Olympic Updates

How great would it have been to have Twitter during the 1980 Miracle on Ice? Imagine seeing this Tweet come across your timeline:

@al_michaels Do you believe in miracles?! USA wins!

Tomorrow marks the 30th Anniversary of the epic showdown of Team USA and the mighty Russians and it's only fitting that Team USA heads into another giant game as the underdog Americans face off against the home country of Canada.

There was a great feeling in the air tonight as the game was gearing up and a lot of Canadians I talk to expected a physical game from the Americans but were a little hesitant to accept the idea of an upset.

I don't blame them. I was skeptical myself. This is Canada's game we're talking about after all.

And it didn't help in the States that NBC once again proved it doesn't care about sports when the pushed the game off NBC onto their MSNBC channel. They felt that more people would watch Ice Dancing than hockey.

*sigh*

Oh, NBC. You just can't do anything right this year.

And while a ton of people were onr Twitter cursing NBC (mainly trying to figure out if they had MSNBC or where it was) you didn't see a single post about the Ice Dancing. Just a lot of excitement from the people watching the game and a lot of curse words from people stuck with Ice Dancing.

So, I guess maybe there were some posts about Ice Dancing now that I think of it....

One of the reasons so many people are mad is, for example, where I live the MSNBC channel is not even in the regular lineup. You have to have the premium digital cable package to get it. So not only are people with antennae screwed but so are people without the digital package. And then to find the MSNBC channel way up high and look for it lost within the handful of religious channels.

So, I can see why people are pissed. Thankfully, they just added the HD Channel of MSNBC to our lineup last week so I lucked out.

I'm also thankful that we have Twitter and Facebook. I had a few people thank me for following the game that way since they couldn't watch it. I did hear NBC cut away long enough from Ice Dancing to show the last few minutes but I didn't flip over due to the fact the game had me on the edge of my seat.

Team USA came into the game with a chip on their shoulder and came out of one of the most entertaining games in recent memory with a 5-3 victory. Thanks to solid goal tending from USA's Ryan Miller and 2 goals, 1 assist from Brian Rafalski, the U.S. was able to upset the Canadians on the home ice.

Canada is by no means out of the tournament with this loss. Just in need of a tune up. The loss does add one game to their schedule as the winner gets a bye in the Medal Round. There's still a lot more hockey to go but this victory by the U.S. is one of their most important in the Olympic Games. Just not #1. That position is permanently taken.

VANCOUVER — A sign at Canada Hockey Place read "This our game." But the Americans came into Canada's home and stole it Sunday as they defeated the Canadians 5-3 to win their pool at the Olympic pool.

It was the USA's first win over Canada in Olympic hockey since the Americans beat Can-ada 2-1 en route to the Olympic gold medal in 1960.

Sidney Crosby's redirection goal with 3:09 left gave Canada a chance to rally from behind, but goalie Ryan Miller kept the Canadians off the scoreboard in the closing min-utes. He made 42 stops. Ryan Kesler made a diving poke of the puck into an empty net to preserve the win.

The USA victory, keyed by two goals by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafal-ski, was probably its best men's hockey triumph on Canadian soil since it won the World Cup of Hockey in Montreal in 1996.

At 3-0, the Americans have earned a bye into the quarterfinals and now await the outcome of Sunday night's Sweden-Finland game to determine if they are the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

If Sweden defeats Finland, the Americans are the No. 1 seed. If Finland wins that game, the Americans would be the No. 2 seed. (....continue reading...)