It's an awful feeling. The Olympics are on the other side of the world, you know that something momentous (as momentous as sport ever gets) is going to happen, and you have to tear yourself away from the action for something as prosaic as work.
But, last week, vacation was in order and the Olympics were on the menu morning, noon and night.
Here are some random observations:
* Hockey on the big ice is much more exciting and puts the emphasis where it belongs, on skill and hard work, rather than bully tactics. The referees may have called penalties that NHL media types found borderline. The result, however, was that players knew they couldn't stray from the rules and the game had a flow that was invigorating. The games were mercifully short compared to many NHL marathons.
* There's more body checking in short track speed skating than in hockey. Short-track is definitely not a sport, except perhaps for the officials who must figure out how to disqualify someone after every race, but it sure is compelling.
* Those Red pigtails on the hats Canadian medal winners were forced to wear don't suit Russ 'Hurry Hard' Howard. Howard was considered as the opening flag bearer and he would have been a great choice. He embodied the real spirit of the games, kibitzing with his opponents and the audience and having the time of his life. When Canada lost to Italy he was all smiles watching all the new-found Italian curling fans enjoy their victory.
* I hope sports writer Randy Starkman is appreciated at The Toronto Star. He covers amateur sport superbly, all the time, and outshone the celebrity drop-in types who are parachuted in for the choice events. His writing on cross-country skiing and rowing is unsurpassed.
* There are a lot of good CBC analysts, but none better than Jack Sasseville, who makes Nordic a must-see. Who knew biathlon could be so compelling?
* Canadians won lots of medals but they were anxious to tell the world that they are the same people who used to finish up the track. Most talked about how they wanted to inspire others to join their sport, as they were once inspired by Olympic performance. Yeah, winning is fantastic but there is nothing wrong with finishing 54th in the 50-kilometre cross-country if you really put forth your best effort. It means more when you say it after you finished first, though.
* What is it with our superb women athletes and big teeth? Clara Hughes, Chandra Crawford, Beckie Scott. Wall to wall incisors. Thank goodness we got to see those shiny smiles so often.
* Other countries seem to have someone come out of nowhere with a superb performance on race day to win, but we haven't done it often, with the possible exception of Kathy Kreiner. Well, Chandra Crawford changed all that. She blew away field after field of more experienced sprint skiers on a magical day and then took the gold medal in spontaneous effervescence. (Hint: air guitar is a universal bond.)
There were two big disappointments.
Despite our marked improvement in alpine skiing, thanks in large part to the attitude imparted by ex-Crazy Canuck Ken Read, we just missed medals all over the place.
The second big blow was seeing Beckie Scott finish fourth in the sprint that Crawford won. A gold would have been the crowning achievement in a fabulous career and Scott would have been able to hear the anthem played, a pleasure she was robbed of when she won gold, retroactively, in Salt Lake City. If I was choosing, Beckie would have been the flag bearer in the closing ceremonies. (No offence intended to the superb Cindy Klassen).
Scott skated poorly in the sprint but made no excuses.
"I just didn't have it today," she said.
Scott is a small girl with a big will and a passion to rid her sport and the Olympics of drug cheaters. She spoke out long and hard about the cheats and the result has been change. Beckie, who was elected an IOC athletic representative during the Games, is one of the main reasons this Olympics weren't plagued with drug disqualifications.
Beckie Scott stands for fierce but fair competition, just like her country. That's a message that will still ring true a long time after we've all forgotten exactly how many medals we won in Torino.