Monday, February 22, 2010

Vancouver Day 10: Curling Fashion

In addition to the Norwegian Men's Pants, I'm also a fan of the Canadian shirts, especially the red on black. Curling shoes are cool, too. It was only yesterday that I realized that they can peel off the rubber sole for a low-traction surface underneath. Pretty nifty!

Now that I've set out to learn more about curling strategy, I'm quite annoyed that the broadcast cuts away from the action early in a given end. On the other hand, I admire the fact that the game doesn't stop for commercials.

I also didn't realize until yesterday that a team qualifies for the Olympics as a foursome, rather than taking the best players from several different teams as happens in other sports. I suppose it makes sense that you'd want a team that is used to working together.


Checking in with the Capitals

I must begin by stating the obvious: Alex Ovechkin's hit on Jaromir Jagr (Czech Republic) in the open ice was breathtaking. It was also layered with deeper meaning: the current stud takes out a member of the old guard. Jagr was also the last superstar forward to play in Washington before Ovechkin. Jagr's resurgence had been one of the big stories of the tournament thus far and Ovie brought that to an end in a heartbeat. But at the end of the day, it was just good hockey as he instantly turned defense into offense, winning the puck and sending his team streaking to a goal at the other end. He is the reigning league MVP for good reason.

I must apologize for misunderstanding the structure of the medal round. Apparently, everyone is in with the preliminary round used to determine the seeding. Of the five Caps, Nicklas Backstrom is in the best position going forward as Sweden will have the second seed in the medal round. Russia, with its compliment of three Caps, also gains a first-round bye with the third seed. Tomas Fleischmann's Czech squad is the fifth seed and must face Latvia in the first round with the winner to take on Finland. The Czechs topped the Latvians 5-2 in the preliminaries.

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