Sid The Kid

I am puzzled by Sidney Crosby's recent refusal to go on to the Tonight Show with David  Letterman.  NHL is suffering in the ratings, hockey just had a tremendous increase in interest, and Crosby is the NHL's most popular player, yet he refuses to promote the sport or the NHL.  Either Crosby cares neither about money or the NHL, or has no understanding of business.  This is the second time he has refused to go onto the Tonight Show.  Maybe he prefers Leno.  The NHL has momentum from the Olympics, but how long will it last?  I am left pondering whether Crosby will save the NHL or whether his media shy personality will destroy any hopes it has of returning as one of the big four.

Then There Were Two!

Two days left in the Olympics and a few things are still up for grabs.  The main prize, especially as far as the Canadians are concerned, Men's Hockey will come down to two. The U.S. and Canadians will play tomorrow in what will be the most watched television event in Canadian history.  This game is important for American hockey fans; the game is life or death for Canadians. 

Canada, despite losing to the Americans, will be the clear favorites.  The Americans will again need an unbelievable performance out of goalie Ryan Miller.  It should be exciting, patriotic, and well played. Even non-hockey fans should find this a compelling event.   

Friday Farewells

This weeks Friday Farewells are brought to by (insert your name, company, disgruntled spouse here for a nominal fee*).
I am being serious, for once, about these (at least most of them).

Farewell to:

Robbie Hummel - Purdue's star forward and leader out for the year with a torn ACL. Sadly Purdue's Final Four hopes I must also bid farewell without Hummel the Sweet 16 is as far as they get. Heart breaks for the guy and team.

Brotherly Love. Mark McGwire discussed his disappointment and dismay at his brother Jay's upcoming book about Mark's steroid use. Family get-togethers should be fun. I think signed copies for Mark for Christmas might be a nice gesture. Sad stuff brothers should always have your back not stab it.

The Gold Medal Chance for the U.S. Women's Hockey Team. It was always gold or silver for the U.S. and when that is the case silver seems to taste slightly sour. Disappointing for sure.

Canadian Women's Hockey team's Class.  This departed last night when they partied like drunken hooligans and brought their drunken party back on to the ice.  Not all members of the team are legally able to drink. Talk about not being able to handle success.  Stupidity now has names on the back of hockey jerseys to go with its many faces.  Attention a sense of class has left the building.

No U.S. Nordic Gold Medals. Billy Demong won the first nordic gold medal for the U.S. Teammate Spillane added the silver giving him 3 silvers for the games. Pretty Happy.

Plastic Straws. Chewing plastic straws during games is now banned by the NBA.  Caron Butler for the Mavericks chews about 12 a game or should we say chewed.  Doesn't the NBA have bigger problems like the New Jersey Nets?  My heart says no, but my teeth say yes. 

Respect for NBC Olympic Hockey analyst Mike Milbury. Milbury after calling the German's fire hydrants that were getting peed on by the Canadians, the next day he called the Russians, Eurotrash. The king of class Mike is famous as a player for going into the stands and beating a fan with the guys own shoe. We think youro'trash Mike. Hard to feel bad about losing something you really never had.

Lastly to what I am labeling as SUPER SAD SUNDAY. The Winter Games will come to a close this Sunday and my DVR will breathe a big sigh of relief.  The culmination of the games very well could be a US Canada rematch for the Gold Medal in Men's Hockey.  Those of you not interested in international competition, patriotism, love for mankind and basketball will be thrilled that I will get back to work. Until then USA USA USA... Blow your nose in your hanky crying sad.

*Friday Farewells will be sponsored by the highest bidder.  It is not that we are selling out it is just that we are well.... selling up.

WOW Canada!

There was a tremendous hockey game last night, but someone forget to invite the Russian goaltenders. The other Russian players received the invite, but decided they had better things to do like watch Apolo Ohno in the 500m. Consequently the Canadians, upset the Americans had already spoiled their party, they went to the Russians hotel pulled them out of bed, dragged them to the ice, pulled their shirt of their heads, and then beat them to a bloody pulp. Even Alex the great was MIA.  It was one of the biggest flops in recent memory.  What was thought to be an epic battle turned out to be an epic beat down. After Canada scored an early touchdown Russia tried to get close, but was only able to kick a field goal and lost 7 to 3.  ОЙ or OUCH it hurts no matter how you say it! Russia was sent packing without the hardware everyone expected them to take home, but there were some nice parting gifts syrup, bacon used as a pizza topping and a few leafs. Welcome to Canada, now go home. ПОКА and have a nice trip.
Canada will face the winner of Sweden and Slovakia, which will took place at Midnight ET last night. I love Olympic hockey, but that is why the DVR was invented.
Team USA got past the Swiss by a score of 2-0 in a tough fought game. The U.S. will face either Czech or Finland who were still tied at my bedtime. Ryan Miller was again fantastic, the only question is whether Miller will have enough in the tank to win two more games and take the gold.
Friday the Final Four begins at 3:00 PM ET. Today buckle up for women’s hockey, as the two best teams by far will play in the Gold Medal game at 6:30 PM ET. Did I mention it is the U.S. vs. Canada? Yeah you might want to check it out.

Hockey H-Eh-Day

There is nothing quite like international hockey. Make it the Olympics and throw in the fact that the six best teams were all playing their rivals on the same day and you have a Hockey H-Eh-Day. The day began with Russia vs. Czech and ended with Finland vs. Sweden. Oh yeah the U.S. vs. Canada was sandwiched in between.


The U.S. beat Canada in the Olympics for the first time since 1960. It took retro jerseys, which I am a huge fan of, and a 42 save effort by U.S. Goalie Ryan Miller to take out the Canadians. The 5-3 win secured the group A victory for the U.S. and gave them a first round bye. More importantly, the win gives the team a much-needed extra day off and either the first or the second seed going into the elimination round.

Russia secured first place in group B with a bone crushing win over the Czech team. The turning point in the game was an Ovechkin hit on former NHL star Jaromir Jagr (see it here). The hit lead to a turnover and two passes later a Russian goal. From that point on the score and the momentum was in the Russians favor. It would end in a 4-2 win for Russia and guaranteeing that Russia would join the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

All matchups have yet to be determined, but the elimination rounds begin Tuesday with 8 of the 12 teams in action. The U.S. & Russia will be joined by the winner out of the late game between Finland and Sweden for the top 4 seeds and byes. It will get complicated after that for the 4th seed.
Overall the day was full of excitement and it should only get better as now it is lose and go home. Hopefully, the tournament will lead to more memorable matchups and incredible hockey.