Happy Monday, everyone.  Last night's closing ceremonies in Vancouver ended what was a memorable, eventful, and somewhat-tragic Olympic Games.  I hope the sudden withdrawl of Scott Hamilton, The Marriage Ref, and Morgan Freeman Visa commercials hasn't left you too emotionally shaken.

I must admit that my Olympic fever wore off a bit after the first week.  It went from 'Hell, it's only four times a year.  Might as well watch as much as I can.' to 'Hockey, hockey, hockey and I won't lose any sleep missing the other stuff.'  Now that they're all over, I'm satisfied with what I saw overall.  NBC spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours covering the games, so I won't even attempt any kind of recap.  Instead here's just a few blips of what I liked and didn't like during the Games.  Let me just admit right now that I didn't see everything and there will be some inevitable omissions because of that.  If there's things that you particularly liked or didn't like that you don't see here, feel free to (as always) to post them in the comments section.

Things Conor Liked About the Winter Olympic Games

• Apolo Anton Ohno (and pretty much speed skating in general.)  In non-Olympic years, it's tough to follow this sport in any way. So personable stars like Ohno are great for reeling dopes like me in.  Once watching, we realize that every race is pretty damn cool no matter who's flying around the ice.  And if th fast action isn't enough, how bout those super-ambiguous rules?  A little tap here, a little shove there, sending guys down to the ice at insane speed so they go crashing into the boards.  The 'will-he-or-won't-he get disqualified at the end' feeling...it's all great.

• Joannie Rochette.  Obviously.  Canada's hockey team might have caused the biggest stir, but it was the country's 24-year-old figure skater who was the story of these games.  In a time where fans may sometimes get carried away with medal counts and bragging rights, Rochette brought individual triumph to a whole new level.  Her courage to compete under the circumstances would have been enough.  The bronze medal was the icing on the cake.

• Team USA Hockey.  Yes, the silver medal was technically the 'worst case scenario' yesterday.  But was it really that bad?  After Canada won the game, the losing feeling wore off pretty darn quickly.  I think I was more surprised than disappointed...after all, it was the first game the Americans lost in the entire tournament.  I suppose there was a little bit of a 2007 Patriots feel to it all, but 2nd place in the Olympics is far, far different than 2nd place in the NFL.  in a good way.  The USA brought all their young talent in and took on a whole new direction this year.  Though they felt just short of the ultimate goal, this team's performance (and fun-to-watchability) was stellar.  Let's just bring Kyle Okposo the next time around, eh?

Things Conor Didn't Like About the Winter Olympic Games

•  That it had to be Crosby that won it for Canada.  Why him?  Why?  SportsCenter spent a solid 5 minutes straight with the inevitable Crosby career timeline, followed by the preposterous Gretzky comparisons.  The rest of Team Canada combined will get about 10% of the media hype and praise of Crosby.  Beyond that, the goal itself was anticlimactic.  I'm sorry.  The live camera didn't even show it completely.  Just a quick stab at the puck after a phenomenal pass from Iginla.  It was a great gold medal game, but going into overtime many people expected it to be even more than that.

• Curling.  Goodness gracious.  As the Olympics approached, I thought that I liked this sport.  Now I don't know where to begin in describing its shortcomings.  The matches were endless.  The screamers on the teams were louder than the announcers.  There is so much dead time throughout the broadcast, yet the announcers never describe what the hell is happening in front of us.  The ridiculous measuring apparatus that they use if two curlees look equally close to the middle.  I thought we could have something, curling.  Now I'm prepared to never see you again.  It's too late to apologize.  It's too laaaaaaaate.

• Lindsey Vonn's Tomfoolery.  Come on, lady.  You're either healthy enough to ski or you're not.  When I heard Vonn was hurt going into the games, I was rooting like everyone else for her to do well.  And I commend her for going out there while hurt.  But I didn't need to be reminded of it in every interview.  I didn't need captivating analysis from Vonn's hubby.  I'm quite glad that she came away with her medals, but it would have been a lot better if she went about her business quietly while reflecting maybe a little bit of attention to Mancuso and the rest of her teammates. 

So there you have it.  As I said, there's a lot missing.  Sorry about that.  But the bottom line is that the torches have been extinguished and March has arrived.  Hello college basketball.  Hello hockey stretch run.  Hello Knicks losing by 20.  Hello BASEBALL (soon.)  As you can see, lots of stuff is coming your way on this here blog.  So come on back soon.  We'll pop bottles together.