Crosby Nets Gold for Canada

It didn't look good with 24 seconds remaining in the third period when Zach Parise scored off of a deflection in front of Roberto Luongo and forced overtime. It reminded me way too much of the World Jr. tournament two months earlier when Canada were down two goals in the last two minutes of the gold medal final against the Americans, only to have Jordan Eberle tie it up in dramatic fashion, then to be defeated in overtime. Heart-wrenching.

But this time we were not to be denied. At 7:40 of overtime, Sydney Crosby potted the biggest goal in Canadian Olympic history and in the process, cemented Canada as the most gold medal-winning nation in Olympic history...ever!. The "host with the most," in fact. We didn't get the best overall medal count (however we did best our own record of 24 total medals; seven gold, 10 silver and seven bronze from Turin, Italy in 2006-yeah, don't ask where the men's hockey team finished that year) but that matters not, as we not only bested the Americans, who had done quite a lot of talking for a nation with only five hockey titles in their history (including said Jr. tournament wins-which includes beating the Canadians in 2004 as well) but we took our game back. Let it not be said that we don't own this game. I defy any hockey-playing nation to argue with that! With our success, our history, that's what Wayne Gretzky was talking about back in 2002 in Salt Lake City; everyone loves to hate Canada when it comes to hockey. Well, they can keep on hating us because we ain't done yet! Not by a long shot!

Some were saying that after the first game against the Americans and after perennial champion and normally cool-as-a-cucumber, Martin Brodeur was pulled in favor of eventual hero, Roberto Luongo (and after a near-embarrassing endeavor against Switzerland) that the demons of Turin, Italy were back for more. But after defeating Germany and destroying Russia 8-2 (a victory that took Canada 50 years to do in the Olympics) the Canadian squad was obviously a re-grouped, re-focused and determined team destined to be Olympic champions.

As for the Americans, no one even gave them a chance to be in the medal round, much less the gold medal final. When talks of who would win the gold were being discussed, Canada, Russia and Sweden were shoe-ins. For all intents and purposes, the U.S. and Russia traded places and Sweden (along with a disappointing Finnish club) seemed to fade out of existence. AS for the aforementioned Swiss club, watch out for them in 10-15 years. They're going to ruin somebody's party one day a la Belarus/Sweden of 2002.

But with this solidifying victory and the solace that is ours knowing we own hockey once more (along with owning the gold podium in this Olympiad) all is well in the sporting universe once again.

With all the other medals won, (including the women's gold medal win, let us not forget them) the pride and patriotism shown (that has always been there, but being so low-key, Canadians simply don't show it until we have a venue or platform to do so)man, was I proud to be a Canadian today.

Canada Finally Wins Gold on Home Soil

It took three Olympic games and 34 years that started back in 1976 in Montreal for Canada to claim gold on native soil. All those phenomenal athletes between then and now; Brian Orser, Elizabeth Manley, Josie Chouinard, Shawn O'Sullivan; they performed their hearts out and still came up short, but walked away with silver. (To this day, I still believe O'Sullivan got royally screwed out of his rightful gold against Frank Tate) This time Canada has finally won gold on home soil. Remember the name, Alexandre Bilodeau, because he will go down in the annals of Canadian Olympic history as the man, the athlete, to first win gold on Canadian soil.

Top-Grossing Movies of All Time

Inflation adjusted. Avatar is not #1, neither is Titanic. Sorry Cammy.
My Star Wars is still #2 after 33 years. Gone With the Wind is still #1 after an amazing 71.

Bret Hart Hosts RAW

Who woulda thunk it? I bet nobody, and I mean nobody could have seen this coming. I knew it was happening when Dennis Miller mentioned it during his guest appearence on RAW just a few weeks before. As of this writing, tonight's show won't start for another nine hours. It's gonna be gooood. At least it better be, with all the hype they're puting into it.

UPDATE: So, at the last possible minute, I went to the show in Dayton, Ohio. First off, they really need to either host these things at a bigger venue or do something about the stupid one-lane highway that leads to the parking lot (then shuttle bus it over to the Nutter Center)

So, Bret comes out to a very good reception. Up until that point, I actually entertained the thought of it all being a major swerve. Like they would have another midjet dressed up like Hart to piss us all off. That would have been a bad idea for Vince McMahon and company. Of course, it could also just have been idiotic thinking on my part.
As good as the in-ring "confrontation" between him and Shawn Michaels was, and later Hart and McMahon, as a guest-host, Bret was not all that involved. Actually, he wasn't involved at all. You figure he would have "booked" a few decent matches that he himself would have liked to have seen (of course all the matches are determined before the show by Vince and his bookers anyway) but it didn't have that "Bret Hart-Guest Host" feel. Basically, another run-of-the-mill Monday Night Raw, just with The Hitman doing a few promos. But it was historic just the same and one couldn't blame me for wanting to be there, right?

KISS Denied Hall of Fame

What a freakin' joke!! These guys have been rocking this planet for 35 years, yet once again they're denied their rightful place in rock'n'roll immortality. We're talking about a band that has garnered more gold records than any other American band.

Look, I don't hold anything against this year's inductees (Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack-is a cool tune) and you really can't argue the success of Genesis or Iggy Pop or even Abba (although an argument can be made that they were disco and not rock'n'roll) but I most certainly hold the judges responsible. These would include Bob Ezrin, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Oscar nominee Thavi Phrasavath, Anastasia Brown and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Terry Stewart. I doubt if Ezrin cast a "nay" vote against KISS, since he did produce three of their albums. Those being 1976's Destroyer, 1981's (albeit confusing and crappy) Music from The Elder and 1992's Revenge. You would figure them being inducted would also make him look good; perhaps even a bit proud of his own accomplishments.

Seriously, this is an outrage. How many contemporary artists have these guys influenced, from Garth Brooks to how many people are they still playing to? Recently they sold out a Quebec City concert that 90, 000 people attended. In Brazil, they recently played to another 60, 000. And the beauty of them is they don't discriminate. They'll play to huge crowds in open-air stadiums or to an intimate crowd of 5,000 as they did last summer in Windsor, Ontario. Another distinguishing characteristic of the band (besides their longevity and success) is their sincere appreciation of their fans. For over 30 years, they have made no secret that their success is entirely due to the support of their KISS Army world-wide. At every concert they have, Paul Stanley ensures that he lets the crowd know they're the reason for the band's success and how much they're appreciated. He once said when asked what he would say to bands that are striving for elusive success, "They can make it. Why not? We did. The only people that say you can't make it are the people that are unwilling to try, or that have tried once and failed. You have to want it."

It undoubtedly didn't do them any good by pretty much insulting the institution that is the Hall a few years back, but really, should that matter? Their accomplishments and fan-base world-wide should be painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain that they deserve the recognition.

What a travesty of justice.

Tiger Woods

WHO CARES??? That is all.

Sesame Street's 40th

Who out there can say that Sesame Street, that is celebrating it's 40th birthday on November 10th, was not their utmost favourite television show growing up. I still remember watching it at Auntie Nita's Nursery School in Winnipeg during the early 70's. My schoolmates and I would watch it in between naptime and playtime howling (even though not really getting the gags meant for adults and parents-which was and is part of it's charm)

Someone with the blog entitled, The Mommy Files has a good take on the show and a good question. Does Sesame Street still have legs?

All those great memories and laughs: the Golden "AN," Grover as a lovable, yet incompetent waiter, as well as his alter-ego, Super Grover, Oscar the Grouch (and don't forget his pet worm, Slimey) Big Bird and his "imaginary friend" Snuffelupagus, The Count, Cookie Monster, Kermit the Frog and of course, Bert & Ernie (who can forget the time they went to the Egyptian pyramid and Ernie performed a song & dance with a look-a-like statue? Bert, condescendingly treating him as if he were insane was the funniest part)

Up here in Canada, it is now called Sesame Park. The Cookie Monster is now the "Carrot Monster?" Oscar no longer lives in the trash can (out of respect for the homeless, apparently) and Bert & Ernie are M.I.A. for the most part. It sure isn't the Sesame Street I remember.

Does anybody remember these?



































Have I missed anything?