Got Any Fingernails Left

Has Canadian hockey ever been so glad to hear a final buzzer. What looked to be a cakewalk turned into a game that had everyone on the edge of their seats as Slovakia just about came back from a 3-0 deficit to send their semi-final game into overtime. In fact, they should have. Pavol (Glad) Demitra could have been Canada's most hated man, but he inexplicably missed a wide open net in the waning moments thus securing the Canadian win. What? Roberto Luongo got a piece of that shot? WHEW!!!
I don't know what happened in the last 10 minutes, but it wasn't good. The Slovaks scored and then had Canada running for the rest of the contest. Lets hope there is no repeat of that on Sunday. Lets also hope the Americans don't have a repeat of the first period they had against Finland. WOW! Hey Miikka Kiprusoff, you might have wanted to give it some kind of effort. You might have wanted to go to some gift store to get a bow or two to put on those presents you gave to the US. I would feel sorry for Kipper, but I can't. A)He's Calgary's goalie and you know what I think of the Flames and B) He abandoned his country four years ago by saying he wanted to look after a bad hip that wasn't as bad as he said and then this year said he wouldn't play if he wasn't the starter. Nice way to reward your country for giving in to your demands there Miikka. Some have said this game will do to him what the Belarus win over Sweden in Salt Lake City did to Tommy Salo. It wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit. By the way, how about Saskatchewan's effort in the semi-final. The goal scorers Morrow (Carlyle), Getzlaf (Regina) and Marleau (Aneroid). Once again, the provincial boys come through when it counts.
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I may not know as much as those experienced in curling, but Cheryl Bernard's decision making had me wondering just what exactly she was doing in the gold medal final. She should have won the game in the 10th end, but in the extra end with a rock guarding her stone which was shot, she elected to peel that rock off. ????? It left Sweden with an easy hit and roll and when Bernard failed to execute a double it was buh-bye gold medal. That was one of a couple decisions that made me shake my head in that game. If there is any solace in her loss, its the fact that Sandra Schmirler is still the only Canadian female rink to win gold.
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Did anyone watch Charles Hamelin's gold medal in short-track speedskating? I'm guessing very few saw it. The gold is Canada's 10th in Vancouver. That leads all countries. With that being the case, I ask you this. Many have said the "Own the Podium" program has been a failure because we haven't won the amount of medals that were forecast. However, we have won 10 golds so is the program working? When you think about it, we could have had 13 gold. If Melissa Hollingsworth slides down the luge track clean one last time, if Bernard makes her last shot in 10 or 11, if Kyle Nyssen lands one more jump we would have been cleaning up. I guess that's a question that will be debated after the games are over. We still have a chance at some more gold before Sunday night rolls around so here's hoping for the best.
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I love Hayley Wickenheiser. Why is that? Here's what she had to say about this excessive post-game celebration story that surfaced resulting in an apology from Hockey Canada.
All I have to say is get real. Get real because you know, we were enjoying the moment," she said with a laugh. "It probably was not the right thing to be on the ice doing that, but in the moment you get caught up and things happen. And trust me, there's lots worse things that go on at the Olympics, so everybody just take a big breath and chill out because it's not a big deal."

Yup!
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The Pats can start thinking about next year. They were up 4-3 with less than five minutes to go and lost 6-4 in Swift Current. Combine that with Moose Jaw's 2-0 win on home ice over Vancouver and its game, set, match. No playoffs at the Brandt Centre again. Methinks its not going to be a good summer for the organization. The Regina hockey community is very upset and they want someone to be the fall guy for this. Will it happen and if so who?
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As of writing this, they have not announced the Lotto Max numbers for the 50 million dollars. I'm guessing they are wondering if they should write the cheque out to "Mitch" or "Mitchell' Blair. At least I hope they are.
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As you go into your weekend, I will say this....

No one is a virgin, life has screwed us all
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Have a good weekend and GO CANADA!