A Slice Of Saskatoon

Sometimes, when you're trying read the barometer of a new city, it's helpful to use your own familiar surroundings as a point of comparison.
With that in mind, a few things we've gleaned about our host city for the 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships:
*** We've all noticed the frozen, rather bumpy roads in front of the Delta Bessborough, our stately hotel home for the week. Not a bare piece of pavement in sight. Then again, the word is road salt loses its ability to melt ice once the temperature drops below a certain level. And from what I've heard, this has been a brutally cold winter so far on the Prairies, with wind chills in the -40s almost the norm rather than the exception. Maybe it really is that simple.
*** Further to that point ... on the way to the Credit Union Centre today, noticed somebody had thrown a red sweater over one of the statues you'll find in the park that sits alongside the South Saskatchewan River, which winds its way through the heart of Saskatoon. Now that's telling you that it's been some kind of cold here.
*** Regular unleaded gas is going for 89.8 cents a litre today at most stations. Being that it was selling in the low 70s when I left Ottawa earlier this week, I'd say we're getting a rather good deal. Then again, I've heard and read that us folks in the nation's capital have been enjoying the country's lowest gas prices for awhile now.
*** Last night, as we made our way back to the Bessborough, picked up on an affliction most familiar to anyone who lives on the Gatineau side of the Ottawa River: Heavy bridge traffic at the end of the work day. In all, seven bridges span the South Saskatchewan here, which (sensibly enough) is why Saskatoon has aquired the moniker "The Bridge City."
*****
You've got to love the volatility of the code of points judging system (which a lot folks still call the "new system," even if it really isn't).
Take the results in the junior men's event, which wrapped up late Thursday night. Andrei Rogozine of Richmond Hill, Ont., took the gold medal with a total overall score of 149.77 points. While Rogozine stood second after the short program, Paul Parkinson of the Nepean Skating Club in Ottawa made a mighty leap from 10th to claim the silver medal (141.46) by placing second in the free skate.
That kind of movement was simply unheard of in the "old" days. But while it's becoming somewhat common now, it's still an eye-opener every time you see it. And a rather subtle reminder that it really isn't over until its over.
Quebec's Sebastien Wolfe took home the bronze medal (140.60).