Opening Ceremonies

Opening ceremonies-"It will be one of the highlights of your life". "Nothing prepares you for the opening ceremonies". "50,000 Jews cheering the United States" . We have heard these comments so many times-before we left and since we have been here.

And now July 6-opening ceremonies is upon us. It is a LONG day with little else scheduled. A long traffic filled ride to a large complex with every country (80) also there. we are scheduled to go in after the small Ukraine delegation and before the even smaller Uruguay group.

Our first stop is to Pais Arena, where the coolness of the empty hockey rink feels refreshing amid the intense summer heat. Most of us tie our warmup jackets around our wastes and pass the time by eating the plentiful snacks and socializing.

I find time to renew my friendship with the hockey juniors team,which has been holed up in Jerusalem,away from the Haifa hijinks.

It is now onto the interminable walkup line into the stadium. I have a fun exchange with my top player.

The walk continues with the excitement building.

And finally we hit the stadium. Ths video needs to be edited but in its entirety paints an accurate picture of the magical 15 minutes is like.



Hi fiving many fans in the front rows,who all want our uniforms. There is nothing to be given away. I make my first trade of my  USA cap for a Hungary hat.

The rest of the evening is a bit of a letdown. We can hardly see anything from our seats,but oh that feeling of walking into the stadium!