Silver Medal healing

Nothing to be ashamed of after losing to Team Canada in OT. It hurts... therefore Julia Mancuso offers you her healing. USA !!!

Hockey Gold Medal Open Thread

Know Your Foe - Canada

I promised if the US and Canadian Olympic Hockey teams met for the gold medal game I would do a "KYF" for Canada - so here it is. I have visited Canada many times since my first trip as a drunk college student navigating the tunnel to the Windsor Ballet (some one else was driving). Over the last three or four years I worked for a company based in Vancouver, so I have gotten to spend a good deal of observational time with Canadians. If you are from Canada and read this, understand that most of this is fun, but you also know most of it is true.

Key Facts: The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement". Canada is the second largest country (by land mass) in the world. Our shared border is the longest in the world. The country consists of ten provinces and three territories. Think of a Canadian province in the same manner in which you would think of a US state. There are over 30 million people living in Canada and 80% of them live within 93 miles of the US border.

History: The land that makes up Canada was originally inhabited by various groups of Aboriginal people. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows around AD 1000. That colony failed and there was no further attempt at European exploration until 1497, when England's John Cabot explored Canada's Atlantic coast. He was followed by Frenchman Jacques Cartier in 1534. Another French explorer named Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. Two years later, the English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. As was the case in the American colonies, a massive percentage of the native people died because they had no natural immunities to the diseases the Europeans carried.

Britain and France repeatedly went to war in the 17th and 18th centuries and frequently used Canada as a battlefield. In 1763 the French were removed from nearly all of its colonies after the Seven Years' War. During the American Revolution there was an attempt by the Continental Army in late 1775 to take Quebec from British control. They were defeated by Guy Carleton, with the assistance of local militias. At the end of the revolution about 48,000 loyalists moved to Canada, where they received lands and reimbursements for lost property from the British government.

In 1867, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces, combining three British colonies. This began an process a process of increasing autonomy from the British. Although it was not until the Canada Act of 1982 that ended all remaining dependence of Canada on the United Kingdom.

Government: This can be a little confusing. Most Canadians can not easily explain how their government is organized. As an American, I am even more confused and suspicious. In Canadian English, the word government is used to refer both to the whole set of institutions that collectively govern the country as well as the reigning monarch. The Canadian Federal Government covers the major institutions - the monarchy, governor general, federal courts, the prime minister, parliament, government departments and agencies.

WTF, a monarchy ? As per the Constitution Act, 1867, Canada is technically a constitutional monarchy, wherein the reigning sovereign (King or Queen) is both legal and practical. The monarchy only plays a ceremonial role in Canada. The Canadian Governor General is the representative of the Queen in Canada and is also mostly symbolic and ceremonial.

The Parliament of Canada is the legislative branch of the federal government and makes the laws. Parliament is made up of three parts: the Crown (the Queen, represented by the Governor General), the House of Commons and the Senate.

Although the role of prime minister in Canada is not defined by any law or constitutional document, it somehow is the most powerful role in Canadian politics. Essentially the prime minister is the head of government in Canada and he is actually elected. Imagine the role of President without any supporting legal documentation. The Canadian prime minister is usually the leader of the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons in a general election.

Flag: The Canadian flag is one of the most recognizable on the planet. Sursprisingly it was only adopted in 1965 as their national flag. Prior to that, they just used the flag of the United Kingdom. Yes, the same one we know as the Union Jack

In 1964, the Prime Minister appointed a flag change committee sparking a national debate. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design based on the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada was selected. The flag made its first appearance on February 15, 1965; the date is now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day.

National Anthem: O Canada is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was originally only in French and was translated to English in 1906. For my money, the Canadian National Anthem is very moving and patriotic. I love it every time I hear it at hockey and baseball games.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Sports other than Hockey: Believe it or not, lacrosse (not hockey) is Canada's oldest and official sport. Soccer has the most registered players of any sport in Canada, but there is no professional league. Other popular team sports include curling, baseball, basketball, cricket, rugby and softball.

They play a mutated brand of football, commonly referred as Canadian Football. This game only has 3 downs and the end-zones are HUGE. Football is Canada's second most popular spectator sport behind ice hockey. The Canadian Football League was founded in 1909 as a rugby organization. It has been around in its current football form since 1958. Today, the CFL is made up of 8 teams separated in 2 divisions. The annual championship, known as the Grey Cup, is the country's largest annual sports event. They also play college football there, but it is not nearly as popular as college football in the US. In fact, I would guess that Texas High School football is more popular than Canadian College Football.

Wolverine great Tshimanga Biakabutuka played high school (and college) football in Canada before he hung 313 yards on the Buckeyes in 1995.

Canada has a long and interesting baseball history. When the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to make Jackie Robinson the first black player in MLB history, they sent him to Montreal for a season of preparation. In 1969 the city of Montreal was awarded a Major League Baseball franchise. Named after the Expo 67 World's Fair, they were called the Expos. After a decade of losing seasons, the team won a franchise-high 95 games in 1979, finishing second in the National League East. The team won its only division championship in the strike-shortened split season of 1981, only to lose to the LA Dodgers in the playoffs. In 1994 they had an awesome team and had the best record in the majors when the strike forced the cancellation of the remainder of the season. The franchise never recovered, moving to Washington DC ten years and many empty seats later.

Canada can claim the two MLB titles ('92 & '93) by the Toronto Blue Jays, which were founded in 1977. Canada has participated in both of the World Baseball Classics. In 2006 they upset a powerful Team USA in first-round play. Some people in Canada call this the "Miracle on Dirt".

Ice Hockey: The modern form of ice hockey began in Canada in the late 1800s. It is widely considered Canada's national pastime, with high levels of participation by children, men and women at all levels of competition. Canada has a massive junior hockey league and has six teams in the National Hockey League.

The Stanley Cup is the famous trophy awarded NHL champion. The trophy was donated in 1892 by then Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley of Preston, as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. In 1915, the two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other for the Stanley Cup. After a series of league mergers and folds, it became the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926.

The last Canadian NHL team to win the Stanley Cup was the 1992-93 Montreal Canadians. Since that time, the Detroit Red Wings have won it four times.

Quite simply some of the most famous hockey players in the world come from Canada, led by The Great One: Wayne Gretzky. The list of greats is impressive including Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Steve Yzerman, Maurice Rachard, Mario Lemieux, and currently Sidney Crosby.

Olympic Hockey: Canada won the first Olympic hockey tournament played during the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Four years later they won the first Olympic Winter Games competition are held in Chamonix, France. The Canadian hockey team wins all five of its games, outscoring opponents 110-3. In 1936, after four consecutive gold medals and a 20 straight victories, Canada loses an Olympic game to Great Britain and finishes second. Ten of the 12 British players live in Canada. They have won a total of seven gold medals in hockey, the last in 2002 when they defeated the United States in Salt Lake City.

One of the most famous international hockey events did not take place in the Olympic games. It took place later in 1972 when the gold medal winning Soviets play a team of Canadian NHL stars in an exhibition series called the Summit Series. Initially shocked by the speed and excellence of the Soviet players, the Canadians win the series by the margin of a single goal in the final game.

Olympic teams manned by professional players was not the norm until just recently. In fact, in the 1972 Winter Games Canada refused to send a team, having withdrawn from international hockey to protest the definition of amateur athletes. The Canadians argued that the Soviets and other eastern bloc teams are amateur in name only. This boycott was expanded in 1976 when Sweden joined the Canadian boycott. This protesting the use of sham "amateurs' by eastern bloc countries eventually led to the inclusion of professionals in 1988.

Famous Canadians: Besides famous hockey players, Canada has produced some other people. Some name you may have heard of: Jack Kent Cooke (sports team owner), Louis Mayer (co founder of MGM), Alexander Graham Bell (actually he was from Scotland but invented the telephone in Canada), James Naismith (inventor of basketball), and Peter Jennings (news anchor). They have produced a boatload of actors, including Pamela Anderson and musicians, including Neil Young.

Who the heck is Tim Horton? If you have ever been to Canada, no doubt you have seen or heard this name. Tim Hortons is a Canadian institution known for its coffee and doughnuts. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and another guy. Horton played in 24 seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. He died in an automobile crash in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1974. He was 44. Today there are 2,700 locations in Canada, there are over 556 in Michigan, Ohio, New York and Connecticut. The company is larger than McDonalds in Canada.

The GAME: The 2010 United States Olympic Hockey team has blazed through every game they have played. A week ago they beat the Canadians in a memorable showdown. Both teams are stacked with NHL All Stars and future hall of famers.

This is going to a lot of fun to watch. I can not wait. Picking a winner in this one is tough. My heart so badly wants the Americans to win -- but my head believes Team Canada won't be beaten twice in their own country. I think this one is going to come down to a deflected shot for a goal. I hope I am wrong on who gets it.

USA 3
Canada 4

NFL Combine Time

ZOLTAN

Wallpaper Wednesday: 191 days

On notice. Not so double secret probation??

Aw crap. Really Rich?? Really.
I can't even think of anything funny to say......

I'm just going to poke my eyeballs out

The new RED threat

Now that the Soviet Union is a distant memory, there really isn't any other country for us to loath during the Winter Olympics. The natural choices just don't work out. Cuba doesn't have winter sports and North Korea, despite the correct climate conditions, has only ever won two medals (a silver in 1964 and a bronze in 1992). Essentially, they just suck.

As much as we don't want to face it, our biggest rival when it comes to Winter Olympics is yawn, Canada. In the spirit of "know your foe" I wanted to share this clip. If the Gold medal hockey game ends up being USA vs Canada, I will produce a full fledged "know your foe" post dedicated to the new red menace.

More Hardware: Meryl Davis and Charlie White, SILVER MEDAL

The Daily tells all.
But, for those of you early risers, the pair made an appearance on the Today Show where Matt Lauer nicely pointed out that the two are juniors at Michigan. Then he asked which would they rather have....a Big Ten Champsionship and a trip to the Rose Bowl or their silver medals......
douche.

Today's excitement???? Men's elimination round begins for hockey
Hold on for Thursday's Gold Medal Game in Women's Hockey vs. Caaanada!!

Still a Miracle 30 years later

30 years ago today something miraculous happened. A bunch of college hockey players beat the vaunted Soviet Union Hockey team in an improbable upset that still shocks the world. It seems incredible in today's instant information world, but the game was played in Lake Placid during the afternoon - and broadcasted via tape delay on ABC in prime time. No one knew the result. I was in 8th grade attending a high school basketball game, and remember the announcer reporting the score as if it were happening live. Where were you?

I apologize for the poor quality of this video clip, I need to find a better quality version. Even today, watching the last minute of that game, I still am worried the Soviets are going to score and end the dream.

GREAT

Awesome day of watching olympic hockey today.

The Russia v Czech game this afternoon was chippy and hard hitting for an olympics. Alex Ovechkin is so much fun to watch it is silly. That devastating open-ice hit he put on on Jaromir Jagr is something we will see over and over for many years. Tonight Team USA upsets Canada 5-3. Great night by former Sparty goalie Ryan Miller. The last 4 minutes of that game was about the most exciting hockey you will ever see.

Sweden against Finland tonight. I don't know if I will ever get to sleep tonight.

Olympic Sports Science Friday: CURLING

oh yes sports fans. you know you like it.
as a girl growing up in Detroit, one could always find curling on CBC.
what a great sport...yelling at a rock, sweeping with a broom---it's like being a wife, no!?

Andy and the guys with fancy pants gave you the overview in the previous post. Here is a pretty cool website that explains all sorts of things like what's the sheet, the stone, the delivery and strategic rock placement.

The key though, is the turn of the rock and the sweeping.
SO, recall that the stone has a handle on it. By turning the handle prior to releasing it you can control if the rock in-turns or out-turns. If you are a righty, you turn the handle clockwise to get it to travel to the right of the sheet. A counter-clockwise turn will send the stone toward the left of the sheet.
Now, here's the fun part. As the rock slides across the ice, the front of the rock creates friction on the surface of the ice. That friction causes a slight melting of the ice leaving a small film of liquid which alters the contact of the stone on the ice.


For the curious---here are some references:

[1] "The Motion of a Culing Rock", Shegelski, Niebergall, and Walton,
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, volume 74, pages 663-670, 1996.
[2] "The Motion of Rapidly Rotating Culing Rocks", Shegelski and
Niebergall, AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, volume 52, pages 1025-1028, 1999.
[3] "The Motion of Rotating Cylinders Sliding on Pebbled Ice",
Shegelski, Niebergall, and Reid, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, volume
77, pages 847-862, 1999.
[4] "The Motion of a Culing Rock: Inertial vs. Noninertial Reference
Frames", Shegelski and Reid, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, volume 77,
pages 903-922, 1999.

By sweeping in front of the rock, you can generate more or less friction. The amount of heat generated by the sweeping depends on the amount of pressure applied and the vigour with which the sweeping motions occur. The faster and harder the sweeping....the more the friction...the more the heat...the more the melt....the longer the slide

I can't do any better than this:





TOO FREAKIN' COOL

Gold Medal Fashion

Once every four years the world gets the opportunity to watch curling. If you have never taken them time to watch, you are missing something. It may lack the speed and explosiveness of football, but it more than makes up for it with a laid back attitude, precision and intense strategy. For my money, there is no better sport in the world to sit down, relax and drink a lot of beer.

Quick lesson: Two teams of four players take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stone down a perfectly prepared sheet of ice towards a circular target (called the house). The goal is to complete each end (16 stones) closer to the center of the house. Two sweepers with brooms or brushes accompany each stone helping direct the stones to their resting place.

Typically you will see the curling teams uniformed in conservative attire. However, during these games the team from Norway decided to make a fashion statement. Instead of the normal black pants and patriotic shirt, they went with something a little louder. These pants from LoudMouthGolf.com have become one of the more interesting stories of the Vancouver Olympics and has been picked up from MSNBC to NPR.

All this buzz about these pants led me to check out the other available patterns and colors.

Warning, the LoudMouth web site is getting crushed right now because there was a feature story on the Today Show about the Norwegian Curling Team and their wacky pants -- but I got lucky and was able to locate a scarlet and grey pattern that I thought would look wonderful on the football fashion icon of the B11.

How awesome would it be to have Chesty McSweaterVest jog out onto the sidelines on September 2nd for the Bucks game against Marshall wearing these beauties ?

Wallpaper Wednesday: Jack Johnson

In keeping with our Winter Olympics theme. Jack Johnson was so excited to be part of the Olympics he went through A LOT to make it to the opening ceremonies.

He was the 3rd overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft. before he played two seasons in Michigan. During his first year, he set the school record for single-season penalty minutes (149) and points (32) by a freshman defenseman. The next year, he set the school record for the most goals (16) by a sophomore defenseman and was named the CCHA Offensive Defenseman of the Year.

Hail !

Jack Johnson Wants YOU

... to watch some hockey in the afternoon. Team USA (and Jack Johnson) take on Switzerland today in their first Olympic Hockey game. This is a dangerous game. The Swiss upset both Canada and the Czechs in the last Olympic games.

You can watch the game on the USA network starting in about 20 minutes.

Edit #1: USA leads 1-0 after the first period. Late goal by Bobby Ryan (Ducks) after a sloppy opening. For a country that loves hockey, there sure are a lot of Canadians dressed as empty seats in the arena. The Americans look like a bunch of NHL players thrown together rather than a olympic hockey team.

Edit #2: USA leads 3-0 after the second period. Controlled that period from start to finish. Former Sparty goalie Ryan Miller has really only had to make 3 or 4 saves. Team looks to be gaining confidence and this one looks to be well in hand.

Edit #3: USA wins 3-1. The Swiss played with a little more intensity in the 3rd period. It didn't matter. We didn't look bad for a team that has had exactly zero practices. Norway on Thursday and Canada on Sunday.

SportsCenter

This morning I was watching ESPN Sports Center when they ran a segment from NFL Analyst Adam Schefter. The topic of the segment is not as important as the decor of Adam's office. Amongst the books sits an awesome looking mini helmet.

I looked it up, Adam is a Michigan Alum and was once the editor of the Michigan Daily.

Hail!

Olympic Smorgasbord

First, a moment of silence for Nodar Kumaritashvilia. Tragic.


Yes, just like the IOC, I too have decided that the silliness must go on:

• Like candy from a baby: USA women's hockey crushes the Chinese 12-1.
• Best dressed award goes to the team from the Nederlands
• Worst dressed? Azerbijan
• The biathlon is NOT the Nordic combined
• No, Jakov Fak's brother VatTa is not competing.....
• However, the luging Hyman brothers are...
  
• Magdalena Neuner has an unfortunate last name, even if she is a silver medal winner
• And, Ian Cockerline is sliding right thru the pipe.....
  
• MORE COWBELL!
  

Winter Olympics: Let the games begin !!!

Love the pageantry and the individual stories and drama.
Sports' own Soap Opera!? Lots to follow and poke fun at, I'm sure.
I'll be your roving reporter (from the warm confines of home) during these next few weeks.

How many days til football??????

Wallpaper Wednesday: Embroidered M

Question: How can you tell that Andy is really busy with life ?

Answer: When he does not get a Wallpaper Wednesday post up until past noon EST.

I am sort of mailing it in this week, I found this image somewhere and always thought it would make a cool wallpaper. So, here you go.

Desmond in My Generation

In case you missed it, here is the the Flo TV ad with a Desmond Howard Heisman pose clip. He appears at the 37 second mark, right after Tanya Harding and before the Branch Davidians.

Hail !

Who Dat?

Yea. I am not the angel of death afterall!

For the first time since Tom Brady beat the Carolina Panthers in 2004 -- the team I was rooting for actually won the Super Bowl !!

Congrats to the New Orleans Saints and former Michigan players and coaches: Jonathan Goodwin, Adrian Arrington, Mike Mallory, and Terry Malone. It was great game and the right team finally won.

Super Bowl Open Thread

The flooding of New Orleans is a sign that God is tired of seeing his creation mocked by the Mardi Gras and its perverted display of debauchery and exposed breasts.

~ Pat Robertson

Go SAINTS !!!!!!!

A Girl Scouts: Superbowl Commercials

So I was going to go thru and remind us all about the "playas" for the Saints and the Colts, but then I thought, nah....what we all really care about are the commercials. Then I got sucked into NFL networks best commercials of the decade and well, here we are....laundry not getting done and the chores on hold.

This was the #1 ad of the decade according to Jim Nantz...and I kinda agree.



But, I found some other ones that make my own personal list.

Here's one that is just perfectly stoopid and ballsy:



And this laugh out loud cuz you know you work in this office:



Amazing how a commercial can create a phenomenon all by it's self:




And this final one for the ladies.....




SO, which one's have I forgotten??? What makes a great Superbowl Commercial??? Funny? Stoopid? Animals? Violence? Sarcasm?

Fight On

As a rule, we avoid recruiting here. I continue to see no upside in talking about high school kids before they ever play a down of college football. But this one is just to wacky to pass up.... plus he is not a high schooler, yet.

Late last week, Lane Kiffin and USC secured the verbal commitment from a 13 year old. Yes, I typed a 13 year old. This kid is not even in high school yet. He is 13. Apparently he has out of this world skills. He is 13. He looks like a hall of famer in the highlight video. He is 13. He is already breaking down NFL film. He is 13. He is already six feet tall. He is 13.

Who wants to take bets that Lane Kiffin will even still be the USC football coach in 5 years ?

I've played and watched a lot of sports in my life. I can't tell you the number of middle school all stars I've seen turn into non-factors in high school. I actually feel sorry for the kid. The paint on the bulls-eye won't even be dry in 2015, the year he is scheduled to arrive on USC's campus. He doesn't have any idea what his parents and personal (Dream Maker) QB coach just did to him. He now has to make it through 8th grade without getting injured or simply getting bored of football. Then high school begins, and all that entails.

This is sad. Some one needs to introduce these people to Todd Marinovich.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Super Bowl XLIV

Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for former Wolverines Jonathan Goodwin and Mike Hart. Goodwin is the starting center for the New Orleans Saints and Hart is a reserve running back for the Indianapolis Colts.

When he was in Ann Arbor, Goodwin played all three offensive line positions (center, guard, and tackle). He was name to the All B11 team as a senior. He was a 5th round draft pick by the Jets in 2002. As a four year started, Hart is the leading rusher in Michigan football history and produced a school record 28 career 100+ yard games. He was drafted by the Colts in the 6th round of the 2008 NFL draft.

Personally I am rooting for the Saints, but I won't be upset to see Mike Hart get a Super Bowl ring if the Colts happen to win.

Edit: I have fixed the link to the 1280x800 wallpaper version. I need to stop editing from my iPhone while waiting in line at the airport.

GroundHog's Day

Today is GroundHog's Day which gives me more than enough reason to pop in a clip of one of my favorite movies of all time. If you have never seen this movie, add it to your netflix queue.

I have some good news and some bad news for you. The bad news is that Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter. Booooooo. The good news is the National Climatic Data Center reportedly stated that over the last Phil's prediction's have been correct 39 percent of the time. Yessss!

More from the Senior Bowl

In addition to Brandon Graham's performance at the 2010 Senior Bowl, the other big news of the week was Terrance Cody's 370 pound performance at the weigh in. Apparently "Mount Cody" has been enjoying the all you can eat buffet circuit every day since the end of Alabama's BCS game win. Once regarded as a big time NFL prospect, it appears as though he has eaten himself out of the 1st round.

There was at least one NFL assistant coach that liked what he saw in Cody. Sorry Charlie, he plays defense.