If you ever had a mom

This is easily one of the most emotional moments I've ever witnessed in sport.

The Joannie Rochette story reaches deep into the heart and soul of every human being who has had a mom or a dad or a husband or a wife or a lover or a brother or a sister or a son or a daughter or a very close friend who had one of the above. Some people are lucky enough to have had them all.

Emotional is the absolute best word to describe the performance of Joannie during last night's Olympic figure skating short program.

I'm assuming that you are well aware of what she has gone through in the last five days.

When one thinks about the commitment from family members regarding the success of an ice skater then one can really feel the sorrow watching Ms. Rochette skate last night. I have no idea about her spiritual beliefs but I trust that she took every jump knowing that her mom was not going to let her fall or stumble.

The few shots of her father in the audience were just as emotional.

And please note that I fell asleep before her skate and my tears flowed during a DVR session early this morning. I can't even imagine how drained the audience was after she finished.

And she skates again on Thursday night but I'm sure it won't be quite as emotional.....unless she does a triple quad....or a spin that levitates her off the ice.

The ultimate would be if everybody else fell down and she ended up winning the gold.

I'm pretty sure Kim Yu Na isn't going to let that happen but stranger things have taken place during an Olympic event.

Just ask Sven Kramer the Dutch speedskater.

Talk about bad coaching.....ouch!

Michael Timothy McAlevey