John Furlong was at Canada Hockey Place when Sidney Crosby scored the gold-medal goal for Canada as the crowning moment of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
So you can say hes experienced the excitement of sports.
But nothing prepared him for the Whitecaps FC game in Portland a few weeks ago.
It was so dramatic it was almost frightening, says the new executive chair of Vancouver Whitecaps FC professional soccer team. The fans were standing and singing for three hours. They never stopped until we got a goal. It was electrifying.
Now his job is to ensure other Vancouverites catch the spark and, judging by the way he ignited this citys Olympic fever, you know resistance is futile. Just become a Whitecaps FC fan right now. Why bother waiting?
Help us be great at this and we will repay you by someday playing on the world stage, he said at a recent BC Clefs dOr (professional concierge) meeting at Fairmont Pacific Rim in his first public address in his new role.
Last year, he noted, the Whitecaps FC finished their season at the bottom of the league. Now the team has beaten some of the top teams, and is hoping to make it to the playoffs. New York is coming to BC Place soon and, Furlong says, we cant possibly let them leave with anything.
Furlong is embracing his new role.
After a well-needed rest after heading VANOC, he was searching for something that would continue to make him feel that what he was doing mattered, that how he approached his job could make a difference in peoples lives. He found it with the Whitecaps FC.
And just as he watched the entire city become a chorus for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, he believes the same can happen with the Caps.
However, his message to the concierges is his message to everyone else in Vancouver: We will never be great unless this city helps us be great.
To find out about upcoming Whitecaps FC matches and events visit WhiteCapsFC.com.
