Jim Souhan: Vancouver's got game, but what happened to the winter part?

VANCOUVER — A sprinkling of observations after my first full day in Vancouver:

• Only a Minnesotan can travel to the Winter Olympics to warm up.

I need to trade in my mattress coat for an umbrella and galoshes. Lindsey Vonn's photo shoot melted all the snow.

Vancouver must be a Native American word for "De-Icing." The city is gorgeous, but it looks like a place you'd race in sculls, not skates.

There is no snow in the city, only rain, and suddenly there is too much white stuff in the mountains. The Alpine event training runs were cancelled Thursday because of -- and I don't get this either -- a snowstorm. Modern skiing requires a layer of hard ice, not the powdery stuff that provides soft landings to amateurs.

Still, isn't canceling a ski event because of too much snow like canceling a baseball game because of too much sunshine?

• We'll wait another day or two or three to discover whether Vonn's leg hurts so much she'll be unable to fulfill her role as the foremost Buck Hill alum at the Games, or whether she's masterfully manipulating expectations.

The guess here is she's closer to imitating Willis Reed than checking herself into Walter Reed.

Vonn knows how to market herself. If she wins, she overcame extreme pain to limp to the top of the podium. If she loses, she will be lauded as brave for even trying. Either way, she will wind up with an endorsement for fondue.

Vonn said she treated her bruise by applying cheese to her leg. It's a true Midwestern love story -- a girl from Burnsville and her miracle Muenster.

• Everything here is too easy. The Olympics are supposed to be hard.

They speak my language, only more precisely. Unlike Turin, there aren't machine-gun-toting security guards stripping you as you enter every venue. Unlike Turin, the locals are very excited to have us here.

Our hosts in Beijing were friendly and efficient, as long as you didn't try to bend any rules or step over any white lines, and if you went off-campus to eat, you could wind up with seafood on your plate that would try to eat you before you could eat it.

Vancouver is like a cleaner San Francisco or Seattle, which is to say you don't exactly get a sense of adventure when you wander around town. Vancouverites seem as nice as Minnesotans, only without the passive-aggressiveness.

• Chris Rudge, the CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, was pressed Thursday about his country's newfound ambition toward the Olympics. He nodded to an American reporter and said, "It's good to hear the elephant say, 'What's going on with the mouse?' "

He also said Canada used to be "a 'fourth' to be reckoned with." Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said, "Our goal is to finish atop the Olympics in total medal count."

• The Canadians will feel intense pressure, especially in the hockey tournament. A few hours after the Canadians' news conference, the U.S. snowboarders held theirs in the same ballroom. It was like watching Jack Johnson replace Metallica on stage.

Shaun White admitted he's probably done with his "Flying Tomato" nickname, opting for either "Animal" (like the Muppets drummer) or, as a teammate suggested, "Red Zeppelin."

• I've never seen so much hockey in a 24-hour period as I have on Canadian TV since arriving, so it's pretty certain that Wayne Gretzky will light the Olympic flame.

The Great One lighting the lamp again? What better way to start a Canadian Olympics?