Nothing like a fantastic hockey game to cap it all off, with a goal in overtime to secure home team gold. Up in Canada, this was a hugely important game. And if you were watching down south, you saw 2 teams playing exciting on-the-attack styles, which made for a good game. Team USA coach Ron Wilson:
"Canada and the United States play the game like it should be -- not sitting back and playing on your heels and waiting for something bad to happen and counter-punching, but actually going on the attack. I know Mike (Babcock)'s teams play that way and I try to play that way, not very successfully right now with my team in Toronto [Canada]."
US coach Ron Wilson may get even more grief back in Toronto for saying that "Sometimes, the best team in the tournament doesn't win a gold medal." In a 1-game format, however, he's right. And Team USA was more consistent throughout.
But it did come down to one game, aganist another great team. And a finish that set a record for home country gold medals. That was thanks, in part, to a program called "Own the Podium," which aimed to secure more advance support for Canadian olympians, and focus on winning instead of just competing. That's a big cultural change for Canada, and a welcome one. Mission Accomplished.
Professional skateboarder Jereme Rogers said Wednesday he was sorry for disturbing his Redondo Beach neighbors this week when he "ate some `mushrooms' and bugged out," preaching naked on his rooftop.
I think Armed Liberal has a new hero.
Lord Paul Drayson was an accomplished man when he entered Tony Blair's government. The founder of the needle-free vaccination firm PowderJect reaped over GBP 80 million, rose to a seat in the House of Lords, and went from an under secretary position to a full Ministry. He then went on to accomplish a great deal over 30 months as Britain's Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support. Britain has become the world's leading practitioner of availability-based support contracts for a wide range of weapons systems, major mergers of government departments have been undertaken to move that approach forward, and NAO audits have confirmed the effectiveness of the new approach. A Defense Industrial Strategy has been put in place that outlines key technical skills Britain believes it must retain, and industry consolidation and changes have followed in its wake as the industrial base moves to adjust. The country is now on track to buy full-size aircraft carriers for the first time in decades, and other shifts have begun, albeit slowly, in the land sector.
How do you top that? How about by submitting the most unusual, way-out, and flat-out interesting senior government official resignation letter I've ever seen. Or am likely to see in my lifetime.
Read the rest at Defense Industry Daily...
On a lighter note, let me recommend the specialist blog 'Kropotkin Thinks' - no, it's not about anarchism, or anarcho-syndacalist communes, or the violence inherent in the system
It's one of the best sources of information on the upcoming MotoGP World Chapionship series out there. No, seriously.
Take this, for example:
Yamaha has announced that Valentino Rossi will be staying with them for the 2008 season as well as 2007. The contract was announced to put a premature end to speculation that Rossi could once again leave MotoGP to race four wheels, either in Formula 1, or, much more likely, in WRC Rallying.~~~ UPDATED ~~~
Both Rossi and Lin Jarvis make explicit mention of "concentrating on racing" in the press release. This seems to me, and to most observers, to be an implicit admission that Rossi's flirt with Formula One last year was a contributory factor to the problems Yamaha suffered at the beginning of the season. After Rossi's appearance in the WRC Rally of New Zealand, speculation began once again that Rossi would leave MotoGP at the end of the year to go Rallying. This speculation has finally been put to rest.
Valentino Rossi being Valentino Rossi, that is, one of the biggest names in professional sports, speculation will, of course, continue. People as diverse as the head of Ferrari, the head of Formula One, and the head of WRC have all stated that Rossi would be more than welcome in their sport, in some cases even hinting that a deal was close to being made. Mostly, these statements have been made in the hope that some of Rossi's public charisma will rub off on their sports.
It is almost certain that Rossi will switch to WRC at the end of his MotoGP career. His annoucement that he will be entering the Rally Of Great Britain at the end of 2007, seems merely to confirm this move. Rallying is his second love, after motorcycle racing, and offers a viable new career path after he retires. But, fortunately for motorcycle racing fans, we still have at least two more years to enjoy his astonishing skills.
Being weary of thinking heavy thoughts all the time, I'm taking a break to write about why shotgun buyers should study Sir Isaac before they lay out their hard-earned cash for "barrel porting," which has a polished sales pitch designed to sucker anyone who didn't pay attention in science class.
Well, after Ullrich and Basso were ousted from the Tour de France for doping I figured it wouldn't be very interesting this year. So I haven't been paying attention... until Tuesday. Suddenly Floyd Landis took the lead from Oscar Pereiro by 10 seconds on the climb up L'Alp d'Huez, and I figured: "Can it be that we've got another US cycling champion on the order of Lemond and Armstrong?" Then Flandis had the dreaded "bad day", and on one stage dropped over eight minutes behind the lead, to 11th place. The other American, Leipheiemer, was ahead of him in 9th, but still over 7 minutes behind. No one has ever come back from that kind of deficit this far into the race, to win the GC (General Classification). (Strictly speaking it has happened, but not for a very long time.) Failure, quagmire, time to pull out and "acknowledge reality". But Flandis was, curiously, still smiling...
Updated with video
France loses World Cup on penalty kicks. Did French team Captain cost them the game in OT by being ejected?
The 2006 World Cup final game was being played in Berlin as I first posted this entry. France and Italy were tied at 1 at the end of regulation. France's goal was scored by team captain Zinedine Zidane.
Then Zidane was ejected from the game for this foul in the closing minutes of overtime:
mondial 2006 coup de boule de Zidane
A really dumb move. The center (head) referee displayed the red card after consulting with the other two officials:
The red card means not only is that player permanently ejected from the game, no substitute may be sent into the game.
The OT period ended with no more scoring. Then each team will got five penalty kicks at goal. Zidane is the best such kicker on France's team, but he was gone.
Italy won the Cup, hitting all five penalty kicks while France missed one. For shot-by-shot grabs, click here:
Much more at my own site, including a frame by frame of the penalty kicks and trophy ceremony. Click here.
My K-1 (fiance class) US Immigration visa is a go. Today, I just sold my residence. A conditional sale, but one I have every reason to believe is solid. By the end of June I expect to be leaving the Great White North, living near Santa Cruz, California - and in America to stay.
Lots to do between then and now, obviously.
Havng said that, some loyalties remain involate. So: Bring the Stanley Cup back where it belongs (and that sure ain't Raleigh). Goooo, Edmonton Oilers!
Folks,
It's time for a break from all the serious topics on this blog. Every once in a while I go to YouTube for amusement. Well, this is most amusing:
I have to hand it to these people. Either they're insane or they possess a certain verve that left my body when I turned 18. I dunno. I'm certain this beats coffee as a morning jolt.
By 'Celebrim'. Excerpted from some intelligent discussions and comments in "NBC Into the Pits," as the commenters discuss the depth and breadth of NASCAR's support in America, and the interesting (and revealing) incomprehension of so many journalists.
Europeans tend to be rather dismissive of NASCAR, being rather enamored with Grand Prix, F1, Supermoto, Rally, and a bunch of other things Americans don't have and don't pay attention to. I'm not a fan either way, and I find both the road race and the oval track equally boring and I don't want to start up that fight mainly because I don't really have a bone in it.
But after several years of trying to get get Europeans to understand the attraction of NASCAR and failing, and of trying to get Europeans to accept that NASCAR is a civilized sport and failing I have finally come up with a method which works.
Like most explanations that work, it's very simple. In fact, it involves only three words.
You show the European a picture of Bristol Motor Speedway, and then you say, "American Circus Maximus."
Then the light goes on.
It took until 2006, but a Jamaican bobsledder has finally taken a medal at the Winter Olympics. And before you ask... yes, the movie Cool Runnings was the hook that drew Lascelles Brown into the sport.
Good job, eh!
