Canuck

  Wednesday, 13 February 2002

 < 10:37:22 PM>.

Canada's our name, curling's our game. USA Today Feb 13 2002 0:03AM ET [Moreover - moreover...]"the athleticism required at the amateur level doesn't interfere with your consumption of beer."

Another ode to curling. A little too coying but there are some funny lines in here.

< 9:49:18 PM>.

Ari Ben-Menashe, president of Dickens & Madson, said today he planted a hidden camera in his office and taped opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai asking the company on Dec. 4 to "organize" Mugabe's assassination and a coup d'etat "as soon as possible."

"He was very, very specific about eliminating the president and doing a coup d'etat," Ben-Menashe said in an interview.

 < 8:23:43 PM>.

Salon.com News | Skategate"I kind of forget about this every four years, but I love curling. I have no idea why. There's nothing about the playing of the game that interests me particularly, but it's somehow hypnotic. Compared to curling, bowling is like a flamethrower fight between naked movie stars on motorcycles, but there's just something about curling's deliberate pace, its simplicity, its regular guy and gal competitors, its buffoonish spectacle of frantic sweeping, that tickles me somehow. I can watch curling all day long"

OK. I've decided that this is the proper place to come for Olympic coverage. This guy is brilliant. Right in sync with my own thinking. But he's much funnier! I was going to quote a pile of stuff about the skating controversy (they wuz robbed) but couldn't resist this.

< 6:41:51 PM>.

A former figure skater and judge weighs in.

< 12:49:10 PM>.

Front page, top story in the Globe today.

< 12:44:09 PM>.

< 1:11:11 AM>.

Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese and Polish judges all felt Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze[base ']s free skate was the best. The Canadian, American, Japanese and German judges preferred Sale and Pelletier.

The deciding French vote went to the Russian skaters.

The French judge, according to Eisler and former Canadian pairs champion Kris Wirtz, sided with the bloc in order to curry favour with the most powerful judges during the ice dancing competition. The French couple of Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat are among the top contenders in that event."

Pretty shocking stuff.