Crying for two reasons

The first was for joy obviously after Ted won the gold medal. He is a great guy, a good friend and being here to see him win was one of the highlights of my year. After the downhill portion of the combined I decided to walk back up to Sestriere Colle. It was a nice day, and I needed a little hike. On the way, I met up with Ted's parents who came over to watch the opening ceremonies and are staying for the entire games over in Bardoneccia. They seemed happy, but don't think they would have predicted him winning. I never say them after, but they must have been out of their heads with excitement.
The second reason for crying is because Dane Spencer of the US Ski Team suffered a horrible crash yesterday that is going to take a long time to recover from. Dane broke his neck and pelvis after crashing in a downhill at Big Mountain. He is currently in the hospital with a halo on his head to keep his neck secure, and doctors have been draining fluid from his abdomen. Right now he's not conscious, but it's only medically induced. Doctors say his spinal column is fine, and he will recover but not for months.
Dane competes regularly on the World Cup, and is especially good at giant slalom. He's been in the top-ten several times. After missing qualifying for the Olympic team, he traveled back to the US to compete in Nor-Am speed events.
Words of encouragement can be sent to dane_spencer@yahoo.com.