USA Loses, Hockey Wins

Good morning Fackers. Well that was one hell of a heartbreaking loss yesterday no? Team USA looked like destiny's darlings when they tied it up with just 24 seconds to go, but Sidney Crosby's goal in OT gave the gold to the Canadians. Congratulations to Canada. They had an incredibly deep team and were under a tremendous amount of pressure to take gold on their home soil. Even in the disappointment of defeat, it was quite something to hear the entire arena sing O Canada as the Maple Leaf was raised over Canada Hockey Place.

As for the U.S., as tough as it is to come so close and take home silver, they should be very proud of what they did. Coming into the tournament they were considered a long shot to even reach the gold medal game. Instead, they rolled along and never even trailed at any point until Canada took a 1-0 lead yesterday afternoon. They were the youngest squad in the tournament, and it looks like this new batch of players will be worthy heirs to the Leetch-Richter-Chelios-Modano-Tkachuk-LeClair-Hull-et. al. group that set the bar so high through the 1996 World Cup and 2002 Olympics. That is of course unless the NHL pulls the plug on player participation in 2014 Games.

Even in defeat, Team USA earned honors. Goalie Ryan Miller was named Tournament MVP; Brian Rafalski earned top defenseman honors, and forward Zach Parise joined them on the all-tournament team.

Beyond that, we were treated to an outstanding two weeks of hockey that I hope will have impact that lasts beyond the heightened interest of the past several days. For all those who have made comments to the effect of "now I can stop caring about hockey for another four years", please realize that what we've witnessed over the past two weeks is not unique to the Olympics. The level of intensity shown throughout the Olympics is no different that what's on display for two full months each year during the NHL playoffs. The advent of widescreen televisions and HDTV has made hockey on television better than ever but it's no comparison to hockey in person. For my money, no sport is so markedly better in person than on TV than hockey. Do yourselves a favor and find out for yourselves.

And with that, I'll stop talking about hockey again and we'll get back to baseball. Spring Training games start Wednesday. Soon we'll have something resembling real baseball to talk about.

Photo credit: USA Today

Game 79: Blame Canada!

As America celebrates Independence Day weekend, the Yanks host Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays. On Wednesday, Canada celebrated Canada Day, marking their independence, also from Great Britain. Canada Day commemorates the British North American Act, passed by British Parliament in 1867, allowing Canada to be a sovereign nation.

So, for a little history recap, in 1775 the American Colonies go to war with Great Britain, declare their independence the following summer, and finish off the Brits in 1783. Meanwhile, our syrup sucking neighbors to the north, also under British rule since the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763, sit on their hands all the while, forcing our forefathers to turn to the French - the French of all people! - for military support against the mighty Brits.

After the American Revolution, just as it would for draft dodgers two hundred years later, Canada served as an asylum for American Colonists who had stayed loyal to Britain throughout the Revolution. In the War of 1812, Canada served as Britain's main staging area, and the U.S.-Canadian border was the war's main front.

Finally, in 1867, nearly one hundred years after our forefathers fought for American independence when they wanted it, Canada was given independence when the Brits were damn good and ready to let them have it. No wonder Claude Lemieux and Jason Bay have recently chosen to become American citizens.

So remember, Canada could have been in on the Great Experiment of a Democratic Republic right from the start. Instead they chose to remain British lap dogs for another hundred years.

Back to baseball. A.J. Burnett goes for the Yanks today. For the fourth straight start he'll oppose an organization to which he once belonged. He's been stellar in the last three, going 2-1, posting 0.44 ERA, and allowing just 20 baserunners in 20.1 IP while holding opponents to a .147 average. I'll take more of that today as the Yanks look to start a new winning streak. In one start against Toronto this year, Burnett gave up 5 ER in seven and two thirds, taking the loss.

Brian Tallet and his sweet stache get the ball for the Jays. He's at 5-5 on the year and has an ERA just below league average (96 ERA+). He took a no decision against the Yanks back on May 14th, allowing just two runs but walking five in six innings of work.

Jorge Posada is out of the lineup for the second straight day with a swollen thumb on his catching hand. The Cisco Kid gets what should be one of his final starts as Jose Molina continues his weekend rehab assignment with Scranton.

Enjoy the game. And why did the American Revolution take so long to complete? Blame Canada!



Blame Canada!
They're not even a real country anyway.