Not even a blizzard could stop us. Early Thursday morning, after five hours spent watching the snowbanks build on the runway of JFK airport (and six more spent banging around the turbulence-filled night), MTV News finally landed in Vancouver, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. And though we were all tired, we hit the ground running. After all, this is the biggest stage in the entire world, and it was our time to shine.
Okay, so actually we checked in to our apartment (no hotels left in town) and crashed out for about six hours. But then he got down to business, spending the day with three U.S. athletes (skeleton racers Katie Uhlaender and Noelle Pikus-Pace and bobsledder and U.S. National Guard Sergeant Mike Kohn), interviewing legends like Picabo Street and Dan Jansen and getting a tour of the official Team USA Shop (given by none other than Ralph Lauren's son David).
We also met Jeb Bush's daughter (you know, the model one), traded U.S. Olympic pins with a Vancouver shopkeeper and drove some of the U.S. athletes back to the heavily-guarded Olympic Village. Sway even promised one Olympian he'd learn how to snowboard while he was here, too. Vancouver is alive with energy and excitement: The streets are packed, bars and clubs are booming late into the night, and the opening ceremonies for the games don't even happen until tonight.
And while we'll have more on our adventures throughout the weekend — including that tour of the Team USA Shop, where you can catch a glimpse at the outfits our guys and gals will be wearing during the opening ceremony — we just wanted to take this time to let you know that we're here, we're ready, and we're never going to be afraid of a little blizzard ever again.