The Awesomest Name in Sports

Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen - or Louis for short. Or his nickname 'Shrek' due to his gap-tooth smile. I popped into work on Thursday, and being the resident golf expert at the station, I was asked how to pronounce his name.

So I says to Kristi I says, "Oh him. I have no idea - never seen him before. But he wont be around for long, so I wouldn't worry about it." There's always those unknown guys in the US Open and Open Championship that shoot incredible first day rounds, and then fade off into obscurity after collapsing due to the pressure. How was I to know this would be any different?

Remember when Mike Weir was tied with Tiger for the lead on the final day at the '99 PGA Championship? He ballooned to an 80 on that day. Sure he won the Masters a few years later, but he just wasn't ready to win a major yet. Better yet, Dustin Johnson earlier this year at Pebble Beach during the US Open - ouch. So I wasn't alone in thinking it was pointless to have to learn Louis' name either.

But did he put on a clinic or what? Jeebus. St. Andrews is the home of golf for a reason, and Louis looked at home all week. The guy was unflappable. On what is one of the biggest stages in golf, he shone bright when others flickered and faltered - it was a treat to watch an 'unknown' bring it! He even gave a pre-round interview on Sunday, which is something I always cringe at when I see. But he just stayed in his comfort zone, drove the ball like a champ all week, and wasn't a disaster on the greens*.

*see: Tiger Woods

I hope Louis is one of those players that is a steady fixture during major championships, there'll be a contest for best smile on tour between him and Padraig Harrington 4 times a year.

This is what I do when I get a new club - let alone the Claret Jug. Good on ya Shrek!

World Cup Goals

There's been some sub-par games, and some that have exceeded expectations so far in this year's World Cup - but it seems like the best goals have been saved for the Round of 16.

Yesterday's game between Uruguay and South Korea was one of the more exciting games I've seen so far, mostly due to the fact that neither team played much defense. Luis Suarez's goal in the 80th minute was an absolute stunner, and after the game the announcer said that Korea shouldn't hang their heads, as they got beat by the goal of the tournament - and he was bang on. An unreal goal in the rain to push Uruguay through to the final 8.

Another fantastic goal came in yesterday's Ghana/United States game - in the first game that's gone to an extra 30 minutes so far, Ghana's Asamoah Gyan scored a beauty after a long run to lift the sole remaining African nation.

A great goal, a heartbreaking loss for the Americans, but I'll be honest, I cheer for anyone but the States, so good on Ghana.


Perhaps the goal of the group stages belongs to Spain's David Villa, the footwork, the control, and the finish he showed in scoring that goal against Honduras - absolutely brilliant. Spain still look like one of the teams to beat, even though they had that - let's call it a hiccup - against Switzerland.




Right at the moment I'm watching the shootout against Germany and England. It's been a run-and-gun affair so far, and it should be tied at 2, but due to the lack of video replay (or people paying attention), it's 2-1 Germany. Bad break for the English, but I'm confident the boys in their stellar reds can make it back and take down ze Germans.

Although I do find it interesting that in this day and age of technology and cameras, they don't have the ability to overturn missed goals in the biggest of stages like the World Cup. A bit of a head-scratcher there.

Speaking of Motivational Posters...

I sure hope this picture the Chicago Tribune whipped up isn't a case of providing someone with the motivation to come back and destroy you.

Go Hawks.

World Cup

The World Cup is coming up in 2 weeks, and it's gonna be suh-weet! Truth be told, I never really care about football much until something like the European Championships or World Cup comes up, but for the few weeks that they are on, it's pretty freakin' awesome.

And ESPN just did something really cool.

They put out a series of murals depicting each of the 32 teams involved this year, and some of them are awesome.


I picked out a few of my faves :

But the best one? That's easy...

It's gonna be a fun few weeks of football!
The rest of the murals can be seen right over here!

Oh, and my pick to win? England!

Well then...

Since I'm worse than Nick Kypreos at knowing who's going to win a playoff series (or anything about hockey in general), I let my copy of NHL10 for Xbox 360 decide.

Chicago wins the cup in a decisive 5 game series.

Although it would be fun if they lost due to the Hossa curse.

Round 3!

I'm not gonna lie, that was an embarrassing round of predictions.

Go Habs! What an unreal run so far, may it continue!

West Final :
SJ in 6

East Final :
Montreal in 5

2nd Round!

Touche Habs. Touche.

So, 4/4 in the West (on who would win, granted i botched the game totals), and 0/4 in the East.
Yeah 50%. At this rate I'm more qualified than everyone on the Sportnet Hockey panel - so I've got that going for me.

On to 2nd round predictions!

West!

(1) San Jose vs (5) Detroit
There's a mysterious ailment going around the San Jose dressing room - team doctors are puzzled by it, and can only describe it as an 'upper body injury'. What else can you call it when your top players have no heart? Detroit will steamroll them on the road to start the series, and it'll go 6 with the Red Wings prevailing.

(2) Chicago vs (3) Vancouver
This is gonna be a great series. Three years ago, Ottawa beat Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs. Two years ago, Pittsburgh mailed in their last game of the season so they could take on the Senators in the first round of the playoffs. They did this so they could finally get over that hump, and know they're capable of making a cup run. Vancouver's in the same situation. All year they've said they wanted to face Chicago again in the playoffs, and they've got their wish. The Canucks will rise up and vanquish the demons from their past - Van in 6.

East!

(4) Pittsburgh vs (8) Montreal
No one saw that upset of the Capitals coming - full marks to Montreal. But the dream run in the post-season ends here.... or does it? Yes. It does. Pittsburgh's a much better team (I stress the word team) than Washington, and that'll show in spades against the Habs. Or at least I think it will. Halak has been unreal, but I dont see him being able to do it 4 games against Pitt. Maybe once or twice. Pittsburgh in 6.

(6) Boston vs (7) Philadelphia
It wasn't so much that Philly looked great against NJ, but that the Devils looked horrible in that first round loss to the Flyers. This will be a much better series - but I give the nod to Boston on this one. Brian Boucher? Really? It cant possibly continue into the second round, based solely on the fact that Boston will actually work hard. Boston in 7.

I had wings last night while watching the Habs upset, so maybe I'll go with pizza to the start of round 2!

Playoffs are here!

Aww Yeah.
Love the playoffs in the NHL!
The sports channels are all making their predictions as to who has a shot of upsetting who, and who will make it to the Finals. Most likely they'll be wrong more often than right, like those damned weathermen.
So I figured what the hell, I'll jump in as well. Here's my round one predictions, feel free to make fun of me, or like the cool kids in highschool smoke pits everywhere, conform to my views.

We'll start in the Western Conference, since that's where the majority of my hockey watching takes place.

(1)San Jose vs. (8)Colorado
This is almost a no-brainer. Unless San Jose suffers from some sort of history where they choke repeatedly in the playoffs, they should come out ahead. So, that being said, there's substantial possibility of an upset here. Colorado's staffed by a bunch of young kids who have already greatly exceeded expectations for this season by finishing 8th in the west, everything from here on in is gravy. Does this mean they'll be happy to lose? Of course not. They'll want to win, but they wont be demoralized by any bad goals or freak injuries that always seem to sneak up in the playoffs. Forsberg's spleen anyone? They'll be able to let a lot roll off their backs, but they wont be able to match the Sharks in this round. Marleau, Thornton and Heatley will ripple the mesh a little too often, and San Jose will take it in 6.

(2)Chicago vs. (7)Nashville
This one is actually a no-brainer. Chicago showed last year that they were right on the edge of being great, and they're gonna have enough goaltending to get past Nashville without too many issues. The only games the 'Hawks will lose in this series will be the ones that Pekka Rinne steals for the Preds. Although the Preds arent a bad team by any means, they just dont have enough to compete with Chicago. Led by Kane, Toews, and throwing Hossa into the mix? That's a lot of fire-power. The only part of Chicago's game that could be suspect is their goaltending, but as mentioned, I think they've got enough to outlast Nashville, however the 2nd or 3rd rounds of the playoffs could be a completely different story.
Chicago wins the series in 6.

(3)Vancouver vs. (6)Los Angeles
I like to think of myself as a pretty realistic Canucks fan, and because of this, I honestly think we can beat LA this spring. We've got more balanced scoring than ever before, and if (yes, a huge if) Luongo gets back to his usual self, then I think we can go places. That being said, LA is a solid team, and as much as I loved watching Drew Doughty play for Team Canada in February, I'm going to hate watching him single-handedly shift momentum in this series. This will be a tight series on the ice, but not so much on paper. The first game might be a decisive win - the Canucks are coming off a lot of emotion/fun with Henrik winning the league scoring title, but after that, it'll be one-goal, nail-biter, overtime finishes. This year's Canucks has what it takes to go a long ways, and they'll flex their muscles by taking this first round in 5 games.

(4)Phoenix vs. (5)Detroit
Detroit, hands down. Well done Jets, you've bought your desert hockey team some more time, and more money lost. But you're not getting any further. Bryzgalov might steal a game or two, but there was a reason that no one wanted to play Detroit, and they're gonna dominate. Detroit was well back of the Flames after the Olympics, and they wound up 5th. And the Flames... well, we all know how that turned out. Quite a few turds in the punchbowl in Calgary. Detroit won't run the table on Phoenix, but they'll be close to it unless Bryzgalov busts out some J.S. Giguere Conn-Smyth while playing for the losing team action. But even that wont stop the big red wheel. Detroit cleans house in 5.


Here's who/what's going down in the Eastern Conference:


(1)Washington vs. (8)Montreal
As much as I like the plucky roster of Les Habitant, it aint gonna be anything more than 5-6 games of April hockey for them this time around. Washington is too powerful, and as good as Jaroslav Halak was, he didnt have to face the Caps once. Unless something devastating happens in the injury department (earlier today Jose Three-or-more left practice after getting hit with an Ovechkin shot, but that seems more helpful than anything) the Caps will roll over the Habs. Backstrom and Ovechkin light up Montreal repeatedly in 5 games.

(2)New Jersey vs. (7)Philadelphia
2 words here : Bro-deur. Yes, he's had a bit of an off year. Yes, he's old. And yes, he's one of the best playoff goaltenders of all time. Granted, he gave up those soft goals to get beat by Carolina last year, but Marty is comin back strong this spring - I can feel it. That and the Devils offensive power, coupled with the face Brian Boitano Boucher is in net for the Flyers, this series is over quickly. Boucher's gonna get lit up more than a Christmas tree by Parise and Kovalchuk, and while Brodeur wont have to work too hard, he'll make the key saves when they count and deflate the Flyers. Devils walk into round two in 5 games or less.



(3)Buffalo vs. (6)Boston
Boston could have a slight chance of an upset here if Tukka Rask continues his solid play of late, but I dont think it'll happen. Buffalo has been rolling along all year, and as Ryan Miller showed at the Olympics, he's already an elite goaltender - single-handedly he'll win the games when Buffalo doesnt show up offensively. Also against the Bruins' favour in this scenario, they're one of, if not the lowest scoring team that made the NHL's 2nd season. It all stacks up in favour of Buffalo in 6.


(4)Pittsburgh vs. (5)Ottawa
Yes, as you can see, I'm picking Ottawa to win this series. You're probably saying, "Tom, what the hell are you thinking? Pitt has been to the dance the last two years, and Crosby scored 51 goals this year in the regular season!" Okay, both are valid arguments, but Fleury's looked a little shaky lately, and although he's a solid goalie, if Ottawa can manage to jump on him quickly out of the gate, I think they could manage a split on the road. Which sets up for the visiting team to make a serious run at an upset. If Brian Elliot matches the way he played during the last half of the season, Ottawa is in okay shape. It'll go the distance, but I'm picking the Senators in 7.

And now, the playoffs have officially started, so I'm off to get my wings on!

Down with the sickness

Ugh.
I've got a massive head cold, and it's just the worst.
Especially when talking is your job :S

So, in honour of my man cold, I bid you to check out this video. It pretty much sums it up.

Sequels

You've probably heard the talk surrounding the possibility of an Anchorman sequel. And how could they not consider making a sequel? The original is one of the funniest, ridiculous (but in a good way) movies I've seen. It has to be one of the most quoted movies in my group of friends - which could be because we work in media... but I'd like to think I'd still quote the shit out of it if I was in another line of work. So upon hearing details a few months ago that the 'odds are good' of a sequel, I was pretty pumped up.

That about sums it up.

But upon scouring the interwebs for random info about anything, I stumbled across an article that said Will Ferrell said it wasn't looking good for a sequel, because everyone's too busy. Which I'm going to assume means everyone else is too busy, cause Will sure doesn't seem to be doing much of anything right now. I mean, did anyone even see Land of the Lost? *(According to imdb.com - Will currently has 11 movies in development. Touche sir.)

But that's beside the point. In an age where Hollywood is scared of taking a chance with something original, and sequels and remakes are the norm, I'm actually happy this sequel might not see the light of day.

That escalated quickly!

What's worse than a bad movie? A bad sequel. Take Spiderman 3 as an example. If you've ever met me, you know my feelings on that movie. When I saw it opening day, during the emo-dance number, I loudly informed the theatre that it was 'the worst movie I've ever seen'. Then why did I see it on opening day you ask? Because it had potential! I mean, it had Venom in it! Goddamn. They ruined one of the coolest villains ever. People are upset that they're rebooting the Spiderman franchise without Sam Raimi and Toby McNerd, but I think they waited one crappy movie too many.

I'm glad this sequel might be shelved, because then the legacy that is Ron Burgundy will never go up in flames. Just Will's career is suffering that fate. Case and point - I was given a copy of Semi-Pro when I was an unpaid intern, I watched it once, laughed twice, and gave it away. This coming from someone who owns quite possibly the worst movie ever. It's called The Greenskeeper, and it stars racist baseball player John Rocker. It's truly awful, yet I kept it, and gave away Semi-Pro.

The ultimate travesty is when they take a good movie, rush out a sequel, and destroy how you felt about the first one by having to associate it with the mess that was the second. I know it's guaranteed money for a studio, but it still sucks. Unless of course I write a hit movie, then they can make all the sequels they want while I take a swim in my vault, a-la Scrooge McDuck.

Stop What You're Doing sound bite Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy sound bites

Villainy

Has anyone noticed that the level of detail put into the villains and bad guys is surpassing the effort that goes into our superheroes and good guys lately? Our heros are hardly super anymore, and quite frankly, they are just cheesy and boring now.

Leave it up to the awesomeness that is Joss Whedon to make me notice how much better our villains are now.

Bad Horse approved.

I dont know what it is about villains who repeatedly fail that makes me love them, but that's what we've got going on here. Granted, Dr. Horrible does achieve his goal of joining

the ELE (Evil League of Evil) but not with his intended plan.

If you haven't seen 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' - I highly suggest you go out and purchase it immediately. Or watch it on the interwebs. It was probably the best 45 minutes of anything I've watched in a long while. (Well, that, and the 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Christmas special.) Combining the awesomeness that is NPH and Joss Whedon almost made my head a-splode.


Speaking of evildoers failing in comedic ways, if you're looking for something to watch, I recommend The Venture Brothers. It's one of the Adult Swim cartoons, but this one never seems to actually air on the Cartoon Network, but I've got the DVDs, so that doesn't matter.

The absurd villains add so much flavour to the show, and are a fantastical compliment to the Venture family. I mentioned failure earlier, and this show takes spectacular failure, and embraces it in a way that I absolutely love. It's a world of super-scientists and arch-villains who belong to a collective known as 'The Guild of Calamitous Intent' - which has rules and guidelines for arching your nemesis.

As awesome as these laughable villains are, it's also pretty kickace to see a bad guy that actually manages to cause some wide-scale havoc and do it in a stylish way.

Take a look at the Joker.

Not this one.

The Dark Knight is widely recognized as one of the best movies ever, which shouldn't be the case for a comic book movie. But the depth Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger put into that character made him a dynamic force in the film. When that force should have been Batman, it was in fact the bad guy who carried it. Yes, everyone else did a great job too, but I'd like to think that if he would've lived, Ledger still would've been a lock for his Oscar win, he was _that_ good.

This one.

Our heroes are snooze-fests right now. Peter Parker's a nerd. Superman's tired and played out. Nobody cares about Captain America, regardless of what movie studios think. Batman's pretty kickass, but there's only one more film in store for Nolan and Bale, so no doubt it will go back to sucking like it did when Joel Schumacher was ruining it.

I mean, hell, even Wil Wheaton made a great villain when he guest-starred on The Big Bang Theory. Heroes are on their way out and villainy is looking pretty awesome right about now. I just need some sort of themed costume and matching headquarters, and hopefully no horribly painful or disfiguring back-story. Oh, and a great song so I can fit in in the ELE...
Until then, it's Laundry Day.

Hiatus

Leaving town for a few days!
In the meantime, enjoy this video in honour of the Oscars.

And the super cool OK GO video too.

No words are needed

Saskatchewon

Typo alert! Sound the alarm! If it's intentional, is it still a typo? Anyway, on to the good stuff...

Watched the nail-biting, heart attack-inducing, too-close-for-comfort semi-final last night against Slovakia. I feel, like the rest of Canada I'm sure, that I aged a few years in those final few minutes. I had plans to go out after the game, but I was exhausted when it was all said and done, and called it a night. I slept like a baby. Looking back at the game, there were things I loved about it, and things (mainly the last 7.5 minutes) that caused some mild cardiac issues. Let's focus on the good.


Putting all of Canada on it's shoulders
and getting us all free health-care.


Saskatchewan. All the goals scored for Canada in last night's game... you got it. The boys from Canada's bread basket (lamest nickname ever, btw) were the ones lighting the lamp. Patrick Marleau - Aneroid, SK. Brenden Morrow - Carlyle, SK. Ryan Getzlaf - Regina, SK. I was skeptical of the addition of Morrow to the team, but he's more than dispelled that notion with his hard work and level of compete. Another effort like that from those 3, and a step-up from the Crosby line, and we should be golden.

And after the last 2 fantastic days in terms of medals, we just need a few more medals to eclipse what we managed in Torino in '06. Which is great news, and while I already consider these Games as a success, beating the previous mark would be all we need to bring sexy back.

Martin bringing sexy back

Men's curling is a biggy, and as much as I want to see Kevin win for Canada, I want to see him exorcise those previous Olympic demons, and what better way to do it than against Norway and their delightful pajama-pants. And congrats to the Women's Curling team, I know it wasn't the result we were all hoping for, but I think a silver is pretty damn great.

4man Bobsleigh is another event we've got a few medal chances in - both Canada sleds are in position to make some noise, so hopefully that will boost our totals. And did anyone catch the interview with Pierre Lueders after their first run? It lasted all of 5 seconds, so don't be alarmed if you missed it. He was rather pissy, and I thought that was pretty funny. Kind of like how Jared Leto gets when nobody's paying attention to him. I'm sorry people crashed in front of you and it affected your run, but that's a fairly common thing Pierre...

And a great show put on by the relay team in the Men's Short-Track event last night. I had no qualms about turning away from the hockey game to watch that final. It was really entertaining, and the fact that we busted out a secret strategy to win was awesome. Finally our skaters grabbed some hardware for us, and in convincing fashion too! Loved the moment before they received their medals, and all kissed the podium.

I'm gonna take tonight off from the Games and my TV, to go watch a much bigger screen that will be showing Shutter Island. The book is fantastic, written by Dennis Lehane, and the movie is directed by Martin Scorsese (who's fantastic when he's not delivering essays about film preservation at the Golden Globes - what a snoozefest that was), and starring Mr. DiCaprio, and a great cast. I cant wait to see what they do to make the book come alive, and hopefully it's as good as I think it can be.





Totally worth a read






Hopefully this evening will I'll be able to decompress and relax, then gear back up tomorrow for the fantasticalness that is going to occur in the afternoon. Or at least it had better.
Go Canada!

Vonn now synonymous with Jerk

What a coincidence, both are 4 letter words!

Pictured above : Jerk

Okay, here's the deal. Watching the morning Olympic coverage today, the ever-annoying Dan and Jessi from MTV were hanging out with Gino Reda discussing something Lindsey Vonn did during her medal ceremony, the one where she won Bronze for the Ladies Super-G.

What the hell is a Super G anyways?

When Vonn was awarded her bronze medal, she promptly pulled out her gold medal from within her coat, and held both up. On a scale of 1 to Dick Move, she pulled a Dick Move. What a classless thing to do. Gino Reda described it as 'getting married a few days before your friend, then showing up at her wedding still wearing your wedding dress'. Haha. Percy Jackson could learn a thing or two from Vonn about stealing thunder.




Hey Linds, the Jerkstore called...





Karma, much like show business, appears to be a Hideous Bitch Goddess. In the first run of today's Giant Slalom, Vonn crashed, and possibly broke her hand.

Pictures are worth two words. Not 1000.

For an awesomely fitting quote, we'll go to Conan. "But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. And if you're an ass, you'll fall and break your hand". (Okay, I might've added a bit on the end there...) I find it ironic this class act of an athlete will be one of the first guests on the class act of late night TV's return to the Tonight Show.

So, I guess the whole point of this blog entry was that Jay Leno sucks.

Breaking News Update : Confirmed that she in fact broke her hand. Justice!

I Believe

Another Gold for Canada in Men's Skeleton last night. Awesome job Mr. Montgomery! I figured the Latvian guy had the top of the podium, but what a run! Jon seems like quite the character too, he's a guy who looks like he genuinely enjoys hurdling down an icy track face-first at over 140kms. Or at least the giant toothy grin says he does.






And why wouldn't you smile?
This looks perfectly safe...





If there has to be one repeated disappointment of these games, it's shockingly not from our Alpine Ski Team - it seems the President's Choice Blue Menu isn't quite cutting it for Eric Guay (two 5th place finishes), damn you Galen Weston! - no, it's not that at all. It's winning medals.

Say whaaaaaaaaaa? Well, let me finish. I love Canada winning medals, that's not the problem. The problem is "I Believe". Great slogan, no problem there. But whoever the CTV Braintrust was that decided they needed to flog this awful song should be strapped to a chair, and forced to listen to it on repeat for hours on end. Because that's what they are essentially doing to all of Canada.

Isnt this against the Geneva Convention somehow?

But seriously, the song is awful. And now I kind of feel bad for this Nikki girl.
Yes, this is a tonne of exposure.
Yes, this great thing for her.
Yes, this makes her a household name.
Yes, I dislike like her a lot because of this song. And I know I'm not the only one.

I feel bad for her because this song reminds me of the first song that the person who wins American Idol has to put out. You know, the terrible ones that they are forced to smile through at the finale, and then release it's awfulness to the world.

What do you mean he didn't win?

I'm still loving the Olympics, but this song is beginning to really grate on my nerves. Just like how Lady Gaga loves quirky clothes, WE GET IT ALREADY. There's no need to keep on shoving it down our throats. Cease and desist please. Pretty please?

If they tarnish our gold medal in Men's Hockey with this song, I'm gonna lose it. I guess at this rate, I should change that 'if' to a 'when', but I hold out hope that they wont ruin it with the auditory torture that is "I Believe". But I believe they will.

Golden Moment

Watched the Men's Moguls finals last night.

Welcome to Awesomeville
population : all of Canada.

Those freestyle skiers are cra-eh-zy. But this is why the olympics are so cool - it's an event I've watched a few times, and every 4 years it seems more impressive to me than it did last time. If I was a young kid, or someone who liked to ski, I'd want to do that. Twists and spins, breakneck speeds and their poor knees. As it stands now, I cant even get up off a couch without wincing.

They fly - more often than not, upside down.

The best part of Alexandre Bilodeau winning the gold medal was that it was our first gold on home soil. I didn't think that would be a big deal, but it really was. But the things that went along with that fact made it so much sweeter - the crowd noise, the spontaneous outbreak of 'Oh Canada' in downtown Vancouver, and the collective sigh of relief heard around the nation.

Upside Down mayor of Awesomeville.

I was pumped when I saw that the French skier missed his grab, I dont normally like to revel in other people's mistakes, but that was fantastic. Way to just walk away when Alex tried to shake your hand buddy. And the expression on the Canadian guy who skies for Australia's face was awesome. He didn't appear overly happy with the results.

Well done Alex, you made us all proud, and although you were the one who won, that medal belongs to all of Canada - and we couldn't be happier. The only downside to the entire experience was the fact that CTV keeps playing that "I Believe" song. Ugh. But even that couldn't tarnish this moment!





We have one of each now!






I think Olympic fever has got it's hold on me now, and last I checked, even more cowbell wont cure this bad boy. Alpine Skiing is finally a go for today, and I'm gonna be stoked if we add to the medal totals! And is anyone else loving Jay Onrait during this Olympic coverage? He even makes Dan and Jessi from MTV Canada tolerable. This morning they were talking about the short program from the Pairs Figure Skating, and they had me laughing at 6am, which was a feat in and of itself.

Opening Ceremony

I cant say I've ever sat and watched an entire opening ceremony for the Olympics before, but last night was pretty well done. There were a lot of things I liked about it, and a few things that I thought were a little over the top, but hey, it's a showcase for Canada, so I'm gonna say it's okay to go a little over the top.

The lack of these 3
was refreshing.

Not that I particularly dislike the mascots or anything, in fact, I find Quatchi's boots and earmuffs hi-larious, but I was glad they kept it classier than that. Speaking of class, the Georgian team choosing to march and honor their fallen teammate to a standing ovation was great.

Having grown up in BC, I found a few things about the opening ceremonies a little suspect, but I'm gonna let it slide and not talk about those aspects. Because all in all, it was a spectacle, and I'm glad I sat down and watched the thing from start to finish. What they were able to accomplish visually in BC Place, having been inside BC Place a few times, it's not exactly esthetically pleasing at the best of times, was unbelievable - I had to shake my head in disbelief a few times as the cultural part of the ceremony was taking place. Although, I did have to laugh a little during the giant ho-down, mostly when Brian Williams said Ashley MacIsaac was playing his hit song "Devil in the Kitchen". Honestly Brian? I liked that song, but I'd hardly call it a hit, and furthermore, it came out almost 15 years ago.

Aaaaanyways, I thought the final part of the ceremony, regardless of the problems (you know, the part where the 4th cauldron didn't rise up, and the top-notch close-up of Steve Nash's WTF face) was cool - that's the first time they've ever lit an olympic cauldron indoors, so we got to see some history. I was hoping for someone a little more off-the-board to do the final lighting duties, but how can you go wrong with Gretz? You cant.

Speaking of things going wrong though, apparently the Men's Downhill that was scheduled to go this morning has been postponed due to the inclement weather. I know everyone's worried about the weather in Vancouver, and I know this is one of the warmest winters on record, but it's not that much warmer than normal. Normally there's very little snow in the greater Vancouver area, and when they were originally awarded the games, everyone knew this could be an issue.

This guy isn't worried.

And neither am I.

I wasn't feeling my usual Olympic spirit earlier this week, but after the opening ceremony last night, I'm totally geared up for the Games, and I dont think I'll be doing much of anything - except for watching all the coverage. Come on boys and girls, do us proud and bring home the hardware!