I have to say that other than the tragedy of the first day, I am so happy to take in as much of this spectacle as possible.
However I cannot help but feel that some of these events have served their purpose and should either be refined or dropped.
Did anyone else feel disappointed the women ski jumpers were not allowed to compete while the men have three ski jumping events, the large hill, the normal hill, and the large hill team ski jumping? There are also three male Nordic ski jump events combining skiing and jumping again from the different heights.
So maybe the lesson here is that women should be grounded at all times?
Now there are 10 biathlon events, which in my opinion, are sadly outdated. Both men and women are included in this senseless display of who can ski a certain distance then stop and take aim and fire at targets, then get up and ski again and repeat the process. I mean who skis and shoots today?
Maybe the shooting should be replaced by shooting hoops. Now I appreciate the heart rate element and the steadiness involved after skiing a distance, but shooting a rifle at targets? I hope their rifles were registered.
Why do we have bobsled and buge? I think we should replace the luge (which are glorified sleds) with toboggans. There is nothing like a good toboggan contest to see who can go the furthest or the fastest. I mean how many Canadians have luges in the garages? How many humans have access to a luge facility? Seems to be quite a restricted sport.
Skeleton racing is very well named...as a layman; I see it as a luge with the headfirst approach. I mean I did not want my four sons to go down a hill headfirst on a toboggan or a tube let alone a 'luge-type' contraption. So let's get rid of the skeleton and use big tubes. You could have one, two, even six-person tubing. This would be lots of fun and we could practice on local hills to improve our skills. What mother or father would put their kids on a skeleton sled and then send them down a hill headfirst? I think they should have had their heads examined.
Simplistically, the speed skating is akin to running, but the event that bothers me most is the team pursuit. Have you watched any of this? The hand exchanges can be a joke with innocent skaters being accidentally bumped, impeded or trashed.
Having said that, my favourite events thus far have been events like the Ski Cross or the Snow Boarding Cross. As you may have seen in one of our silver medal accomplishments, four competitors race down to the end of the course. In qualifying races the best two move on to the next round. While watching an earlier competition involving women snowboarders, I was moved by a Canadian snowboarder who was impeded and bumped by a competitor and later gave that same competitor an elbow that basically took them out. While not downgrading the great skill involved in snowboarding it was almost like Roller Derby on boards.

So yes, I was one of those that thought the lighting of the flame by a number of athletes was appropriate...but Rick Hansen was not included in the actual lighting, maybe because of his handicap? And who, other than Terry Fox has made such an impact on Canadian athleticism worldwide? Terry's mom should have been included in the lighting in my view.
Finally the entertainment critique. Were Celine Dion and Shania Twain busy that evening? What a great spectacle it would have been for both of them to have sung “Alleluia” rather than KD Lang who cannot possibly be that well recognized outside of Canadian circles.
Not having Neil Young or Joni Mitchell instead of Nellie Furtado?
My eldest son took in the opening ceremonies sitting only four rows behind the athletes and surprisingly got these seats last minute and cheaply as some American seats were cancelled. His reaction to the opening, besides saying you had to be there, was that it was the most fantastic night of his life.
Finally I would be remiss if I did not mention my favourite event from the opening, which was “We Are More” the poem read by Shayne Koyczan. We definitely are!