Disappointment and medals

This is the face of disappointment. Andrej Sekera of the Slovak team (and also press box extraordinaire in Buffalo) sits on the ice after their game with Finland and wondered where it all went wrong. How heartbreaking it must be. To come all that way to finish 4th.

Now, mind you, he's got more athletic talent in his pinkie toe nail than I have in my whole body but 4th place in the Olympics is where you just don't want to be.

Then again, apparently neither is silver.

A friend of mine at work the other day summed it up like this: You get a bronze medal, you are grateful (you aren't the 4th place team); Gold, you are over the moon as you are world fracking champion. Silver....get you disappointment? Really?

A silver medal in the Olympics will be handed out in mens hockey today. Either Canada or the US will be disappointed by not winning the gold medal in the sport they center their lives around.

Having never been a runner up (please note, I've never been CLOSE to anything that resembles a runner up because I don't ever make it to the dance to begin with), I'm sure it's a huge bummer not having the pretty gold around your neck. But hopefully in a few days the silver medal team will be able to look back on today and realized they accomplished something only a handful of people in the world get to say they've done.

That being said, I don't know who I'm rooting for today. A part of me would LOVE to see the US team win - and really, it wouldn't be a miracle because they've been playing amazing hockey and the Cruchynater in net has been nothing short of breathtaking (And hot. No lie. Even if MSNBC can't tell him from a fake). I think, despite not being a huge fan of his, Brian Burke could use some good news away from his personal and professional life.

On the other hand, rare does the home team win gold in hockey. Bobby Lu could cement his do-no-wrong standing for LIFE if he backs his team to victory. plus I have a HUGE crush on Sidney Crosby and would sorta like to see him too

So, I'm rooting for both teams today. I want a good tight nail biting game for 60 minutes (but please no shootout - I hate the shootout). And no disappointment for silver!

*bounce, bounce, bounce... SWISH!*

You'll have to excuse me for being not here yesterday... not only am I fighting Le Grippe, but I spent most of the day on the couch in front of the TV cursing my NCAA bracket. In fact I have the UCLA-Nova game in the background, but that's only because there's no hockey on until 1... yeah, that's it. :)

So, I'm sitting here looking at the schedule for today's games and I'm surprised there are not more afternoon games, but maybe that was because of the basketball. Just looked at the CBC webpage and the guest for After Hours is the captain of the Canucks, Roberto Luongo; and that is good. I like him a lot. Since they're in Phoenix, I was sort of hoping for a Yote, and maybe even that Yote being a candidate for the future captain, aka Peter Mueller. I miss Pete... he's a good kid; and as much as I see of him on line both on and off the ice, he's becoming a wonderful man. But then I've met his mom and dad... they're good people.

But can I tell you how proud I am to be a Canucks fan right now? Two months ago, they were in the middle of an 8 game losing streak, even more at home; and were precariously close to the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Since then, they have made some adjustments, the biggest one is that Mats Sundin has become Mats Sundin again; and they're now in 4th and may just get home ice in the playoffs if they can hold on for a few more weeks. *squees like a mofo*

My baby boys, the Silvertips, have started their playoffs against the Tri-City Americans and lost a heartbreaker in game 1 last night in Richland. It looked good in the first with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes; but whatever happens to them when they come out for the 2nd happened again last night, as they gave up 4 goals to T-C. The Tips were able to get another goal, but the Amerks scored again; and it all seemed to be lost.

Then, with just about 3 minutes to go, Shane Harper put one in and after pulling the goalie, our 20yr old Czech Daniel Bartek was able to tie it up with 21 seconds to go. I swear that JR, the radio guy, was going to have a stroke on the air; and I was too! Oh man... I can only imagine what it must have been like in that building, not only in the stands, but in the locker room between periods 3 and 4. Well, the magic was not to continue, as one of the TC boys slipped one past Heemer for the win.

So, they'll come back out tonight, hopefully with the same fire that they ended the game with; and get a split before they come home for game 3 on Wednesday and 4 on Friday. One other good thing is my good pal Dale Hunt was back on the ice last night. He hasn't scored a whole lot; but he shoots a lot, he's fast and he brings so much grit and heart to the game.

Anyway... that is my report for this lovely first Saturday of Spring. Yay for sun! *shakes pom poms*