The Olympics: Where celebrating is a crime

As unhappy as I was about the US women's hockey team losing to Canada in the gold medal game, the Canadian celebration was hilarious. Following the medal ceremony, the players stayed on the ice for over 70 minutes reveling in the moment by drinking beer and champagne and smoking cigars. The International Olympic Committee has already criticized the team and will be investigating further.

Honestly, who cares? These women have worked their asses off for four years, for very little pay, to reach one goal: win the gold medal. They achieved their goal so let them celebrate. After North American professional sports teams win championships they always smoke cigars and consume alcohol, so what's the big deal? I truly believe that if it were men who celebrated like the Canadian Women, it wouldn't have even raised an eyebrow. Yes, one of the players drinking was 18, while the legal drinking age in British Columbia is 19, but still, who cares?

The International Olympic Committee is way too strict. US snowboarder Scotty Lago was kicked out of Vancouver after someone took a photo of him, well, having fun with a female fan. It was a little inappropriate, maybe, but being forced to go home is way to harsh of a punishment. These athletes have worked so hard to accomplish their goals, and when they do they should be allowed to celebrate a little bit. The IOC has many more important things they should be concerned about, like making sure no one dies. They failed at that once already this olympics.

Hopefully the Canadian men's hockey team will not be celebrating at all. There is a very good possibility that their will be a USA vs. Canada rematch for the gold medal (knock on wood). How crazy would that be? For the US to beat Canada again it would take a miracle, but I think the USA hockey program is pretty accustomed to that. First though, the USA has to beat Finland and Canada has to beat Slovakia.

Go America!

The Knicks, curling, and an island

Knicks

Even though all the trades the Knicks made at the trade deadline were basically to clear cap space for the summer, the players the Knicks received looked very good last night. Of Course, the biggest name the Knicks got is Tracy McGrady, and last night he played well above expectations. With 26 points and 5 assists, T-Mac played better than anyone could have hoped and the atmosphere at the Garden was electric, with some fans saying it felt like a playoff game. In a contract year for T-Mac, he has to prove to the NBA that he can still play, and last night he got off to a great start. Maybe he even has a future with New York as supporting cast member to LeBron, Wade, or Bosh, or hopefully two of those players. The two other players who made their Knick debuts last night were also really fun to watch as Eddie House scored 24 points and Sergio Rodriguez flew around the court playing with a ton of energy. Unfortunately, the Knicks still lost because Kevin Durant is one of the top five players in the NBA, but it was entertaining to watch the Knicks play last night and there was actually some energy at MSG. I do not think the Knicks are going to make the playoffs (they're eight games out of a playoff spot) but at least they'll be fun to watch for the rest of the season.

Curling

After watching the Olympics for about a week, I have decided that I want to become a professional curler. The "sport" is slow, methodical, sometimes boring, but for some reason I love watching it. It's like bocce ball on ice, at the pace of a baseball game. The US curling teams, men and women, have played some very, very exciting games, that have all come down to the end. The intensity of the last end of a curling match, rivals that of the 9th inning in a baseball game or the 4th quarter in basketball. I can't figure out where people learn to curl, or how someone gets to be an olympic curler, but I really want to find out because it looks really fun. Vernon Davis, the tight end for the San Francisco 49ers, was at a men's curling game this week because apparently he has recently really got into curling, and if Vernon Davis likes a "sport" it has to be fun, right? If anyone reading this knows where someone can curl in the New York City area, please let me know.

Shutter Island

I saw Shutter Island, this weekend and I have to say it is not at all what I expected. The genius filmmaker Martin Scorsese has made a mind bending psychological thriller that takes twists and turns that, if you could see coming, you're as much a genius as Scorsese. It's so different than anything Scorsese has ever done as it mixeds about 800 genres into one crazy blend of pulp that feels like a cross between Lost, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and every Hitchcock movie ever made. The movie moves along at an eerie pace with a great score and very creepy camera work haunting us along the way, as a truly incredible cast gives truly incredible performances. From Leo, to Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, and more everyone is at the top of their game. Jackie Earle Haley's character says to Leo, "you're a rat in a maze." Actually the audience is a rat in a maze, as Scorsese pulls you along, almost teasing and taunting you, until the final, breathtaking payoff that sent chills throughout my body. The ending can be looked at in many different ways, and I want to watch it again to try to piece the puzzle together, knowing the end, but thinking about now, I realize that everything that seems odd throughout the movie, as the film gets weirder and weirder, was leading up to the shocking climax. Shutter Island is the first must see movie of 2010, and while it may give you a headache, you'll be happy to have one.

Nate wins the stunk contest

Nate Robinson has become the first person to ever win three NBA Slam Dunk Contest championships. Tonight, Nate the Great won in what might have been the worst Slam Dunk Contest of all time. With no big stars in the lineup, thanks to LeBron saying no, Dwight Howard bailing out, and Dwayne Wade denying, the contest was a huge disappointment. Shannon Brown had huge expectations, but his dunks flat out stunk. He had no creativity and zero originality. Gerald Wallace was equally as boring. At least DeMar DeRozan and Nate showed a little flare, but the dunk contest was so bad that Dwight Howard was laughing from the sidelines at the poorness of the dunks. When Nate brought out the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, I thought things might get a little more interesting, but no, instead the cheerleaders just stood and watched. I love Nate and I'm happy he won, but the only reason he did, was because the competition was so poor. Still though, three wins in the dunk contest is very special and although Nate might not be the best basketball player for winning actual games, he sure knows how to entertain a crowd.

Super Saints and looking forward

Well, I was wrong. The Saints won. Since 106.5 million people watched the game, I'm not going to go into the details of how the Saints beat the Colts, because I'm assuming you watched the game yourself. I thought that Peyton was going to come through at the end and he didn't. That's all there is to it. Also, there was an incredible call by Sean Payton to try an onside kick to start the second half. The key player in the game was the Saints kicker Garret Hartley, who made three field goals from over 40 yards, and kicked the game changing onside kick. Drew Brees now has to be considered among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, and Manning, who is 9-9 in the playoffs, is certainly going to face critiques about his clutchness (not a word). But in the end, this victory is great for the city of New Orleans; now they finally have a reason to party (not that they ever needed one).

The commercials were average. My favorite was the house made of bud light commercial, with the Megan Fox commercial coming in a close second place. The Who were good and their lighting was great. The last three Super Bowls have all been incredible games and with the amount of people that watched Sunday, I don't understand why the Monday after isn't a national holiday.

Looking forward...

Now that football season is over, we can really start to focus on the NHL and the NBA, as well as MLB which starts in 56 days. The best hockey game of the NHL season was played on Super Bowl Sunday, in frigid Washington DC between the Penguins and the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin scored three goals to lead the Caps to an overtime victory, in an incredibly fast paced and thrilling contest. Ovechkin does things on the ice, that I don't even think are possible; he is an incredibly gifted hockey player. The olympic break starts on Friday, but then the NHL heads into the homestretch, until finally we get to see some playoff hockey. In the New York area, the Devils are in second place in the East but are in a slump right now. Hopefully after the Olympic break the Devils can get some momentum going into the playoffs. The trade to get Ilya Kovalchuk was brilliant. The Ranger and Islanders are in a fight to even make the playoffs.

In the NBA, the regular season is chugging along, as everybody waits for the playoffs. There are really only five teams that have a legitimate chance at winning the championship: Boston, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland, Orlando, and Denver. The Nets are on pace to break the worst record in a regular season in NBA history, and the Knicks are in a tailspin, and will most likely fail to make the playoffs.

The Super article

It's only three days away. The biggest, not only sporting event, but television event of the year: the Super Bowl. Chalk-full of story lines, the Super Bowl between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts promises to be a rip-roaring, high scoring, shootout down in Miami.

For the Saints, it is the first Super Bowl in the history of their organization. The city of New Orleans, ravished by Hurricane Katrina just a few years ago, has rallied around this team, as the Saints have brought joy and hope to the New Orleans community. Many are calling the Saints the new "America's team" and it's definitely hard not rooting for them. Schools are taking off Monday after the Super Bowl in the New Orleans area, I mean, this game is as big as it gets for that city. The opposing quarterback, the great Peyton Manning, happens to be from New Orleans, and making this story even better, his dad Archie Manning used to play for the Saints. The Saints have an extremely exciting offense fueled by the very calm, cool, and collected QB Drew Brees. Reggie Bush, looking like he did at USC, has been playing out of his mind and I'm sure he'll keep it up Sunday with Kim Kardashian up in some box, cheering him on. During the regular season, you could have made a very valid argument that the Saints were the most fun team to watch, and during the playoffs they have truly kept the entertainment level up. On Sunday, a huge majority of Americans will be rooting for the Saints and if they can pull it off, New Orleans is going to be the place to be. Think Mardi Gras, on crack.

The Indianapolis Colts, on the other hand, have been in this position before. Just three years ago, Peyton won his first Super Bowl leading the Colts to victory. The city of Indianapolis is, no offense to Indy, not nearly as fun as New Orleans. How many people do you know who have ever vacationed in Indianapolis? (waiting for you to count)...Exactly. Zero. But just because the city might not be the place to go party, it doesn't mean their football team doesn't know how to have fun. Peyton Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and with a victory on Sunday he would cement himself as the greatest ever. Those of us lucky enough to witness Peyton play the game of football, are going to be talking about him for decades to come. When I have grandkids (in a LONG time) I will them about a few athletes I saw in their prime when I was a kid: Derek Jeter, LeBron James, Martin Brodeur, and PEYTON MANNING. Peyton is right up their with the greatest athletes of all time. Some critics of the Colts say that their run game is weak, but when Peyton Manning is your quarterback, it really doesn't matter that much. The Colts star defensive player, Dwight Freeney, is questionable for Sunday but even if the Colts give up 40 points, I have a feeling that Peyton will find a way for the Colts to put up 41.

The Who

For the halftime show, again, there will be a far past their prime rock and roll band. Sure, The Who is one of the greatest bands of all time, but isn't it time that the Super Bowl halftime show features someone that people actually listen to, today. How 'bout Jay-Z, or Weezy (he's from New Orleans), or I don't know, someone who is actually relevant in music today. But ever since millions of people saw Janet Jackson's boob on live TV, the networks have been scared to book anyone who is even a little bit risque. Still though, The Who should be very good, and as long as they play Baba O'riley I'll be happy.

I'm also very excited for the ads, especially Tim Tebow's controversial one, but that's a whole different discussion. I'm looking forward to some good beer commercials, maybe a good car commercial, and Go Daddy.com always does a good job.

I can't wait 'till Sunday where I'll be at a friends house watching some very entertaining football, eating some good food, laughing at Tim Tebow (who sucks at football apparently, by the way), and just enjoying the whole Super Bowl viewing experience. And then as the game winds down I'll be dreading going to school tomorrow. Shouldn't school and work be closed on the post-Super Bowl monday, throughout America? The New Orleans schools have the right idea.

My Prediction:

Like I've said before, it's going to be a very high scoring game and I think it might even come down to whoever has the ball last. But in the end, I just can't go against Peyton.

Colts 38

Saints 35