A Great Day for Canada

We're in sudden death with Canada for the gold medal.  I had to break out a running diary.  We were inches from the gold medal in the third period when we sent the puck down the ice and hit the post on the empty net.  Then Canada scored to tie with less than a minute left.  Now we have 20 minutes of sudden death and then possibly a shootout.  Hopefully this won't turn out to be a disaster.

2:36- Here we go.

2:37- Both teams get decent chances early.

2:37- The US gets a few good chances.  We're controlling the play early in overtime.

2:38- Canada has come on a little bit.

2:39- Glove save by the US goalie.  Now that we have a stoppage, it's worth mentioning that I definitely couldn't name more than three of the American players.  I don't care.  I want to beat Canada and win the gold.

2:42- Canada has played better than us for the last few minutes.

2:43- Penalty on Canada.  Let's win a gold medal.  13:51 to play.

2:45- Our power play lasted five seconds.  Slashing penalty on the US.  The NBC broadcasters don't like the call.

2:46- Three on three.  Why do they play four on four in overtime?  That's silly.  If I remember correctly, it started in the NHL to open up the ice in overtime.  They also started making an overtime loss worth one point.  The purpose was to have fewer ties (open ice, a loss being the same as a tie so you might as well go for the win).  But then the NHL put in the shootout so there are no more ties anyway.  They should have gone back to five on five overtime.

2:48- The US takes a penalty to stop a breakaway.  I'm not sure why this isn't a penalty shot, but okay.  12:29 to play.  I'd settle for a shootout at this point.

2:50- Now this is weird.  Canada is going to end up with five players on the ice because of the way the penalties are going to shake out here.

2:51- Canada scores.  Heart breaking loss.

Do I really care about women's hockey?  No, of course not.  However, the United States and Canada are the only women's hockey powers in the world.  We beat Canada twice in the 1998 Olympics and those are the only Olympic games they've ever lost (women's hockey has only been an Olympic sport since 1998).  In men's hockey, a silver medal isn't terrible because there are several countries that are good.  But in women's hockey, a silver medal means we failed.  I'll forget about this pretty soon, but for today, it's disappointing.  Hopefully we'll get revenge tomorrow in men's hockey.  I'll be back later for the women's curling gold medal game.

5:01- Open wide for some curling!  I'm back for the women's gold medal game.  They just showed Eve Muirhead's shot to win the bronze.  Canada takes on Sweden for the gold.  The game happened in the morning and I was going to do this live, but they didn't show it on TV live.  I could have watched it on my phone, but I didn't want to do that.  I tried to avoid finding out what happened.  Unfortunately, I was not successful, but I'm still going to do this anyway.

5:02- They show how Canada lost to Sweden in 2010 in the gold medal game.  Up two in the tenth, you have to hold on and win that one.  We get a rematch tonight.  This is quite a curling rivalry.

5:07- We have bagpipes and everything to get us ready for this game.

5:08- Canada beat Sweden in eight ends earlier in the Olympics.  The teams are being introduced.  I haven't seen Sweden play at all.  Unfortunately, it looks like there's not much talent on the Swedish team.  Canada has Kaitlyn Lawes (not terrible) and Jennifer Jones (probably the most talented curler of this Olympics).

5:10- Canada is 3-2 against Sweden.  Like I said, this is quite a rivalry.  Canada had a choice between the hammer or color of stones as the higher seed.  That's an interesting choice.  Canada takes the hammer.  Sweden takes the red rocks.  I'm not happy about that because I don't like it when countries have yellow or red in their flag and then have the opposite colored rocks.  If they switched colors, both countries would have rocks that match their flags.

5:11- Sweden's skip throws first rocks and she starts by putting one on the button, but Canada takes it out right away.

5:17- Two rocks in the house with three rocks left for each team in the first end.

5:18- The sideline reporter tells us that the Swiss team was bike riding and looking sad after losing the bronze medal game.

5:19- Jennifer Jones is about to throw her first rock.  She has the best percentage of anybody who threw last rocks in the Olympics.  I have absolutely no idea how curling percentages are calculated.

5:21- Last rock for Sweden in the first end.  They have shot rock.  They knock a Canadian rock out of the house and they're lying three.  Canada will have to settle for one in the first end.

5:23- Good sweeping to get around a guard and Canada moves Sweden's shot rock out of the way to take one.

5:28- CNBC comes back from commercial and we're already halfway through the second end.  Really cool camera shot that followed the Canadian rock down the ice.  Canada has two rocks in the house.

5:31- Sweden misses with a shot.  They tapped Canada's shot rock closer to the button and gave it better protection from a few guards out in front of the house.

5:33- Sweden moves some guards around and gets one of their stones second closest to the button.

5:35- Jennifer Jones puts up a guard with her final rock of the second end.  Four rocks in the house.  Canada has shot rock.

5:36- I have no idea what Sweden's going to try here.

5:37- Nice shot to get one.  They hit a guard into a Swedish rock into the Canadian shot rock to tie the game.

5:41- I'm googling pictures of Jennifer Jones to find one to put in here.

There we go.  Like I said, the most talented curler of the 2014 Olympics.

5:43- We could have our first blank end.  One rock in the house with three to go in the end.

5:46- Last rock for Canada.  There's a Swedish rock in the house.  Jennifer Jones will try to get that out and blank the end.  And she nailed the shot.  1-1 after three.

5:51- Halfway through the fourth end, Sweden is lying two.

5:55- I just googled Cheryl Bernard (Canada's skip in 2010).

Canada had the most talented curler in 2010 also.

5:57- One Canadian rock and one Swedish rock in the house.  Canada is going to play the runback to get rid of the Swedish rock.

5:58- Jennifer Jones almost got rid of both rocks in the house, but the Canadian rock hangs on.

5:59- Jennifer Jones is at 96% for the game.  She's thrown seven rocks so far.  I have no idea how you get 96% out of seven.

6:00- Sweden goes for a double with their last rock, but they can only get one Canadian rock out of the house.  This should be an easy two for Canada.  Canada scores at least two 51% of the time with the hammer.  The Americans did not score two 51% of the time with the hammer.

6:01- Some vigorous sweeping gets the rock into the house easily and Canada scores two.  They lead 3-1.

6:02- Which picture of Cassie and Jamie Johnson should I use to show the most talented curlers in Olympic history?

USA! USA! USA!  I miss them.

6:04- I put on the Starters on NBATV.  I do love Leigh Ellis's Australian accent (the Aussies clearly have the best accent).  They're talking about the Pacers trading for Evan Turner.  I'm definitely rooting for Larry Bird's Pacers to win the championship this year.

6:07- Pretty cool Coca-Cola commercial right now.

6:09- Nice shot by Sweden to bump a Canadian rock that was shot rock.  Sweden is lying two in the fifth end.

6:10- Jill Officer and Kaitlyn Lawes are struggling for Canada, but Officer just came up with a nice shot to get rid of both Swedish rocks in the house.  Canada is lying two now.

6:11- Bad shot by Kaitlyn Lawes.  She's down to 47%.

6:13- Another bad shot for Lawes.  We get an "eh" from Jennifer Jones.  I mentioned how I love the Aussie accent.  The Canadians don't really have an accent that's distinguishable from my accent, they just say words wrong.  If I just heard a Canadian, I wouldn't be able to tell they were Canadian until they said something like "aboot" or "organ-eye-zation" or "eh."

6:14- Sweden is lying three with skip stones still to come in the fifth.

6:17- "Never ever ever ever."  Jennifer Jones was not happy with that shot.

6:18- Big shot by Sweden.  They're lying three again and both countries have one rock left.

6:20- Good shot by Jennifer Jones.  Sweden is lying one, but if they can get a double here, they'll score four.

6:23- Sweden can't get the double.  They score two to tie the game 3-3 after five ends.

6:31- After the fifth end break, Sweden starts the sixth end by putting their first rock very close to the button.

6:34- I just googled Pyeongchang, which is the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics.  They're fourteen hours ahead.  Sochi is nine hours ahead.  Nine hours ahead wasn't too bad.  Tomorrow's hockey game is at noon.  That's pretty good (especially since I don't have work).  We've had hockey games at 7:30 in the morning.  Not as good as noon, but not terrible.  If we're playing hockey games at 2:30 in the morning in four years, that's no good.

6:38- Good news for the 2016 Olympics.  Rio de Janeiro is two hours ahead.  That's going to be fantastic.

6:39- Canada blanks the sixth end.  Sweden would love to force Canada to take one in the seventh and get the hammer back for the even ends.

6:41- It looks like Canada wants to blank this end also.  Kaitlyn Lawes leaves a rock out in front of the house.

6:42- No rocks in play after Sweden takes out Canada's rock.

6:43- Canada puts one in the house, but Sweden will get rid of it.  The play by play guy points out that there aren't many team sports where you can't take out a player that is performing poorly.  The analyst points out that you can bring in the alternate at the start of an end, but that would be very unusual.

6:45- Jennifer Jones gets rid of the Swedish rock and we have another blank end.  Tied at three with three ends to play.

6:48- Canada is 8-1 when tied with three ends to go and with the hammer.  Sweden is 7-7 when they don't have the hammer in that situation.

6:49- We have some rocks in play early.  This won't be another blank end.

6:50- Big double for Jill Officer.

6:55- Another bad shot by Kaitlyn Lawes as Canada is looking to score in the eighth.  Sweden is lying one as we're down to skip stones.

6:57- Sweden puts another one in the house.

6:58- Nice shot by Jennifer Jones.  Canada has shot rock.

7:00- Jennifer Jones has one shot left.  Sweden just put another rock in the house and it's tough to tell which team has shot rock.  I think it's Canada, but I'm not sure.  We might get a measurement if nothing moves on this last shot.

7:02- Jennifer Jones comes up short.  We're going to have a measurement to see who gets one.

7:04- The measurement gives the point to Canada.  They lead 4-3 going to the ninth.

7:14- Sweden has a rock on the button.  They really want to score two.

7:15- Sweden's rock picked.  You could see it just turn to its left.  The analyst points out that you should always have one broom on the ice to keep that from happening.

7:16- Kaitlyn Lawes makes a big shot to get rid of a Swedish rock.  Canada is lying three.

7:20- Big miss by Sweden.  Canada is still lying three with skip stones left in the ninth.

7:22- Jennifer Jones puts one close to the button.  Canada is lying four.

7:26- Canada is strategizing.  As Vernon Davis says, there's more strategy in curling than football.

7:28- Jennifer Jones puts one right by the button.  Sweden will have to take one.

7:29- Huge miss by Sweden and Canada steals two.  Canada leads 6-3 with one end to play.  Sweden has the hammer, but I don't see them scoring three.  Canada will just keep the house clean.

7:34- Canada just throws their first rock right through the house.

7:35- Sweden puts up a guard, which Canada can't move for now because of the free guard zone rule.  Canada puts another one through the house.

7:36- Another guard for Sweden on the other side of the center line.  Canada peels it off.

7:37- Sweden puts a guard closer to the house.  Canada peels off the first guard.  Five rocks left for Sweden and they need three of them to score.

7:38- Another guard.  I'm certainly no expert on curling strategy, but I think you have to come into the house sooner.  You're running out of rocks.

7:39- Canada peels a guard.  Sweden puts a shot through the house with the help of some sweeping by Jennifer Jones.  Sweden has to score all of their last three rocks.  That's not going to happen.

7:40- Canada peels Sweden's last guard.  Sweden will put one in the house and Canada will get rid of it and win the gold.

7:42- Jennifer Jones is cleaning the bottom of the rock.  She can win the gold medal with this shot.

7:43- There it is.  Canada wins.  Somewhere, Stephen Abootman is very proud.

Congratulations, Stephen.

Olympic Hockey Diary

We have two hockey games and figure skating right now.  I really really don't care about figure skating, so let's hope these hockey games are good.  It's time for a running diary.

12:00- What's the deal with the schedule?  The last two days, they've played games at 3:30, 7:30, 12:00, and 12:00.  Why not stagger those last two games?

12:04- Jaromir Jagr is playing for the Czech Republic.  I knew he was still around, but it blew my mind yesterday when I heard Petr Nedved was playing for the Czech Republic also.  And Sandis Ozolins is playing for Latvia.  What year is this?

12:06- We're underway.  The Czech Republic is wearing their flag jerseys (that are mostly red on the back).  The US is wearing their white jerseys that they wore against Slovakia.  The white jerseys that we wore against Slovenia (kind of a throwback look) were the best jerseys that we've worn so far.

12:07- James van Riemsdyk stuffs one home to give the US a 1-0 lead.  That's a really annoying name to type.  The Czech Republic is also really annoying to type.

12:09- They show T.J. Oshie warming up before the game.  I love that guy.  And no, I had no idea who he was a week ago.

12:11- A scramble in front of the US goal leads to a goal for the Czech Republic.  They had to show about five replays before I actually saw the puck go in.  This is one of the reasons why hockey isn't more popular in the US.  Sometimes it's hard to see what's going on.  Tied at one.  Nuts.

12:17- The Czech Republic just hit the post.  They're controlling the game right now.

12:18- Still no score in the Canada-Latvia game.  George Costanza and Latvian Orthodox people everywhere are rooting for Latvia.  It's 12-2 in shots on goal in favor of Canada.

12:22- The US just hit the post.  And we just had another really good chance.

12:23- Canada just scored.  Game over.

12:25- The Olympic game is better than the NHL game.  Why not play on the wider rink when they play outdoor games?  Football fields and baseball fields have plenty of room.

12:27- Beautiful goal by Dustin Brown.  David Backes made a great pass.  2-1 USA.

12:30- I just checked my last running diary.  It was about the Notre Dame-Air Force game and Game 3 of the World Series.  I also made fun of Matt Millen a decent amount.

12:36- Patrick Kane and Zach Parise had a nice two on one chance, but couldn't connect on the pass.

12:38- David Backes scores with 1.8 seconds left in the period.  Huge goal.  3-1 USA.

12:39- That's the end of the first period.  Can we get a couple of goals in the second and put this one away?  I'll be back for the second.

12:54- We're back for the second period.

12:57- One thing I forgot to mention in my last post with random February thoughts.  I hate that we have messed up Washington's birthday, but one nice thing is the week off that schools in New York and some other places get in February the week of Washington's Birthday.  If we celebrated this holiday a week later (like we should), I'd be off on a really boring week with nothing going on.  It's pretty awesome to have the Olympics going on during my week off.  Last week, I was watching as much as I could at work, but that's nowhere near as good as just being off and being able to watch as much as I want.

1:01- It's 1-1 in the Canada-Latvia game.  It looks like I jumped the gun with my game over proclamation.

1:02- I was waiting for Canada to score as I typed that, but it didn't happen.  Actually, Latvia had a decent scoring chance, but couldn't score.

1:03- Speaking of other games, it was nice of Finland to beat Russia.  Of course, I want the US to win the gold, I can live with any of the countries that are left winning the gold medal.  Russia winning would have been like the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl.  Russia isn't our biggest enemy (just like the Seahawks aren't my biggest NFL enemy), but I despise Vladimir Putin about as much as I despise Pete Carroll.  Speaking of Finland and Russia, one thing I liked about their hockey uniforms was that they had their country names in their own language.  I actually did some research about this.  Russia is spellied P-O-C-C-backwards N-backwards R.  That's pronounced pretty close to the way we pronounce Russia.  (P is R, O is O, C is S, backwards N is I, and backwards R is Ya).  Our word for Russia is an anglicized version of their word for Russia.  But Finland is spelled and pronounced Suomi in Finnish.  How do we get Finland from Suomi?

1:06- Zach Parise scores on the power play.  Things are looking good for the U, S, and A.  4-1.

1:13- Play has resumed after a glass issue.

1:15- Now we have an ice issue.  Still 1-1 in the other game.

1:16- Since I hope this is Jaromir Jagr's last Olympic game (although if Petr Nedved is playing, maybe we'll see Jagr again in four years), it's worth mentioning that one of his heroes was Ronald Reagan.  He kept a picture of Reagan in his wallet.  It drives me nuts any time I hear people giving Gorbachev credit for the end of the Cold War.  He was trying to save communism and realized he couldn't and agreed to lose.  But he agreed to lose because Reagan and John Paul II did what was necessary to defeat communism.  At best, we can give Gorbachev credit for not being as evil as Stalin or Khrushchev or Brezhnev, but he was not the reason the Cold War ended.  People who lived under communism and hated the Soviets realize this.

1:23- I'm not paying much attention to the game.  I'm cool with that.  The Czech Republic is on the power play.

1:24- Their power play only lasted 28 seconds as T.J. Oshie just drew a penalty.  OOOOOOOO-SHHHHHHIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1:28- I just did some googling, I kind of want to buy this, but they're out of stock.  Not surprising.

1:31- 4-1 at the end of the second period.  I'll be back for the third.

1:46- The third period gets started.  Let's wrap this up.

1:47- There was a scrum in front of the US goal that went on way too long before the whistle was blown.  I've never seen that many players in the crease at once.

1:49- Phil Kessel just scored.  Great pass by Ryan Kesler.  Game over.

1:51- Canada is still tied with Latvia.  It would be awesome for us to beat Canada, but I'm cool if the Latvians do it for us.  I'm watching this game from now on.

1:54- Canada gets a good scoring chance, but can't take advantage.  Hang in there, Latvia.

1:55- Canada thinks they scored, but it appears that they didn't.

1:56- Wow, that was close.  The puck was crossing the goal line, but a Latvian defender pulled it back.  It should be a penalty shot.

1:58- They reviewed the play and no goal.  Supposedly, they couldn't review whether or not it should be a penalty shot.  It definitely didn't completely cross the goal line, which is probably all that they reviewed.  Good break for Latvia.

2:01- Delayed penalty on Latvia.  They need to touch the puck here.

2:02- That took long enough.  Canada has a power play with 8:51 to play.  Back in my hockey video game days, the good thing about killing penalties was you could try long passes without worrying about icing.  A shorthanded goal would be nice.

2:06- Big save by Latvia.  They're 17 seconds away from killing this penalty.  The goalie is shaken up.

2:07- The Latvian goalie has faced 52 shots and allowed one goal.  That's ridiculous.

2:07- Now he's faced 53 shots and allowed two goals.  Nuts.  Shea Weber scores.  Game over.

2:08- 6:46 to go, but I don't have much confidence in Latvia to score.

2:11- Canada is putting more pressure on.  Latvia's getting nothing going right now.

2:12- Two shots blocked by Canada.  And then a save.  When does Latvia pull the goalie?  3:33 to play.

2:14- In 1936, Canada beat Latvia 11-0.  That was the only other time these two countries played in the Olympics.

2:16- 1:38 to play.  Face off in the Canadian zone.  Time out called by Latvia.

2:18- Latvia won the face off, but Canada blocked a shot.  They've pulled their goalie.

2:19- 43.9 to play.  Face off in the Canadian zone again.  Time out called by Canada.

2:20- The US won 5-2.

2:20- Latvia kept Canada from scoring on the empty net.  Latvia brings it in offside.  25.2 left.

2:21- Icing by Latvia with 10.1 left.

2:22- Great effort by Latvia, but Canada wins.

2:23- 57-16 in shots on goal.  Amazing that Latvia only lost by one.

Well, that's it for hockey today.  We take on Canada tomorrow in women's hockey for the gold.  And we play them in the semifinals in men's hockey on Friday.  It would be so nice to win both, but I'd settle for just the men winning.  It's been 34 years since we won a gold medal in men's hockey.  It's time.

Random February Thoughts

I had planned on doing a running diary of today at the Olympics starting with the women's semifinal curling game between Britain and Canada.  Part of the appeal was doing a kegs (or bottles) and eggs kind of thing and blogging about curling and hockey.  The problem is that I didn't wake up until about 6:20.  I wasn't committed enough to this idea to set an alarm.  Anyway, after a shower, I did make myself scrambled eggs and I'm drinking a Sam Adams Octoberfest right now (only a few more left).  As for the eggs, it was the first time I've ever made a breakfast for myself that was more complicated than putting a bagel in the toaster and then putting butter on it (I'm 30 years old).  I watched several Youtube videos about how to make scrambled eggs.  Most people whisk them before putting them in the pan.  A couple of videos said to whisk them right in the pan as they're cooking.  That's what I went with.  I got off to a rocky start when I got some of my first eggshell in the pan.  I was able to get it out and my eggs actually turned out to be pretty good.

Anyway, we're in the tenth end of Canada-Britain now.  I think I'll just have to come back tomorrow morning and do a running diary of the gold medal game.  It's at 8:30 so I should be able to get up for it.  Britain is down to their last rock right now.  And Eve Muirhead just hit an amazing double.  Jennifer Jones has a draw on her last shot to win.  She should make this one.  And she does.  Canada is going to the gold medal game.  I was a little conflicted about this game.  On the one hand, Jennifer Jones is the most talented curler of the Olympics (second straight Olympics that Canada has had the most talented curler).  On the other hand, Britain does have some talent and they're America's most important ally (Australia is our most important ally, but Britain is more important).  Either way, I was rooting for one of these teams to win the gold and the other one to win the bronze.  I have nothing against Sweden and Switzerland, but they'll have to settle for the silver and fourth place (I hope).

Speaking of curling, I was reading yesterday some stories about how the United States is going to reconsider how we select our curling teams.  The only time I'm ever jealous of Canada is when I watch curling, so we probably should reconsider how we select our Olympic teams.  My answer is focus on winning medals in men's curling (Pete Fenson is an American Olympic hero for winning bronze in 2006) and focus on having the most talented women's team.  Our 2006 team was amazing.  Cassie and Jamie Johnson were the two most talented curlers.  They were so talented that I didn't even notice Jessica Schultz (easily our most talented curler this year).  Sadly, Cassie and Jamie are both married now, but they should still should have been on our Olympic team.

Some random thoughts:  February is usually an awful month once the Super Bowl is over.  And it would have been this year with Notre Dame's crappy basketball team.  The Winter Olympics really help.  I love the Winter Olympics.  And the only sports I really like in the Winter Olympics are curling, hockey, and short track.  There are other sports that I can watch (alpine skiing, bobsleigh, freestyle skiing, luge, ski jumping, snowboard, speed skating), but I don't get upset if I miss them.  The Summer Olympics have a lot of sports that are easy to get into:  basketball, beach volleyball, handball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track, volleyball, and water polo.  And there are a few others that I don't mind watching if they're on TV.  Despite that, I think I like the Winter Olympics more.  I don't need the Summer Olympics.  They're nice, but the summer is great anyway.  (What I don't need either, but what would be totally awesome is America's Team Olympics.  Go to about the 6:30 mark to hear them talk about it).  I need the Winter Olympics.  If they happened in January, I wouldn't care too much.  But they are perfectly timed after football season.

Speaking of February, George Steinbrenner said it best.

The World War I veterans got Veterans Day fixed.  Can't we get Washington's Birthday fixed?  I would put it on February 22 every year (we can observe it on Monday if it falls on a weekend), but I could live with celebrating it on the fourth Monday in February every year.  At least that way the holiday could fall on Washington's actual birthday.

Sweden won the other semifinal game in curling.  Sweden-Canada tomorrow at 8:30.  I'll say goodbye to my favorite sport of the Winter Olympics with a running diary.  Which gives me an idea.  Jim's favorite sport power rankings:

10.  Swimming- Michael Phelps.  This might get bumped for track or something in 2016 since we might not dominate it the way we have for the last few Olympics.

9.  Short Track Speed Skating- Regular speed skating is boring, short track is intense.

8.  Beach Volleyball- Not many things say summer like beach volleyball.

7.  Soccer- I could get into the World Cup if the US was good, but Notre Dame has been good at least.

6.  Tennis- Wimbledon was a lot of fun and I want to go to a US Open.

5.  Hockey- It might rank higher if I went to more games.  It's a great sport to watch in person.

4.  Curling- I'm totally serious. I look forward to curling more than any other sport in the Olympics.

3.  Basketball- I played more basketball than anything else growing up.

2.  Football- I care about the Notre Dame football team more than any other team I root for.

1.  Baseball- My first love.

By the way, CBS, NBC, Fox, and ABC all have their own sports networks (and in the case of Fox and ABC, multiple sports networks).  How do we not have America's Team Olympics yet?  And how do we not have women's curling on TV regularly yet?

Finland leads Russia 2-1 in hockey going into the first intermission.  I'm definitely rooting for Finland.  Beating Russia on Saturday was awesome.  Beating them in the gold medal game would be like the Celtics beating the Lakers in Los Angeles to win the NBA Finals.  However, Putin is a scumbag.  I don't want Russia to win a medal.  I also don't feel confident about beating Russia twice in Russia.  So if Finland or Sweden want to take care of the Russians for us, that's totally fine.  Of course, the United States has business to take care of.  Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I would have preferred ending up with the 3 seed (switching places with Canada).  I'd rather play Latvia than the Czech Republic.  I'd be shocked if Canada lost today.  I wouldn't be shocked if we lost to the Czech Republic.

I meant to do a running diary today.  I'll be back at noon with a running diary of our hockey game with the Czech Republic.