| The U.S. men's hockey team was a disaster waiting to | | | | the bigger rinks in international play. As for the |
| happen.Most of them got stuck in a blizzard before the | | | | Canadians, I am still scratching my head with them. The |
| Games started. Several of them were over age 60. | | | | young players did not seem to have the passion and |
| And they had the combined mental toughness and | | | | drive that we are used to and it clearly showed in their |
| discipline of former FEMA Director Michael "Brownie" | | | | losses to the Swiss and to the Fins.Did the Daytona |
| Brown. That they went 1-4-1 in Turin is no surprise. | | | | 500 do any serious action? Was Jimmie Johnson's win |
| Keith Tkachuk embarrassed himself throughout the | | | | a (relatively) big victory for the books?GJ, BoDog.com: |
| tournament with worse hands than Daniel Day Lewis | | | | NASCAR does not generate the handle I would like to |
| in My Left Foot, and Mike Modano humiliated himself | | | | see due mostly to the unpredictability of the sport. In |
| complaining about his hotel arrangements afterward. | | | | football, if a receiver blows out his hamstring, the game |
| They were supposed to suck, and they did.But what | | | | goes on and the team still has a legitimate shot at |
| the heck happened to Canada? I called a repeat | | | | winning. In NASCAR, if Tony Stewart blows a tire, |
| Canadian gold in this very space a couple weeks ago, | | | | chances are it is over for him. The Daytona 500 had a |
| and, um, well, not so much. (You may remember, | | | | lot of wacky things happen that leads me to believe |
| however, I said that Russia and Finland were | | | | that NASCAR will just never be predictable enough in |
| dramatically underrated.) Typical of Team Maple Leaf's | | | | a single race to attract massive handle. As for Jimmie |
| frustrating tourney: the lone shot I saw of Wayne | | | | Johnson's tainted win (come on now, his car was |
| Gretzky during Canada's quarterfinal loss to Russia | | | | illegally modified), it was a favorable outcome for the |
| last Wednesday included Wayne standing in a suit | | | | books. I'm curious, though, what impact this controversy |
| coat and tie, spitting on the rink floor. I suppose that's | | | | will have on the action from here on in on Johnson in |
| better than a shot of him calling his bookie.Speaking of | | | | future races.I guess we got our answer by the |
| old: in retrospect, including Joe Sakic (36), Rob Blake | | | | Villanova hoops team; they leapfrogged UConn, and sit |
| (34) and Adam Foote (34) turned out to be a huge | | | | #2 behind Duke in this week's poll. How do you see |
| mistake. In such a compressed tourney, the fresh legs | | | | the Villanova at UConn game this weekend? What do |
| of, say, Sydney Crosby and/or Jason Spezza sure | | | | the books hope happens?GJ, BoDog.com: UConn will |
| would've looked nice wearing red. Joe Thornton was | | | | definitely be favored due to the home-court |
| an unmitigated disaster, Vincent Lecavalier got hurt, | | | | advantage, and because of the handle we usually |
| Rick Nash barely ever got a stick on the puck and on | | | | receive on the home favorites, I suspect we will be |
| the flight back home from Italy Chris Pronger just took | | | | once again big Villanova fans this weekend. As I |
| another penalty. And the Gretzky Gambling Debacle | | | | stated before, UConn is the better team and will be |
| certainly took a toll.Sure, the U.S. was awful. But frankly | | | | leapfrogging back ahead of 'Nova come Monday |
| they were awful on paper, and their best player literally | | | | morning.Last week I asked what college hoops team |
| was 44 years old. Canada, meanwhile, was obviously | | | | could come out of nowhere and stun folks while |
| the best team in this tournament, no question about it, | | | | getting to the Sweet 16. This week, I'm setting my |
| and they got shut out three times. Just amazing.There | | | | sights a little higher. If I had to pick one team that's |
| were indications (in this very space) that the Winter | | | | currently outside the AP Top 16 who could stun folks |
| Olympics would pretty much be a non-factor for | | | | and get to the Final Four, I'd say LSU. How about |
| sports betting. Has that been the case? Have people | | | | you?GJ, BoDog.com: LSU is once again a solid pick; |
| at least been able to get up for the ice hockey? What | | | | however, year after year I always tend to go back to |
| do you think of North America's struggles in this | | | | Michigan State. Izzo has this uncanny ability to get his |
| tournament?Greg Jorssen, BoDog.com: The Olympics | | | | team focused at the right time and this year is fielding |
| have been a non-factor, with the exception of the | | | | a team that is as talented as any team in the past. |
| hockey. We've realized decent handle on the games, | | | | Maurice Ager leads the team currently in scoring and |
| particularly the quarterfinal games. The games that | | | | his hot hand (when it is on) can easily lead the |
| have received the most handle of course involve the | | | | Spartans to the Final Four. With Shannon Brown |
| Americans. Unfortunately, most bettors believed that | | | | playing as well as he is right now and Paul Davis being |
| the Fins would win their quarterfinal game against the | | | | consistently a force night in and night out, they are my |
| U.S. The poor play of the Americans in the round | | | | team right now and one I will ride in my bracket pool |
| robins swayed bettors against them. Americans put | | | | this year!!!!!Christopher Harris is a featured writer for |
| together a very old team, which is not conducive to | | | | the Professional Handicappers League. |