Swede Surrender

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae.

I said earlier today that I would start this week's installment of Weird and Whacked Wednesdays tonight, running through til Thursday. Originally I had thought about starting things off with the NFL - but once again, Olympic Hockey is the talk up here.

THE SWISS ARE PISSED
Going into today's game against Slovakia - Swedish Coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson wondered aloud about Sweden's options. See, Bengt knew that if his team beat Slovakia, Sweden could very well have ended up playing Canada or the Czechs, instead of the Swiss - Gustafsson went on to muse about the prospects of playing Canada in the quarter-finals or later on in the tournament, saying it was like having to choose between the plague and cholera.

So the Swedes had Olympic officials watching to ensure they didn't throw the game today (they lost 3-0). The issue that seems to have been overlooked or lost on everyone is - what made him think that the Swedes could win at will? They certainly haven't looked like world beaters - I agree with him with wanting to avoid playing Canada or the Czechs...but make it look good. Tell everyone you aren't looking past the Slovaks, that your focus is on the game and you aren't worried about the quarter-finals...blah blah - and then you let your team get beaten by making bad line changes, bad line matchups, etc. Oh yeah, perhaps most importantly - Bengt has the Swiss mighty pissed - the Swiss coach was interviewed today talking about not getting any respect for his team. Sweden 4 - 1 over the Swiss.

File this one under whacked - how did the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation pick this genius?


CZECHIN' OUT THE SWEDES
Looks like the Czechs consulted Bengt before the game against Canada today. Canada beat the Czechs 3 - 2 (which I called by the way) and are rewarded with a quater-final matchup with the Russians; the Czechs get to face the Slovaks in what is sure to be a grudge match.

For Canadians who have been mouthing off about how the qualifying games didn't mean anything - I ask you this "Who would you rather play, the Russians or the Slovaks?" Still think the qualifying round doesn't mean anything?

This one may not qualify as weird, whacked or silly - but the thought of teams "not playing to full potential" to get a better matchup sucks - its understandable, but it still sucks.


CZECHING OUT - HE DOESN'T KNOW WHEN HE'LL BE BACK
Dominic Hasek is back in Ottawa and he has already let it be known that he won't be ready for the Tards March 1 game against the Penguins...and on top of that, he doesn't know when he'll be back. This is going to go over great here - I can almost hear the Tards faithful now. Tomorrow promises to be an amusing day on the Team 1200. Hasek isn't letting on about just how bad it is - but he is being cautious and cagey in his answers...he's out for the long haul, Muckler has told him to keep quiet about it. I bet Mlakar calls up the Team tomorrow to discuss Hasek - it is so like him.

File this one under silly - to schedule a news conference for Hasek, without the GM there (Muckler is too busy in Florida - go figure). Something is up.


I THOUGHT HE COULD WALK ON WATER
Montreal Canadiens fans who have been calling for the Habs to bench or get rid of Jose Theodore are about to find out what life without him is going to be like. Theodore fractured a bone in his foot by, get this, walking down the icy steps of his home. A guy who makes a living on ice - breaks a bone in his foot walking down the stairs? I see a Patrice Brisebois deja vu - too bad Stephane Quintale isn't on the team to comment - never mind...it was funny when it happened.

Jose Theodore breaks his foot walking on frozen water - Jesus of Montreal is human after all. File this one under weird.


WHO THOUGHT SKIING COULD BE SO CONTROVERSIAL?
Have you followed the story of the now-former Austrian Ski Coach Walter Mayer? The long and short of it is - the Italian Police raid the Austrian Team's rooms, looking for evidence of doping. They coach (Mayer) tries to make a run for it back to Austria, is caught by police and is now in a psychiatric ward - just read it.

File this one under whacked - no explanation necessary.


That's about it for the Olympic segment of Weird and Whacked Wednesday (a day early). On a much more pleasant note - Champions League!

WHO'S YOUR DADDY?/ LITTLE BROTHER MY A$$!
Benfica of Lisbon beat Liverpool (aka Spanish National Team North) 2-1 in the first leg of the Round of 16 in Champions League play today. Benfica wasn't given much of a chance of winning the game today, with a couple of key injuries - but Anderson Luis da Silva's goal in the 84th minute sealed Liverpool's fate. The title reference?

Portugal seems to have England's number in international competitions - we just beat England...hence the "Who's your daddy?"

The little brother reference goes back to Euro 2004 when Portugal beat Spain - with the comment "Little brother beats big brother" - with Liverpool being Spanish National Team North...you get the point.

In tomorrow's action Portuguese National Team North (aka Chelsea) host Barcelona in what is sure to be the best matchup in the round of 16. Chelsea wins tomorrow 2-1.

Luis Figo leads Inter Milan into Amsterdam to play Ajax tomorrow. Draw 1 - 1.

That's about it for tonight. Have a great one peeps (if you are in New England, are you listening to Mike Adams' rant on Manny? Hysterical - he is about to have a coronary).

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

Song of the Night on Hazelspeeps - for Mike Adams and the Planet Mikey listeners who are up in arms with the news that Manny is reporting late.

Talk - Coldplay

Peesth Out!