| The U.S. men's hockey team was a disaster | | | | international play. As for the Canadians, I |
| waiting to happen.Most of them got stuck in a | | | | am still scratching my head with them. The |
| blizzard before the Games started. Several of | | | | young players did not seem to have the |
| them were over age 60. And they had the | | | | passion and drive that we are used to and it |
| combined mental toughness and discipline of | | | | clearly showed in their losses to the Swiss |
| former FEMA Director Michael "Brownie" Brown. | | | | and to the Fins.Did the Daytona 500 do any |
| That they went 1-4-1 in Turin is no surprise. | | | | serious action? Was Jimmie Johnson's win a |
| Keith Tkachuk embarrassed himself throughout | | | | (relatively) big victory for the books?GJ, |
| the tournament with worse hands than Daniel | | | | BoDog.com: NASCAR does not generate the |
| Day Lewis in My Left Foot, and Mike Modano | | | | handle I would like to see due mostly to the |
| humiliated himself complaining about his | | | | unpredictability of the sport. In football, |
| hotel arrangements afterward. They were | | | | if a receiver blows out his hamstring, the |
| supposed to suck, and they did.But what the | | | | game goes on and the team still has a |
| heck happened to Canada? I called a repeat | | | | legitimate shot at winning. In NASCAR, if |
| Canadian gold in this very space a couple | | | | Tony Stewart blows a tire, chances are it is |
| weeks ago, and, um, well, not so much. (You | | | | over for him. The Daytona 500 had a lot of |
| may remember, however, I said that Russia and | | | | wacky things happen that leads me to believe |
| Finland were dramatically underrated.) | | | | that NASCAR will just never be predictable |
| Typical of Team Maple Leaf's frustrating | | | | enough in a single race to attract massive |
| tourney: the lone shot I saw of Wayne Gretzky | | | | handle. As for Jimmie Johnson's tainted win |
| during Canada's quarterfinal loss to Russia | | | | (come on now, his car was illegally |
| last Wednesday included Wayne standing in a | | | | modified), it was a favorable outcome for the |
| suit coat and tie, spitting on the rink | | | | books. I'm curious, though, what impact this |
| floor. I suppose that's better than a shot of | | | | controversy will have on the action from here |
| him calling his bookie.Speaking of old: in | | | | on in on Johnson in future races.I guess we |
| retrospect, including Joe Sakic (36), Rob | | | | got our answer by the Villanova hoops team; |
| Blake (34) and Adam Foote (34) turned out to | | | | they leapfrogged UConn, and sit #2 behind |
| be a huge mistake. In such a compressed | | | | Duke in this week's poll. How do you see the |
| tourney, the fresh legs of, say, Sydney | | | | Villanova at UConn game this weekend? What do |
| Crosby and/or Jason Spezza sure would've | | | | the books hope happens?GJ, BoDog.com: UConn |
| looked nice wearing red. Joe Thornton was an | | | | will definitely be favored due to the |
| unmitigated disaster, Vincent Lecavalier got | | | | home-court advantage, and because of the |
| hurt, Rick Nash barely ever got a stick on | | | | handle we usually receive on the home |
| the puck and on the flight back home from | | | | favorites, I suspect we will be once again |
| Italy Chris Pronger just took another | | | | big Villanova fans this weekend. As I stated |
| penalty. And the Gretzky Gambling Debacle | | | | before, UConn is the better team and will be |
| certainly took a toll.Sure, the U.S. was | | | | leapfrogging back ahead of 'Nova come Monday |
| awful. But frankly they were awful on paper, | | | | morning.Last week I asked what college hoops |
| and their best player literally was 44 years | | | | team could come out of nowhere and stun folks |
| old. Canada, meanwhile, was obviously the | | | | while getting to the Sweet 16. This week, I'm |
| best team in this tournament, no question | | | | setting my sights a little higher. If I had |
| about it, and they got shut out three times. | | | | to pick one team that's currently outside the |
| Just amazing.There were indications (in this | | | | AP Top 16 who could stun folks and get to the |
| very space) that the Winter Olympics would | | | | Final Four, I'd say LSU. How about you?GJ, |
| pretty much be a non-factor for sports | | | | BoDog.com: LSU is once again a solid pick; |
| betting. Has that been the case? Have people | | | | however, year after year I always tend to go |
| at least been able to get up for the ice | | | | back to Michigan State. Izzo has this uncanny |
| hockey? What do you think of North America's | | | | ability to get his team focused at the right |
| struggles in this tournament?Greg Jorssen, | | | | time and this year is fielding a team that is |
| BoDog.com: The Olympics have been a | | | | as talented as any team in the past. Maurice |
| non-factor, with the exception of the hockey. | | | | Ager leads the team currently in scoring and |
| We've realized decent handle on the games, | | | | his hot hand (when it is on) can easily lead |
| particularly the quarterfinal games. The | | | | the Spartans to the Final Four. With Shannon |
| games that have received the most handle of | | | | Brown playing as well as he is right now and |
| course involve the Americans. Unfortunately, | | | | Paul Davis being consistently a force night |
| most bettors believed that the Fins would win | | | | in and night out, they are my team right now |
| their quarterfinal game against the U.S. The | | | | and one I will ride in my bracket pool this |
| poor play of the Americans in the round | | | | year!!!!!Christopher Harris is a featured |
| robins swayed bettors against them. Americans | | | | writer for the Professional Handicappers |
| put together a very old team, which is not | | | | League. |
| conducive to the bigger rinks in | | | | |