A Little Perfection And Lots Of The Opposite

Here's why the remote control is your friend: I was, naturally, watching the ridiculous first game of the Stanley Cup finals. During commercial breaks I had been switching over to the Phillies game and knew that the Phils had a 1-0 lead. I didn't know any further details because I only had been switching briefly. So when the first period came to an end, I decided to switch to the MLB Network, because they were showing a game between Colorado and Los Angeles. Strangely, they had the Comcast Sportsnet feed of the Phils-Marlins game. I thought maybe the other game was in a rain delay until the MLB Network studio host began talking over the sound from the game, saying that Roy Halladay had a perfect game through 7 innings. Needless to say, I watched the Phils from that point on, with the Flyers relegated to the DVR.

Watching Halladay retire the final six batters he faced, to finish off the perfect game -- second in Phillies history, only the 20th in baseball history (but the second this season) -- was truly exciting. We Phillies fans are so fortunate right now. It's not just the team success, the three straight NL East titles, back-to-back NL pennants, the World Series win in 2008. It's the amazing moments happening throughout. Jayson Werth's stealing second, third and home in one inning, to name just one example. Now there's a perfect game to add to the list. Incredible.

Now for the bad news:

USA Beats Canada: I Guess "Tarzan Boy" Works After All

In my previous post I made light of one of the choices on the pregame musical playlist of Patrick Kane from the USA Olympic Men's Hockey team (and the Chicago Blackhawks). "'Tarzan Boy'? Really?" I wrote. I find it hard to be inspired with lyrics like these:

Jungle life/We're living in the open
All alone/Like Tarzan Boy
Hide and seek/We play along while rushing
Cross the forest
Monkey business/On a sunny afternoon

But hey, that's just me. It seems to work for Patrick Kane. And the United States team came away tonight with a surprising 5-3 victory over Team Canada -- in Vancouver, making it essentially a road game for the USA -- in the final preliminary game of the Olympic hockey tournament. The USA hadn't beaten Canada in a game at the Olympics since 1960. That year, the USA went on to win a surprise gold medal at Squaw Valley. Twenty years later came the "Miracle on Ice" win over the powerful Soviet Union at Lake Placid that led to another gold.

It's now 50 and 30 years later, respectively, and although these Olympics aren't in the United States they are on the same continent, so perhaps Team USA is due, if not destined to win gold. The win over Canada certainly makes their path easier -- they get an extra day of rest before the quartefinals, while Canada will have to play Germany to get into the quarters, and then are likely to play Russia in the quarterfinal game. Thus, team USA will only have to face one of these two in order to win gold.

The Canadians outshot the Americans* 45-22 but USA goalie Ryan Miller was superb while Canada goalie Martin Brodeur was, well, not. Miller and the USA held on under relentless pressure after a Sidney Crosby goal got Canada within 4-3 with 3:09 left, until Ryan Kesler (at left) scored an empty-net goal with 45 seconds to go. (Ironically, Kesler plays for the Vancouver Canucks so he was a visiting player on his home ice, and Canucks fans have to be conflicted.) Watching those minutes between the Crosby and Kesler goals, I half-expected Canada to tie the game. It was that intense.

*Yes, I'm fully aware that Canadians are technically also Americans, since we're all part of North America.

The thing is, while there's still a talent gap between Canada and the USA, it's not as wide as it used to be. So this isn't like those 1980 and 1960 teams (especially with the NHL players involved). What team USA did tonight was limit their mistakes and capitalize on those made by Canada. Do that, and get quality goaltending as Miller provided, and any game is winnable. So tonight's win is a surprise, but not too much of one.

So team USA wins and I've made my peace with "Tarzan Boy" as inspiration, but I have no idea what the deal is with this picture of Kesler:

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 2-21-10

Just a few minutes away from the USA-Canada Olympic hockey game. Consider this a warm-up playlist, although not quite the same as Team USA's Patrick Kane. ("Tarzan Boy"? Really? I love the song but I don't know that it would be on my list of songs to get me psyched for a big game.)

40 Years Back/Come - Röyksopp
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Missing (CL McSpadden Unreleased Powerhouse Mix) - Everything But The Girl
Someday We'll Be Together - Diana Ross and the Supremes
Phone Sex (Do You Want Me Tonight?) - Sandra Bernhard
The Very Thought Of You - Lisa Stansfield
I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters
Anytime - Brian McKnight
Strangelove - Depeche Mode
A Fool Is Born Everyday - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
Brother, Brother - Carole King
The Lady's Got Potential - Antonio Banderas (Evita - Complete Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Love Foolosophy - Jamiroquai