Archive for February 22nd, 2010

WATERCOOLER CHAT: OLYMPIC HOCKEY MATCHUP, BODE MILLER WON GOLD, CAVS LOST BUT STILL TEAM TO BEAT

OLYMPICS

In the Olympics yesterday, it was the much anticipated Hockey match-up between Team USA and the hometown:  Team Canada.  Canada was heavily favored in this game, and the entire city of Vancouver were extremely anxious to finally see it.  Well, unfortunately for Canada, they wouldn’t have much to cheer about.

The U.S. came out strong and outplayed the Canadians.  And remember, Team Canada is home to the NHL’s best player — last year’s Stanley Cup MVP, Sidney Crosby.  But it was Team USA’s Brian Rafalski who shined, putting in two goals on the night.  Moreover, Team USA’s goalie, Ryan Miller (of the Buffalo Sabres), was a beast.  He was truly magnificent with 42 saves on goal.  It was his dominating protection that helped the U.S. oust Canada.  The experts are calling this the biggest Winter Olympics Hockey upset since the “Miracle On Ice” in 1980 (when the supreme underdog Americans beat the Russians during the height of the Cold War).  Congrats to Team USA.  USA 5, Canada 3.

Bode MillerElsewhere in the Olympics, it was the return of Bode Miller. Four years ago, Bode Miller was the poster boy for America’s Olympics campaign.  We were instructed to root for him at all costs.  But… Miller had a bad-boy side, and turned off a lot of people.  And with all that media attention on him in 2006, he failed nab the gold medal.  Well, this time around, Miller has been under the radar.  And because of this, he was able to focus on what he does best — skiing.  He finally grabbed gold in Sunday’s super-combine event.

BASKETBALL

And in the NBA, the Cavs are easily the hottest team in the NBA right now.  And they are doing everything they can to keep LeBron as happy as possible because they want him around next season.  With several teams making cap room for him in the past few days, it’s imperative that Cleveland Cavaliers WIN this year, and hopefully convince him to stay.  So, they granted LeBron’s wish, and brought the Wizards’ Antawn Jamison to town.  However, he was 0-12 in his debut, and currently the Cavs are on a two-game losing skid.  So they needed to make the most of their game against Orlando.

This game also saw the match-up of the original Superman (Shaq) and the new Superman (Dwight Howard).  Who would be the victor?  Well, Shaq had the edge early, but Dwight Howard took over later in the second half.  He finished the game with 22 points and 16 rebounds.   The Cavs led most of the way, but the Magic would rally for the win.  The Cavs are still the team to beat, but they’ve lost 3 in a row.  Orlando 101, Cleveland 95.


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