'BoniBlog – The Games Begin

And The Results Are In…

Hey, it’s rainy and foggy in Vancouver. What? You’re surprised? Not me. I remember my first trip ever to Vancouver in the early 1970s when I was covering the Maple Leafs for The Toronto Sun. It was four days and I eagerly anticipated discovering this city.
So, what did I get? Four days of torrential downpour. I spent most of my time either at the Hotel Vancouver or the local theatres where I set a personal record for most movies seen over a four-day period.
The rain moved in — so with the Opening Ceremony upon us, we said thank goodness for BC Place Stadium.
In the meantime, the thought struck me about the Olympics, past and present and I thought a poll from some of our Canadian journalists here would be cool, especially to compare them my own ‘scorecard’ for the Olympics.
So here is the first Boni Blog poll conducted just before the Opening Ceremonies:

Terry Jones – Sun Media
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 16
Best Olympics covered: Lillehammer & Sydney; Montreal was in there, too
Worst Olympics covered: Albertville, tied with Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Barbara Ann Scott; second choice, Nancy Greene

Steve Simmons – Sun Media
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 13
Best Olympics covered: Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Bobby Orr & Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky

Christie Blatchford – The Globe and Mail
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 12
Best Olympics covered: Summer Barcelona; Winter Calgary and Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: None
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Betty Fox

Randy Starkman – The Toronto Star
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 12
Best Olympics covered: Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Gaetan Boucher

Dave Perkins – The Toronto Star
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 10
Best Olympics covered: Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Betty Fox

John Iaboni – Sports Media Canada
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 10
Best Olympics covered: Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Given all the speculation Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky wouldn’t bother me at all but my choices would be either Betty Fox, Rick Hansen, Nancy Greene or Gaetan Boucher. How about a combination of all five of them?

Steve Milton – Hamilton Spectator
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 9
Best Olympics covered: Sarajevo & Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: Albertville, but it wasn’t bad
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Something to do with Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Nancy Greene

Steve Buffery – Sun Media
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 8
Best Olympics covered: Lillehammer
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Betty Fox
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Steve Nash

Jim Byers – The Toronto Star
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 6
Best Olympics covered: Sydney
Worst Olympics covered: Salt Lake City
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Hologram of William Shatner

Roy MacGregor – The Globe and Mail
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 6
Best Olympics covered: Nagano
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Betty Fox
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Gaetan Boucher

Chris Stevenson – Sun Media
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 6
Best Olympics covered: Sydney
Worst Olympics covered: Atlanta
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky

Eric Duhatschek – The Globe and Mail
No. of Olympics including Vancouver: 5
Best Olympics covered: Lake Placid
Worst Olympics covered: Calgary
Who do you think will light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky & Bobby Orr
Who would you like to see light the cauldron at Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky & Betty Fox