Nathan Stacken

It’s over. What a great 17 days of Olympic action. There were great stories and performances the likes of which may never be duplicated. Here’s a quick look back at some great Olympic moments:Canada-USA men battle in hockey’s gold medal game.If you watched the game, you know the level of excitement that the game generated and how great a game it was. Some people including NBC’s Al Michaels and Bob Costas said after the game that it was maybe the best hockey game they had ever seen. USA’s Zach Parise scored the game-tying goal with under 30 seconds to play in the third period, sending the game into overtime tied 2-2. Sidney Crosby, Canada’s next “Great One” scored what could be his biggest goal ever a little over seven minutes into overtime giving Canada the gold medal. The U.S. won silver, and considering that they were the youngest team in the tournament, that is quite an accomplishment. It was an exciting game and a lot of people in the states watched the game. Hopefully this tournament made some new fans of the NHL, because that is where most of the players on both sides will go back to, and continue their season. I think that the NHL has made more than a few fans after the wonderful spectacle that people saw in the Olympics.Kim Ya-Nu sets record.Figure skating is not a sport that I know much about, if anything. But Yu-Na, who is from South Korea and is hailed as one of the biggest celebrities South Korea has, set an Olympic record with her combined score in the short-program and long-program of 228.56, which is more than 18 points higher than her world record. I don’t know how they score and judge in figure skating, but anytime you beat your previous world record by 18 points, that says a lot. All of the pressure Yu-Na felt from her country is now a non-issue. Yu-Na’s performance will be remembered for a long time.USA four-man bobsled team ends long gold medal drought.Riding in the famous “Night Train” sled, Steve Holcomb and his teammates made history by winning gold in the four-man bobsled, the first gold medal for the U.S. in the event since 1948. Think about that, that is 62 years! The US had control of the track with their four runs totaling three minutes and 24.46 seconds. Hopefully it won’t be another 62 years between gold medals.The “Flying Tomato” strikes again.Only a few days into the Olympics, Shaun White won a gold medal in the men’s snowboard half-pipe. But it was his second run during the event that got everyone’s jaws to drop. Having already secured a gold medal before his second run, White went down for what people thought would be a celebration run. Instead, White tried the dangerous Double McTwist 1260? and nailed the landing. I can’t tell you why the move is called that, but watching live you could see why it is a dangerous move, and White had no troubles at all. White’s run scored a 48.4, which was almost two points higher than his first run. The “Flying Tomato” added one more reason why he is the best snowboarder in the world.Apolo Ohno becomes the most decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history.I talked last week about Ohno’s success in winning the most medals in the Winter Olympics by an American. He added one more bronze medal and almost won another medal before being disqualified for allegedly pushing one of his competitors. Overall, Ohno has won eight medals in the Winter Olympics. NBC’s Bob Costas talked to Ohno before the closing ceremonies and asked him if he was considering skating in Sochi, Russia in the 2014 Olympics. Ohno did not say yes, and he did not say no. He said he would take his time and make the decision that is best for him. Ohno also said he would be in Russia for the Olympics in 2014, it’s just a question of whether or not he brings his skates with him. If it is the end, we have witnessed a great athlete and one of the best speedskaters of all time. I certainly hope he comes back for one last run in four years.Joannie Rochette skates for more than just the bronze.I know, another figure skating story, but this one deserves some space in the column. The Canadian figure skater’s mother died unexpectedly on Feb. 21, a couple of days before the start of ladies’ figure skating. It certainly would have been understandable if Rochette decided to withdraw. She didn’t though, and dealing with all of the emotions, she went on to set a new personal best in the short program portion of the event with a score of 71.36 that put her in third. She hung on for the bronze after the long program, but anyone who watched it knew, felt, and could relate to her in some way, and it was a really moving performance. What Rochette did inspired a lot of people and made her the darling of the figure skating world.Final thoughts ?There are so many other stories and athletes that I could talk about, whether it be Lindsey Vonn or Bode Miller or Canada’s “Michael Jordan” of curling, Kevin Martin, but we just don’t have enough time or space. It was a spectacular Olympics and I, like so many others was sad to see them go. The next Olympics are in the summer of 2012 in London, and the next Winter Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia in 2014. While it’s sad to see the Olympics go, I don’t think people will forget for a long time some of the performances they saw from some truly amazing athletes.One More Thing ?Sorry to switch gears so abruptly, but the sports world will now start to focus on college basketball and March Madness as conference tournaments start this week and continue into the next week, with March Madness starting on March 16 with the play-in game. That will be fun to watch, and I’ll have a preview of what to expect in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that.