T.Low

The weather was great here yesterday, sunny and mid 50's, so I went riding instead. We stopped when one of the guys crashed, and all the sudden my buddie's cell phone rings in the middle of the forest; it's his wife calling to tell him it was 2-1 early in the 3rd (quarter she said!). I recorded the game and will watch it after sunset sometime this week.

?What? Canadians saying the US roster was far better? No way. Conventional Wisdom had Canda competing int he Gold MEdal game while the US would be lucky to compete for the Bronze medal game.

No doubt. My wife started watching the game and said "how is that I know the enitire Candian team but only recognize Miller and Rafalski and Kane on the American team? I thought they must be all amateurs at first."

As I stated in an earlier post, As an American that has lived within an hour of the border much of my life (equidistant from Windsor and Sarnia, and now closer to Vancouver than Seattle), and crossed it often for both work and recreation, I have a lot of 2nd hand pride in many things Canadian. I like to belt out Oh Canada at the games, prefer Maelle Rickert to Hollywood Lindsay Vonn, Nellie Furtado over Brittney Spears, would rather watch Rick Mercer than Steven Colbert; have a much bigger emotional attatchment to Stevie Y and Mike Babcock than Brian Burke and Ron Wilson; listen to Vancouver's Team 1040 instead of L.A.'s Jim Rome, prefer the feal of a sweet one timer slapshot than the sweet spot of a good golf drive , and I am planted in my seat in front of the big screen to see the handoff succession of The Stanley Cup, but am usually out riding or paddling instead of watching the Super Bowl at all. Of course I realize it's not easy being America's next door neighbor, especially when you are outnumberred 300 million people to 35 million. We, of course, can be quite overbearing and self centerred . I think this helps breed the comradary I see amongst so many of my Canadian friends, much more so than with Americans. So here's to the largest unfortified border in the world, and while my patriot pride wanted the US and the Michigan boys to Gold Medal (don't misunderstand me, I am indeed a very Proud American) , a lot of me wanted Stevie Y to lead Team Canada to it's first Gold on Canadian soil, Pronger and all. That being said, the answer to your question is because the OP was being a dick about it, refering to our silver and bronze medalists as losers. If the OP would have stopped before that statement, most Americans on LGW would have jumped and with major props for Canada. My friend's made a bet on the Gold Medal Game: The Canadian friend said that if Canda wins, we have to admit that Canada is simply better at hockey than the US, and always will be. My American friend said,"OK, and if the US wins, you have to admit that Canada is nothing more than America's 51st state, and always will be."

Erika Lawler is short, and cute as can be. I felt bad for thinking how cute she was when she was standing there crying after the Gold Medal game. And she's fast as hell out there, she looks like Helm compared to the rest of the girls on the ice. http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahocke...5&id=280508

Dude, she's medaled as a speed skater AND a road cyclist! The only person in history to ever medal at winter and summer games. She's gnarly!

Hillbillydude, thats the funniest thing I've read from you yet! ..ok, now I gotta go get my bike ready for tomorrows ride. Need to finish before the 6:30 Canadian game tonite.

I shudda taken longer, that football s*** was fun!

Woa. Heavy stuff. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/u...ayer_bobby.html Their only child didn’t hear the screams and the panic. He didn’t see the bizarre chase down the street into a neighbor’s house. His father, an amateur boxer, ripped the door off the hinges and whaled away at the love of his life, causing her to bleed from her mouth and sending her to Cooper University Hospital in Camden for four days with four broken ribs, a fracture to her skull and a punctured lung. Robert Stevenson was charged with attempted murder and five other felony counts. He tried to obtain a passport using the name of a dead baby before jumping bail. He fled to Canada and his wife, who had forgiven him, and his son later joined him. Robert Stevenson and his son changed their names and lived under assumed identities and the family lived on the lam. Today, the boy who protected his family’s dark and complicated secret for much of his life is a pivotal part of the U.S. Olympic hockey team that faces Canada.

Dude, that is kinda funny. But what I meant was that some of us actually played organized football together since 4rd grade (Canadian translation: Grade 4) Yeah, nobody ever reads my enitre post, I know, I bore you guys. Glad you atleast got a chuckle out of it.

Bingo. This world has gotten so sanitized with what a person can or cannot do, wtf, man. After our last high school football game, a few of us close friends did the same exact thing, minus the stogies. We'd been playing football together for 9 seasons. A couple of the under classman joined us. Still in our uni's, we went back out onto the field and drank beer. Couple guys thru the ball around, but mostly we sat or layed on the turf looking up at the sky and the lights talking about games and practices and whatnot. Mr Weber, the janitor left the lights on for a long time. We knew we'd never be back playing ball on our field again. We didn't get rowdy or anything, it was just really reflective and realized that one of the things most important to us was done and over for ever. We didn't want to leave our field yet. We still talk about that night when we talk to each other. It's too bad the people that took those pics couldn't have realized what a priveledge it was to see and share the moment with the Canadian Team. I think it was awesome. It was a once in a lifetime moment for those girls; one of the biggest moments of their lives. They made history for f***sakes. They're names will live on forever. Of course they'd want to celebrate like that.

No, I think he means the coaches don't actually recieve a medal for their efforts when the team wins like they do with a Stanley Cup ring.

I can totally see where you are coming from and understand your point. Among many other things, it's not easy seeing a billion dollar market for men's hockey where guys can become multi milionaires playing the game they are so passionate about, while because you are a women and there is no market to speak of for women's hockey, its just a passing fancy at best where you still need to get a regular job at the end of the day. I have seen a few of your posts and tend to agree with them in general. Personally, I have always surrounded myself with strong women (my mother was a pioneer in many ways being a business owner, and athlete, the neighborhood handy man, and still quite an active, gorgeous lady at 73 yrs old). I did however chuckle out loud at the "make a living " coment, and knowing my mother's sense of humor, I think she would have too. But, even though I'm not the one who made the coment, I 'm ok with agreeing to disagree on this one as it's a much stronger issue for you than any of us guys. It was a fantastic game. I recorded it and will watch again some rainy day while working out on my elyptical trainer.

Agreed. Here's a question: Who would you rather have win the 2010 Gold Medals; Stevie Y and Chris Pronger, or Brian Rafalski and Brian Burke? As an AMerican that has lived within an hour of the border much of my life (equidistant from Windsor and Sarnia, and now closer to Vancouver than Seattle), and crossed it often for both work and recreation, I have a lot of 2nd hand pride in many things Canadian. I like to belt out Oh Canada at the games but struggle trying to sing The Star Bangled Banner, prefer Maelle Rickert to Hollywood Lindsay Vonn, Nellie Furtado over Brittney Spears, would rather watch Rick Mercer than Steven Colbert; have a much bigger emotional attatchment to Stevie Y and Mike Babcock than Brian Burke and Ron Wilson; listen to Vancouver's Team 1040 instead of Jim Rome, prefer the feal of a sweet one timer slapshot than the sweet spot of a good golf drive (come to think of it, I own a lot of hockey sticks and no golf clubs), and I am planted in my seat in front of the big screen to see the handoff succession of The Stanley Cup, but am usually out riding or paddling instead of watching the Super Bowl at all. Of course I realize it's not easy being America's next door neighbor, especially when you are outweighed 300 million people to 35 million. We, of course, can be quite overbearing and self centerred . I think this helps breed the comradary I see amongst so many of my Canadian friends, much more so than with Americans. So here's to the largest unfortified border in the world, and while my patriot pride wants the US and the Michigan boys to Gold Medal (don't misunderstand me, I am indeed a very Proud American) , a lot of me wants Stevie Y to lead Team Canada to it's first Gold on Canadian soil, Pronger and all.

They just kicked ass and reached the absoloute pinnacle of their chosen field; thats what you do, you celebrate. Of course its overblown by whomever is complaining about it, (you know its new hockey moms with a 10 yr playing) but I think the IOC has to appear to be professional and atleast respond exactly as they did,"we'll look into it". They can't say "Oh f*** off, they just won the frikin Gold against the American's for Christ Sake, the first Gold won by a Canadian hockey team on Canadian soil, whats a couple of beers and cigars. And the underaged chick scored their only two goals, for f*** sakes, if that aint worthy of a beer, I don't know what is!"

Since I've moved out west, I try to be groovey and free love and rise above that kinda thing, but while watching a "making of Team Canada" documentary they showed a clip from Slat Lake where Yzerman scores and Pronger was the first skater into Stevies arms for the after score line hug...I involuntarily thowup a little in my own mouth. f***sakes, it was nasty. I know that if they can put aside their differences, we should be able to also, but I guess it's a very different perspective when you are the one watching vs the one actually in the battle.

Yeah. Unfortunately, the previous tournament games don't prepare either team for the Gold Medal game.

Cassie Campbell seems to be a real class act, not to mention a gorgeous woman.

Wow. Great action. Oh, and by the way, Thatcher is the tall #5 forward, skates a bit bow legged like Chris Pronger. Go Karen!

Well, every girl out there is a lot better hockey player than I am! And my god, what an awesome rivalry.

I haven't seen Thatcher out there yet. She's got 6 points in the 4 games so far. Her home town is just up the street from me, I've seen her at the local Sportsplex. She's super cool. Go USA! Damn, I knew Canada would come back with a goal if they killed the 5 on 3 Powder Play. And for the record, I'd rather watch women's USA v Canada than NBA or MLB.

As much as I hate to have to say it, Datsyuk spent a lot of time picking himself up off the ice last night. He was getting knocked off the puck all night long, including a good one by Cyndy Crysby. Pavs looked like a frustrated KHL star trying to play with the big boys of the NHL and not doing well. He had no jump, no grit, looked like he lost his Mojo. That coupled with the Red Swedes that finally recorded a point last night for the first time this Olympics, when the NHL resumes we're going to have to hook our cart to Brian Rafalski. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are playing with zero confidence. They are currently the Diet Coke of superstars: just one calorie, not super enough. The Russians do not know how to utilize their new found individuality that Ovie and Semin display. They do not yet know how to be individuals within a team concept. Canada is killing with skill and selflessness; just like the classic Swede game. US is crashing and banginig and hustling and making the most of their opportunites; just like the classic Canadian game. Sweden is smothering and eeking out a goal here and there like a constipated fat lady; very painful; just like the classic New Jersy Devil game. The US's only hope is that Canada uses up their mojo with Sweden. But I have to say Canada for the Gold.

Are we going to ride Rafalski into the playoffs? All the other Olympic Red Wings are riding a huge cold streak.

I wish I would have been paying attention to the western road trip. He was playing a couple games within an hour of me and I didn't realize it until t was too late. I could have worn my Chelios BlackHawks jersey with the C on it and my Wings ball cap.