They will have stiff competition as the wall to wall coverage put forth by CTV won IOC Top Worldwide Broadcaster awards for their amazing coverage and with recent further cuts to funding by the Harper government CBC is already working at a disadvantage.
What CBC did wisely do was enlist the services of TSN, TSN2, Sportsnet and Sportsnet One to ensure that same quality coverage of nearly every event. With those four channels and 12 live event streams online, there should be no reason that sports fans shouldn't be able to watch essentially every hour of Olympic coverage.
Hockey, hockey, and more hockey
Olympic Hockey has became an event that can nearly overshadow the rest of the games themselves for the countries involved.
With it being the only tournament that brings each countries best talents out to compete for international glory, the Olympics serve as a World Cup for hockey and the level of competition seems to increase with each tournament. Canada as always will be the favourites, and they will be looking to win Gold outside of North America for the first time since ending their boycott of the tournament. Other contenders in the hosts Russia, the 2010 Silver medalist Americans, local underdogs Czech Republic and always tough Sweden and Finland will be equally as eager to win Gold.
With so many teams at their peak of producing hockey talent in an increasingly global game, we can all be forgiven for ignoring the true amateurs who are supposed to be in the spotlight. It is hard not to be fixated on the hockey with so much of our country's pride seemingly at stake with each game. Olympic hockey is our World Cup and as long as NHL players participate it will always be the main highlight of the Olympics.
Mark McMorris goes for snowboarding gold
The top non-hockey Olympic story for Canada at the Olympics arguably involves Regina' Saskatchewan born snowboarding sensation Mark McMorris, who is the odds on favourite to win Olympic Men's Snowboarding Slopestyle and has a solid chance to compete for a medal in the halfpipe competition.
Competing against superstar, and American Shaun White, McMorris bruised his ribs at the recent X Games tune up while White opted to skip the event. McMorris says he is fine, and is Canada's most likely lock at a podium finish outside of hockey and men's curling.
Look for the Regina product to be one of the stars of the games, even if he already has an MTVCanada show to help with that.
Kallie Humphries, world's best bobsledder?
Kallie Humphries won bobsled gold in 2010 on home soil, a breakout that has continued as she has became the best female bobsled pilot in the world. Continuing her form over the past three years, the pressure now will be on more than it has ever been as she is already being pegged as one of the favourites to bring Canada gold. Her and teammate Heather Moyse don't seem to mind the pressure, and the female star of the pre-Olympic media coverage will be eager to show Canadians what they have been missing by showing why she is Canada's most underrated world class athlete. To do that, she and Moyse will have to win gold.
Enjoying fringe sports
One of the best parts of the Olympics any year is always the diversity of the events. From cross country skiing to luge to curling to snowboard cross, the Winter Olympics always have a little bit of everything for everyone. So whether you are a hardcore figure skating fan, a curling fan, a snowboarding fan, or just a hockey fan there is a little something for everybody. Even better, it should be on while there is largely nothing on to watch. One of the best bonuses about an overseas Olympics.
Canadian pride
Canada has finally seemed to regain its patriotic love for their countries athletes at the Olympics as of late. After Vancouver 2010 and the steady explosion in ratings and reaction to Canada's Womens National Soccer Team during their epic semifinal loss to the United States at London 2012, Canada has found their stride when it comes to embracing the Olympics. We have the best coverage of the Games next to maybe BBC which affords a higher budget and hosted the most recent Olympics, our results are the biggest sports stories of the day, and most importantly we tune in to our televisions, laptops, and now even tablets/phones to check in to cheer on our athletes.
The Olympics offer you a chance to feel an overwhelming sense of being a Canadian that is hard to explain so I suggest this month you watch at least an event each day to support our athletes in Sochi, cheer on a Gold Medal day/night, feel for a heartbreaking moment and most importantly feel proud to be a Canadian. After all, that is what the Olympics are all about anyways.
