In a sea of red, Flyers orange

VANCOUVER - There he was, standing outside the Expo Line train station, an envelope stuffed with hockey tickets in his hand.

The Fez.

It wasn't the tickets that drew you to The Fez, whose birth certificate identifies him as Ray Fesniak. It was the orange Flyers sweater, as rare as the dodo in this Red Sea of Team Canada jerseys dotted with blue USA islands.

The jersey made it easy for Fesniak's friends to find him outside Canada Hockey Place, where the United States was about to play Switzerland in a quarterfinal.

"I'm here, representing," The Fez said. "People see the jersey and they keep yelling, 'Hey, Reggie Leach!' But come on, man, I look a lot more like Rick MacLeish."

It's true. With his long dark hair, mustache, and goatee, Fesniak looks much more like MacLeish crossed with a little "Cowboy" Bill Flett.

Or Frank Zappa.

Fesniak took time off from both his jobs to hang out in The Couv and see as much Olympic hockey as possible. He had tickets for a few games before he left home and has been improvising the rest.

"Been to 10 games so far," The Fez said. "Hanging with some B.C. friends and going to some hockey games. It's been great. We have tickets for this game, but we're still trying to score some for Canada-Russia."

The Fez is having more fun than you.

A huge Flyers fan - "I've been to a million games at the Spectrum and Wachovia Center," he said - Fesniak couldn't resist the lure of this tournament, which has lived up to even the highest expectations.

"I'm single, no kids," Fesniak said. "I'm free to see the world."

The Fez abides.

Inspired by The Fez and the reminder of home, you can't resist making the mistake you've been avoiding for a week now. Among the offerings at the concession stands here, along with the pizza and burritos and beignets, is what the sign called "B.C. Cheesesteak."

Having eaten cheesesteaks, or their rough equivalents, in Beijing and Turin, you have an Olympic tradition to uphold.

So how was it? In a word: dry. It isn't easy to fry a cheesesteak without some grease remaining infused in the meat, but they have managed. The roll wasn't bad. It held a slice of provolone too thick to melt properly, and the fried onions sat on top of the meat rather than being cooked together in one big gloppy mess.

It took a lot of ketchup to complete the task of eating. You just hope The Fez went with the nachos.