Hockey Victory Headlines Sucessful USA Olympic Weekend

The quick highlights of great showing by the US this weekend:

The men's hockey team took on Canada on Canadian soil and pulled off a pretty stunning 5-3 victory. Despite being outshot 45-23, the Americans pulled off what is being hailed as their biggest upset since the 1980 Miracle. Clearly it did not carry the importance of the medal round, but the victory guarantees the US a bye into the quarterfinals. In addition the US earned the number one seed, which means avoiding the powerhouse teams until the semifinals or later.

The only disappointment I had from this game was that the game was on MSNBC rather than NBC and wasn't even available in HD. NBC instead aired tape delayed skiing and ice dancing. Seriously, Ice dancing? They should have aired the skiing LIVE when it happened earlier in the day, and honestly, ice dancing couldn't have been on one of the other 3 channels or aired around the biggest hockey game of the three big games of Sunday (the others being Russia-Czech Republic, and Sweden-Finland) Hockey fans, the NHL, and sports fans in general should be irate at NBC. They missed a chance to showcase absolutely riveting theater and a sure chance to enthrall the American public with hockey. The medal round promises more riveting action and I am disappointed that NBC is not showcasing it on its main channel especially with the fact that it could help grow ratings for their regular season NHL broadcasts.

Moving on from NBC outrage (bring back Conan!) to the chaos probably taking place across Canada right now. The outcry and angst in Canada must be insane right now, with all the pressure and expectations. The media and fans are going nuts. The Canadians want that gold. They need it. It is comparable to the US expectations in basketball, except that Canada care a lot more. Hockey, the Olympics, and Olympic hockey are way more important to Canada than basketball or international basketball are to most Americans. I'd be surprised if Martin Brodeur, who gave up 4 goals, starts the next game. Hometown boy Roberto Luongo should get the nod over the Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury. Canada now has to play Germany for the right to face Russia in the final. I have been eagerly anticipating the showdown of the 2 powerhouses and their thrilling superstars, but not so early in the tournament.

The other USA highlights included Apollo Anton Ohno winning his seventh career Olympic medal, an American record. Definitely check out short-track speed-skating, it is an intense contact race around the rink.

Two of my favorite USA 'bad boys' also picked up medals this weekend. Shani Davis picked up his second medal of these games, a silver on Saturday. Bode Miller won his first career gold, third medal of 2010, and fifth career medal overall. I look forward to seeing Apollo and Bode picking up some more medals this week as they each have a couple events left.

I just saw an ad for freestyle skiing aerials and it looks absolutely insane: a guy just did some crazy back-flip-corkscrew-1080-god knows what off a ramp while going very fast. Can't wait till that starts.

Dixon, Gibbs lead U19 team

After one of the most successful seasons in Pitt history, Jamie Dixon has turned his attention towards coaching another team; no not USC. This off-season, Jamie is focusing on leading USA's Under 19 Team to a World Championship. Team USA started the tournament off with a bang by thrashing Iran by a final of 106-55. Dixon doesn't have any superstars, but a solid class of players who can work together. The team features former Liberty star Seth Curry, Butler's Gordon Hayward, Kansas Sophomore Tyshawn Taylor, Washington State Sophomore Klay Thompson, and Big East 3 point % leader Ashton Gibbs. The team showed balance in their first game with seven guys in double figures, led by Taylor with 13. Team USA has two more games in this round against France (Friday) and Egypt (Saturday). The second round begins Monday, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals from July 10th-12th. This team has talent, butit's no "Redeem Team." There is no LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Dwight Howard. This team is led by a great coach that doesn't whine about every call but instead preaches playing defense and limiting turnovers. If this version of Team USA adheres to Dixon's coaching strategies and plays hard team ball, then this should be a championship team.