Welcome to Gold Medal Sunday. Hopefully you've checked out the site over the weekend and enjoyed some of our ridicule of our neighbors to the north. It's been fun putting it together, mainly because I don't actually know that many Canadians. I know they exist, I've encountered a few in my field research, but the specimen are rare.
So after Canada squeaked by Slovakia on Friday night, I fired off an e-mail to one of the dudes who runs Pension Plan Puppets, the SBN blog that covers the Toronto Maple Leafs. One of the two guys is Canadian (I think the other is from Puerto Rico, but don't quote me on that). The one from the Great White North either knows how to kiss some major ass or will be giving sexual favors for the rest of his life. PPP is going to the gold medal game at 2 p.m. CST. Knowing this, I had to fire off some questions for him.
Brad Lee: So I've seen tickets going for north of $4,000. That's a lot of Loonies. Even consider selling? Not even for some superior American healthcare?
PPP: We have better health care for free so the $4,000 would basically just go towards drinking more of our superior beer, travelling to some other of our cleaner and nice cities, or eating some of our naturally grown, HGH free steaks. No thoughts of selling them...at all. This IS the greatest game a Canadian could ever go see. (Editor's response: Can't wait for my postcard from scenic Winnipeg. And cows able to hit longer home runs produce tastier steaks. His loss.)
BL: Are you nervous? I would be nervous going to the game. Extremely nervous.
PPP: I am definitely nervous. I was at the US-Finland semi and while the US didn't come close to playing as well as Canada did against Russia or even Slovakia they are well drilled and extremely opportunistic. Plus, Ryan Miller is scary. (Editor's response: Well drilled. Ryan Miller is scary. I wish I would have asked for a breathalyzer before he hit the send button.)
BL: Is this the matchup you wanted so that America's attic could prove it's just as nice as the main floors?
PPP: Of course the attic is nicer than the main floors because it's not in the middle of being repossessed by the Chinese. Since Martin Brodeur gifted Canada's shoes the first meeting I've wanted a re-match. It was great to see Vince Vaughn and the crowd at the semi interested in a re-match. Hopefully it lives up to the hype. (Editor's response: Agree 100 percent with his last point. Canada-Russia last week was supposed to be the game of the tournament. Snoozefest, man. This is one of the most anticipated games in the sport in years.)
BL: Predictions for the game?
PPP: 5-2 Canada with two goals from Iginla and 1000 references to Salt Lake City. (Editor's response: Bartender, cut him off.)
BL: And say hypothetically Canada wins, how do you celebrate and please compare and contrast your answer with female Canadian hockey players.
PPP: I can't think of anything to do that the golden women didn't already do. They are great role models so I'll follow their example.
BL: Finally, say Canada loses. How long do you cry?
PPP: Hypotheticals are a waste of time.
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So what have we learned? First, Canadians totally blame Martin Brodeur for their initial loss to the Americans last week. Second, they might just be a tad overconfident.