Olympic Retort, Part II

More notes from (my living room where the TV is tuned into the Games from) Torino:

-This page stands corrected from last week, as women's hockey is now three fingers competitive. NBC's Cammie Granato could barely choke down her bitterness during the Gold Medal game, accusing Canada of winning a "hollow victory" over a surprising Team Sweden. For those of you scoring at home, Granato was the same poor sport on the ice as she is in the broadcast booth. During the U.S. run to the inaugural women's hockey gold medal in 1998, 'Classy' Cammie scored a goal, then trash-talked a Canadian player who had recently lost her father with the words "Dedicate THAT to your Dad!" If Granato plans to be behind the mic for NBC in 2010, she might want to talk the network about getting dental...

-A few years ago, this page had the misfortune of being at the Santa Claus Parade in Calgary, where a mother was persistently chastising her children, Dakota, Nevada, and Sierra, for not behaving. This page is grateful to be long removed from a city where it's acceptable to name your children after sport utility vehicles. However, after the men's Skeleton competition, I'm hoping that Calgary's future parents consider giving their kids a name like 'Duff' - part firefighter, part champion daredevil, and one solid syllable. What's not to like?

-Much has been made about the Norwegian coach who handed a ski pole to Canada's Sara Renner after hers broke during the Women's Cross-Country Skiing Team Spring, in which Renner and Beckie Scott won a silver medal, and how this coach acted in the true Olympic spirit. Anyone who knows anything about the true (read: ancient) Olympic games can't help but snicker at such a notion. The 'true' Olympians tried to win at all costs in events such as the Pankration, where competitors boxed, wrestled, kicked, bit, choked, and killed (yes, killed) each other. By comparison, today's Ultimate Fighting is pretty much a day at the spa with the girls. If this Norwegian ski coach wanted to reflect the 'true' Olympic spirit, he would have used the ski pole to stab Renner enough times to give his team a shot at the podium.