All of the sports have heated up. Did you see the men's Ski Cross? "Carnage on the course" was the way the BBC described it, and that was accurate. Shaun White won a gold medal for the US in the men's Snowboard halfpipe, with a 1260 MacTwist. Don't know what that is? Basically a double-backflip combined with three full rotations (plus an extra half rotation, but you get that automatically on a halfpipe). The curling has been intense (I'm not kidding), even though the US teams have been awful. The British on the other hand are much better at this and much more entertaining. Speaking of which, Amy Williams won a gold medal for Great Britain, their first and only medal so far at the games, in the women's Skeleton. Lindsey Vonn in the downhill. Bode Miller in the combined. Ice dancing, cross-country, luge. I could watch the Winter Olympics all day!
BUT, much more than all of the sports above, for most Canadians, and for most of the hardcore fans in the US as well, the Winter Olympics is about the ice hockey. The vast majority of Canadians will tell you that a gold medal in the ice hockey is more important than having the greatest number of golds, and for the US, I feel the same way. Sure, it's nice to have the most golds overall, but gold in ice hockey just seems to mean so much more, given my interest in the game and as anybody who knows me, I've been going to Blackhawks games, Badger men's and Badger women's, Chicago Wolves, Rockford IceHogs, plenty of other NHL games in Montreal, Phoenix, LA, NCAA championships, and I'm sure a whole host of games I've somehow forgotten about (Winter Classic) for the past 8 years or so now.
And so, the USA men, which as noted in my previous blog entry, needed to win against Switzerland and Norway, did just that. They beat Switzerland 3-1 and then Norway 5-1 last week. However, the reason why they were "must win" games proved to be unfounded. Last night, in the biggest US Olympic ice hockey upset since the 1980 Miracle on Ice, and for the first time since the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics of 1960, Team USA beat Canada. Except this time it was IN CANADA! Sure, it wasn't for a medal, but the game was one of the most exciting hockey games I have ever seen, and the 5-3 win was well-earned and very satisfying. Neither team is guaranteed anything yet (well, the US did earn itself a bye to the quarterfinal round with the win), and every game from here on out is a must-win. Canada plays Germany tomorrow, and the winner of that gets to play Russia (widely considered to be the second-best team in the world, only after the Canadians themselves). Team USA, on the other hand, will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday against either Switzerland or Belarus (they play each other tomorrow night). Win on Wednesday, and you're in the semifinals.
In the women's tournament, the action has been incredibly one-sided. Canada and Team USA have been destroying all opponents. In the preliminary round, USA beat China, Russia, and Finland by a combined 31-1. Canada beat Sweden, Switzerland, and Slovakia by a combined 41-2. You can't really argue with that. The women's semifinals were tonight, and Team USA beat Sweden 9-1 to ensure at least a Silver medal, and barring the biggest upset in the history of women's hockey, Canada will beat Finland later tonight and it will be USA vs. Canada for the gold on Thursday.
That's about all for now! GO USA!
Enjoy the games!
Ski Cross is very thrilling game. But i don't know the detail how the points or evaluation is made. I just watch and enjoy in Satellite TV .
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