Looks like we (almost) made it
Canada’s Olympians were oh, so close and it looked like we were going to make it, but we fell short at the end: we simply could not make it out of South Korea without getting drunk and stealing a Hummer.
And not just one person from the Canadian contingent thought this was a great idea, but three of them: between the intoxicated athlete, his inebriated wife and the drunk coach, no one thought about the situation and said ‘This is sketchy. Should we really be doing this?’
The mild embarrassment has already passed for Canadians and will be soon be completely forgotten (almost). There will be a day, however, when the offending Canucks will get smashed around the campfire and tell their grandchildren all about their South Korean shenanigans. Indeed, those are moments to treasure.
What we will remember, of course, is that our nation won 29 medals, third-best at the Olympics, and most who followed the Winter Games seem to agree that it was a terrific overall experience — not just for those who count the medals won by athletes from the Great White North, but for all who care about the Olympics enough to stay up into the early hours of the morning to watch the athletes perform.
It’s hockey playoff time here in Pictou County and the rinks are active with games.
• The Junior Scotians are trying to rally from what had been a 3-0 deficit in their series against the Antigonish Bulldogs. They’ve trimmed it to 3-2 now and would force a Game 7 if they can get another win Friday at Antigonish Arena.
It is hard to say how the Bulldogs are feeling about the situation: by the time Friday arrives, they’ll have had a few days to mull things over since the Scotians won the fifth game. That can be a good thing or a bad thing.
The Pictou County Weeks Major Midgets won a playoff series a year ago after being down 3-0, but they did it on four consecutive nights, giving their opponent no time to decompress as the Major Midgets clawed back in the series so quickly.
The Bulldogs, however, have been sitting around and maybe stewing in their own juices, perhaps worrying about the possibility of losing Game 6 and having to come to Trenton rink for a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday.
Or maybe they don’t feel that way at all, since they still have home ice advantage — and the percentages — on their side. For now, all of the pressure is still on the Scotians, although that could drastically change in a couple of days.
As always, we shall see what happens.
Non-sports thoughts
of the week
• As they say, where there’s smoke there’s fire and there seems to be an awful lot of smoke around the pop/rock band Hedley these days.
That said, major news media outlets are now publishing unproven allegations that basically defame people, and ruin the careers and reputations of those who haven’t been charged by the police, let alone had their day in court. And most people are OK with this? Evidently, they are.
Kevin Adshade is sportswriter with The News. His column appears each Saturday.