I can't wait for the USA vs. Canada men's ice hockey final.
I'm eager to cheer on my country and see the best players in the world on the ice at the same time.
But being a sports fan is about more than that.
AP Photo: USA players celebrate after their 6-1 rout of Finland in the Olympic semifinals
Well, the rematch we've all been waiting for.
USA vs. Canada. The team that many didn't expect to get a medal vs. the team that expects nothing less than gold.
Canadian women's ice hockey players celebrate their Olympic gold with beer and cigars.
The Canadian women's ice hockey team could be in trouble after an on-ice celebration that featured beer, champagne and cigars. The IOC is looking into the matter.
Hockey players and beer? No way!
The story from the AP is below:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The women of the Canadian hockey team politely accepted their gold medals and waved to an adoring crowd. And then the real celebration began.
More than half an hour after they beat the United States 2-0 on Thursday, the players came back from the locker room and staged a party on ice -- swigging from bottles of champagne, guzzling beer and smoking cigars.
In a sport that Canada invented, there was never an option besides gold, and with it finally in hand, the home team let loose.
Olympic figure skater and Coatesville native Johnny Weir addressed the homophobic comments made about him during his free skate at a press conference Wednesday.
I'm sure no one guessed this ice hockey final four:
USA vs. Finland and Slovakia vs. Canada.
Here's how it happened:
The two names seem to be interchangeable.
One source indicates that "sled" is preferred in the U.S. and Canada.
NBC goes with "sled," while the Vancouver Organizing Committee lists it as "sleigh."
About the sport
According to Vancouver2010.com:
"The three Olympic sliding sports are bobsleigh, skeleton and luge. All three grew out of the practice of using a sled or toboggan -- a light, narrow wooden platform on runners -- to slide on snow or ice. In winter, using a sled to travel and have fun dates back some 700 years.
The idea of racing sleds down a steep and twisting track dates back about 150 years, to the mid-19th century, when British tourists began tobogganing on the snowbound roads of the Alps.
The four-man bobsleigh was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, in Chamonix, France. The two-man bobsleigh event joined the Olympic Games program in 1932. Women began competing in bobsleigh for the first time in 2002, at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. "
Kim Yu-na of South Korea and Mao Asada of Japan skated excellent short programs Tuesday night. The rivals finished first and second respectively. But Canada's Joannie Rochette stole the show. According to the Associated Press, her mother Therese died Sunday from a massive heart attack at age 55, just a few hours after arriving in Vancouver. Just two days later, Rochette took to the ice and channeled her emotion into a near-prefect performance. She is currently in third place. After she finished, the stands erupted with cheers of support. I don't think there was a dry eye in the Pacific Coliseum. Even the commentators' voices cracked with emotion. Millions have been touched by her story and have thrown their support behind the home country favorite. So no matter where Rochette finishes after the free skate Thursday night, her story will be the stuff of Olympic legend for years to come. (Photo: AP; Joannie Rochette reacts after performing her short program at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.)
This Funny or Die video is worth a laugh and comes with the standard mature content warning. Sure, CBS sportscaster Pat O'Brien is annoying, but I appreciate the fact that he knows he's a joke. (I wonder if this was shot before or during his recent stint in rehab.) Calling all "Star Wars" geeks: Prepare for an appearance by Mark Hamill (who is somehow mistaken for skating sweetheart Dorothy Hamill). Loves it.
Click here for more figure skating coverage.
Keep an eye on the feet and you'll appreciate the ice dancers.
They are fit and nimble and so smooth. And fast! Speed is important, as is precision.
The best part of watching the ice dancing competition at the Olympics is that I can say, "I knew them when..."
My son was a competitive ice dancer from 2000 to 2005, skating in regional and national competitions against some of the athletes in Vancouver today. And you want to know something? Even as intermediate and novice level skaters in their early teens, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, pictured here, were impressive. So it doesn't surprise me at all that they're in second place in their first Olympics.
As for the costumes, yes, some of them are too goofy. But don't worry about all that. Just watch the feet.
And a note on the TV coverage: I love Tracy Wilson's comments on ice dance. She knows exactly what she is talking about and is able to explain the moves and the judging so that it's easy to understand.
Quite simply, it was by far the biggest moment in American sports history.
Of course I am talking about the 1980 Miracle on Ice team that 30 years ago beat the dreaded U.S.S.R. Red Army squad.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I still get chills when I talk about it, or when I hear the greatest sports call of all time, Al Michaels saying, "Do you believe in miracles? YES"
Even Ken Dryden, who was doing the color commentary, was completely caught up in the moment. If you listen close, as Michaels is counting down and gets to "five," Dryden yells, "It's over" and finishes with an astute "Unbelievable" after the buzzer goes off.
After all, these were college kids beating the absolute best in the world. You had to see it to believe it.
And I didn't even get to see it live.
I was working my part time job that evening and the game started at 5 p.m. Heck, I heard the score given on the radio station we had on at the store I was working at, but I figured they had it wrong. The U.S. could not possibly have beaten the Russians.
But they did.
This Sunday, I was trying to tell my son Andrew what that moment in sports (and world) history was like. Yes, he is too young to understand it, but I had to tell him what it was like back in early 1980.
Maybe I just want to relive the moment anyway I can.
It was the midst of the Cold War. I was a senior in high school and as a 17-year-old, I didn't know if my next step was college, work or getting drafted to fight communism (I had to register just in case they reinstituted the draft).
It was a scary time. American hostages were being held in Iran, the economy was terrible, interests rates were 21 percent. Most of all, American pride was at an all-time low.
Yet, here was this team of nobodies pulling off this miracle win over the same Soviet squad that had pasted them in an exhibition a week prior to the Olympics.
I have tried to explain to people that weren't born, or were very young back then, what that "little hockey" victory meant. It was as if we had beaten who we were most afraid of - the commies.
The atmosphere has never been, nor will it ever be matched.
People in the stands at Lake Placid chanted "U-S-A" throughout the game. The eruption in the crowd when the U.S. tied the game, which turned to bedlam when our team (yes, we all considered it our team) took the lead, was chilling.
The team's wild celebration after that victory is permantly planted in my mind and I still get goose bumps when I watch the replay of that moment.
Two days later, on a Sunday morning, the team completed the journey. Although it had to come back against Finland in the gold medal game.
I did get to see that game live and once again, Al Michaels put it best as that one game was ending when he yelled, "This impossible dream has come true."
Suddenly, or so it seemed at least, the pride in America was back.
Maybe it is time to pull out my DVD of the HBO documentary of "The Miracle." Even with the couple of cuss words, it's time my son, who is a hockey player, learns more about the greatest moment in sports history.
Sweden's Nicklas Backstrom congratulates goalie Henrik Lundqvist after Sweden beat Finland, 3-0.
Sweden beat Finland, 3-0, in late-night action Sunday. This game was overshadowed by the U.S. upset before it. But now it means our medal-round matchups are set.
And, it means we might see a lot more of the NBC's Crosby-Ovechkin hype machine.
But the hit of the century goes to Alex Ovechkin...
I'm surprised Jagr's head is still attached to his body. Best part: It led to a Russia goal. That's proof that physical hockey wins games. Read the gamer here.
Now, the best quote ever, as told to Russian sports site SovSport: "I wish I had a concussion. That way I would forget Ovechkin quicker."
Forget the Super Bowl.
Forget the Daytona 500.
The biggest Sunday in February is this weekend.
Men's ice hockey. Finland vs. Sweden. Czech Republic vs. Russia. USA vs. Russia.
Here's the scoop.
I figured from the cheesy Olympic promos that AT&T's Team USA Soundtrack was bad. But I was slightly horrified when I investigated further. What gives? Were A-list stars like Kings of Leon, Jay-Z and Keith Urban too busy to pen a song for the glory of this great nation? Couldn't Johnny Weir use his Ladgy Gaga connection to get better music? There are thousands of other groups (MGMT, Them Crooked Vultures, Beyonce, etc.) I would have chosen before 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd and Train...and that's to put on my own iPod Shuffle to run to at the gym. And these are the bands that are supposedly inspiring world-class athletes.
Either AT&T still thinks its 2002 or they have devised a brilliant plan. I mean, I can just imagine the speed at which people would try to ski, skate or luge away from these songs. Maybe they are trying to set the world record for the most cliché titles and lyrics? Whatever the reason, I'm seriously wondering if I want to be represented by this service provider anymore. Read what athletes are really listening to. Check out the Olympic soundtrack on the jump.
Russia's Alexander Ovechkin (8) decks Slovakia's Lubos Bartecko in the first period of Russia's shootout loss.
I've made it clear in many, many blog posts how big of an Alex Ovechkin fan I am. (Like every other Capitals fan, I wear the red No. 8 to Verizon Center.)
But when the game is on the line in a shootout, he is not the player I'm turning to.
Reuters photo: Sinead and John Kerr at the European Figure Skating Championships in January in Tallinn, Estonia.
The Wall Street Journal did an interesting article about figure skating pairs that are brother and sister.
The ice dancing competition starts Friday, and it's one of the sports that requires a little bit of sizzle between the couples on the ice.
But how do you keep the romance when it's your sibling in your arms?
One method from the article: "Our coach told us envision someone else's head is there," says Chris Reed, 20, who dances with his sister Cathy for Japan. "It's all an act."
Alexandra Zaretsky said: "We try to find ways to kind of look through--or look a little up, or a little sideways,"
Quad schmad. Last night, artistry won over complexity during the men's free skate competition. With his polished routine and perfectly landed triples, Evan Lysacek finally ended the debate about whether or not an athlete could score big marks without a quadruple jump. It was a nail-biter, but he became the first American man to win a gold medal in the singles event since 1988. In doing so, Lysacek passed defending Russian champ Evgeni Plushenko, the clear favorite after the short program.
Plushenko skated well, landed his quad and only bobbled once or twice. I personally thought that Plushenko had clenched the gold after his routine. (And so did Lysacek and Plushenko himself for that matter, I think.) But Plushenko's usual flair and flawlessness were missing Thursday night, and the judges noticed. Unfortunately, they didn't notice American Johnny Weir's inspired performance. He ended up in sixth place. Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, whose only real mistake was falling while attempting a quad, placed third. Get the final results. (Photo: AP; USA's Evan Lysacek performs his free program Thursday.)
AP Photo: The Canadian team huddles around the goal before the women's preliminary round hockey game against Sweden on Wednesday
Should a sport be in the Olympics if only two teams are good at it?
Case and point: Women's ice hockey.
There's no doubt the talent that all the athletes have who are playing in the Games. I've played hockey all my life, and I'm sure every one of them could skate circles around me.
But these games are an embarassment.
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