A Few Things...

... for your Sattiday.  First off... The Hockey News ranks the jerseys in the Olympic tournament.  Here's Numero Uno... or should that be Man Själv?

Team USA came in at number four and Canada was tenth.  I've always liked the Tre Kroner design and it's most fitting for Team Sweden's jersey.  All the rest of the sweaters are pretty cool as well.

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About tomorrow... even the NYT waxes rhapsodic about what we'll be privileged to witness Sunday:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Sunday’s Olympic men’s hockey matchup between Canada and the United States is not the end of the world — not quite.

The loser will not be eliminated but will have to play an extra game to get to the quarterfinals. As this tournament has demonstrated, the more games a team plays, the more chances that something unexpected will happen.

Then there are the sociopolitical implications of the Canada-United States game.

"This is going to be unbelievable,” United States Coach Ron Wilson said. “It’s going to be on every TV in Canada and a good number in America. Anyone who is a hockey fan will be watching.

“It’s going to be a great day for hockey.”

That great day includes two other clashes between nations with a mutual history: Russia versus the Czech Republic to start the tripleheader at Canada Hockey Place, and Sweden versus Finland to end it.

The point being, of course, is that all three games are grudge matches as any hockey fan knows.  The US - Canada rivalry is developing into one of sport's greatest spectacles and there's a LOT of national pride on the line.  I wouldn't EVEN begin to predict who's gonna win tomorrow given the extraordinary nature of the intangibles in play.  The same goes for the other Gold Medal Game rematches.  One thing I DO know:  I'll be glued to the teevee for all three games.  I expect to see some of the best hockey the world will EVER see tomorrow.  Wowzers!

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 Here's some linkage I've been meaning to put up for a few days now but haven't been able to work it into the general flow of things.  From ace writer Tunku Varadarajan at The Daily Beast:

The Right's Top 25 Journalists

and...

The Left's Top 25 Journalists

There's a thumbnail description and a picture of each scribbler listed in the articles, rationales for their rankings, and more than a few good links to stuff you may or may not have read.  While Numero Uno on both the right and the left  may surprise, I'm in general agreement with the rankings.  I also read a lot of these pundits with great regularity, on both sides of the divide.  There are also one or two on either side I avoid like the plague... but Hey!  Taste and choice and all that.

All that said, I've been reading Mr. Varadarajan's stuff since I first found him in the pages of the WSJ many moons ago.  He's GOOD.

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We did our best yesterday to make our existence teevee-free and pretty much succeeded up until the Finland - Germany game came on around 2200 hrs, at which time our resolve faded.  I should have maintained my resistance coz the game was a snoozer, what with Finland never leaving any doubt as to who was the better team.  Still and even, a relatively boring hockey game beats most sporting events, hands down.