5 Years ago today I was living in Vancouver experiencing the thrill and hype of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I was working at a firm in Gastown at the time, so needless to say there wasn’t much getting done during those two weeks. We were all attending the various public activities and paying attention to the sports, watching our athletes accumulate medals.

As we got closer to the end of the games, Canada was slowly building towards the record of most gold medals won by not only the host country, but any participating country. The last events were naturally hockey. Canada’s women’s hockey team won the 13th gold medal, tying the record, so it came down to the men’s team playing the last game before the closing ceremony.

Most of you know what happened… Crosby made the game winning goal against the USA team, winning the 14th gold medal, and setting the new record.

But what you might not know is that I am ‘responsible’ for that record setting moment…

I remember very vividly where I was during that game. I was sitting in a tiny Caribbean restaurant/pub at the bottom of Lonsdale in North Van, surrounded by friends and an awesome mix of people from all over the world. The energy was indescribable. Everyone there was cheering Canada on. There was a Russian man cheering the loudest, jumping up and down, and buying rounds for the whole bar each time Canada scored. The game was back and forth the whole time. We were all on the edge of our seats in the 3rd as it looked like Canada was going to take it home, but the USA scored at 19:35 in the 3rd, sending the game in to OT.

I definitely had a few at that point, and while anxiously waiting during intermission it seemed like the best way to assure Canada’s victory and set the gold medal record was to make a public declaration and deal with the universe… ‘If Canada wins I will wear a gold tie every year on February 28th for the rest of my life.’

So whether I am actually responsible or not, I’m now on the hook and have stuck to the deal by wearing a gold tie on this day for the past 5 years.