Improved prognosis and ASS KICKING

Oh, thank the lord. I slept really well after my whinefest last night. A total of 11 hours sleep, and I feel slightly better today. Doc says it's just a really strong viral kick in the ass, that my lungs are clear, and since I have a history with pneumonia and bronchitis and asthma, I'm grateful for the news.

MEANWHILE...

I hate GayBoy! He's standing in a throng of about 19,000 Canadians at Vancouver's GM Place, where Canada has just taken the Gold Medal in the World Junior Hockey Tournament. Next to the Olympic team, this is about as good as it gets for hockey competitions. The Juniors are frickin' ferocious, and Canada's team had a perfect tournament -- not one loss.



They came in as underdogs to the Americans, who were favoured to win it all. End result? Americans didn't even get a medal. They lost to Finland, 4-2, who took the bronze. Russia lost to us, 5-0, and they're walking out with silver, and some clearly shattered hearts. Russia rightfully should've been on the scoring board, since they really did get a goal and should've been at 2-1 at the start of the second period, but the Juniors haven't got two goalies like the NHL does, so the goal went unspotted by a severely overworked referree who still deserves kudos for a job well done.

What an amazing game the Canadians played, though. GayBoy's been waiting for this game for two years -- having bought season tickets for Vancouver's Junior team the last two years running just so he could be in first place for tickets to 11 games in this tourney.

Anyone who's read me long knows I'm a passionate girl when it comes to anything Canadian, and hockey is right at the top of the list. If there's one good thing about being sick, it's that I've been able to stay home tonight (a night I'd normally be working) and take this game in. I'm the kinda gal who wells up with both tears and pride when my country takes home the big games. I've been to Game 7s in the Stanley Cup and saw the Canucks lose the Cup a couple years back, which broke my frickin' heart, but I've never seen a game of this magnitude in person.I wish I could've seen this one.

The Olympics are next, and I hope to catch every televised Canadian game played in Turino-2006. The biggest game for hype will be when we meet the Americans, and honestly, the only rivalry that ever compared is that of Canada-Russia back in the '70s and '80s. Now, Canadians really, really love to see our team kick ass on the Americans, and our Gold Medal Victory in year 2002 was just an incredible thing to witness, and stadiums across the country were filled with folks just like me and GayBoy who gathered en masse to watch the game live on the big screens. Nowadays, we respect our Russian opponents, but the Americans still take an awful lot of flack from our crowds. I honestly feel sorry for the kids who played in the Bronze medcal match against the Fins. Our crowd disrespected them, and that leaves me a little ashamed of their attitude. Ultimately, these are kids playing, and they don't deserve that kind of treatment. It's unfortunately more of a statement against American foreign policy than it is about a sport, so it's shitty when politics interferes with what should be a good, healthy sporting event.

But make no mistake, hockey IS our sport. There is no game like it, and I don't give a shit what sport you watch, nothing beats the excitement of a top-flight game of hockey. The only sport in the world where players change on the fly with play in progress, it's as hard-hitting, fast-paced, precise, complex, and dramatic as they come. Right now, downtown Vancouver is probably in an uproar, with horns honking, flags waving, and punks screaming in victory. Yeah, we take the game seriously.

In four years, the Olympics will land in my city. That Canadian hockey game will be something to behold. I can't wait for the excitement of the Olympics, and while some of my bleeding-heart friends lamented the Games coming here because they'd rather the money go to healthcare and the like, I know that the Olympics will bring money like we've never seen before. Vancouver's already one of the finest cities in the world, but it needs to take the next step, the step to international metropolis. We're already pretty much there, but there's just a few things lacking. It does sort of break my heart to see this city go from what it was when I was young to what it will be in five years, but it is what it is, and you can't hide from change.

One thing's for sure, this city sure as shit knows how to enjoy a hockey game, and this one was no exception.

I hate you, GayBoy. Grr.