Saturday, February 25, 2006

It's the Weekend!

(For those of you who care about such things, which, I'm sure, is most of you.)

We got some significant rain
last night, the first rain or precip of any form in about a month, as far as I can remember. There are large puddles still standing in the street. Rain in February isn’t unusual, but a thunderstorm is. Lots of lightning, lots of thunder. I don’t sleep well in those circumstances; my place of residence is a tornado magnet, after all. And today? It’s windy (what’s new?) and a little bit chilly. We’ll be in the low 60s today.

There was great hockey yesterday! The FinlandRussia match was the best hockey I’ve seen in the Olympics so far. I don’t think anyone expected the Finns to be so dominant; as the 4 – 0 score indicates, the Finns completely shut down Datsyuk, Kovalev, Ovechkin, Kozlov, et al. The Russians didn’t have very many quality scoring chances, and when they did, Finn goalie Nittymaki made the saves. I thought the game was in doubt until mid-way through the second period when the Finns scored their third goal and the Russians failed to convert on a 5-on-3 power play that lasted nearly a full two minutes. To say the Finns’ defense was awesome is an understatement. The Finns were physical, too. Powerful yet clean checks kept the Russians just a little off-balance. And the Russians gave as good as they got in that department, too. The Finns, however, were much more disciplined…taking four penalties to Russia’s eight. The Finns’ special teams excelled, too, converting two of their four power plays. It’s hard to see how they can lose in the gold medal game.

Which brings us to the SwedenCzech Republic game. That game was never in doubt; the Czechs looked lethargic and more or less unmotivated, while Sweden was firing on ALL cylinders, to mix a metaphor. The game was all Sweden, 7 – 3. The Swedes are formidable now that Forsberg is back and obviously healthy.

I believe tomorrow’s gold medal game is a toss-up; one could make a case for either team. One thing is certain: hockey fans will be the winners. This should be a GREAT game. As for me, I’m just slightly disposed towards Sweden…but only slightly, and mainly because there are five Detroit players on the Swedish squad. On the other hand, Finland has never won a gold in hockey, Sweden won the gold in 1994 on a Forsberg penalty shot. Despite Finland’s dominating performance in the tournament so far, I have to think they are the underdogs. The sports lines I checked this morning has the two squads even. As I said, this will be a great game.

I think I’ll pass up the bronze medal game. Hockey is intruding on life…I have to go to the commissary as I’m out of one mission-essential substance: Foglifter coffee. I have my emergency back-up in place, but it would be nice not to go without my favored morning drink. My shopping list is fairly long, so it’s time to go do “major shopping.”

It’s also time for another periodic chore I dislike: Laundry. The laundry bag is nearly full; I only have about five clean tee shirts left, and of those three normally go un-worn. I’m also down to back-up socks, too. It’s hard to convey in mere words how much I hate doing laundry, or for that matter, housework in general. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE…oh yeah, right. I have. Once or twice.

1 comment:

  1. 60? Awwww, pity party. Tonight low 18, winds 15-25. Alberta Clipper coming through. Tomorrow, high 19. Don't you miss it here? On the laundry, I should have done a few loads today and I didn't. I did deal with a clogged up sink and cleaned the bathroom, so that was something. Oh, well... tomorrow is another day.

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