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.

Weekend Highlight #1: Pitt beats Nova

Pitt rode another rollicking Petersen Events Center Crowd to a 70-65 victory over No. 3 Villanova. The Panthers were led by Ashton Gibb's 21 points and Gilbert Brown's 16, and 7 points and 10 rebounds from Gary McGhee. 8 of those rebounds came on the offense end, and Pitt's 18 offensive rebounds overall was the key to victory on a day when the Panthers shot only 35% from the field.

The win puts the Panthers into a tie with West Virgina for third place in the Big East with 10-4 conference record. The top 4 teams receive a double-bye in the Big East Tournament, and Pitt is one game ahead of fifth place Louisville and holds the head-to-head tie breaker. All this remember, after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason Big East coaches poll. With another marquee win against a top 5 opponent, the Panthers have also put themselves in position for a good seed in the NCAA tournament as well. Hopefully, they will move up when the new polls are released this week. If the Panthers finish off their remaining slate (at Notre Dame, at St. John's, Providence, and Rutgers) and thus get the automatic bye into the Big East quarterfinals, they could go as high as a 3 seed in the NCAAs.

Pitt leads after the first half

Though it was an ugly first half from a basketball standpoint, it was beautiful in the eyes of Pitt fans. Villanova star Scottie Reynolds played only nine minutes before he picked up his second foul, prompting Nova coach Jay Wright to send him straight to the bench. What I'll be looking for in the 2nd half is for one player on either team to step up and take this game over. At halftime, no player has more than 6 points. Will it be Reynolds? Will it be Ashton Gibbs? Someone else? The answer to that question could be the factor that decides this game.