Always Enjoyable Giant Inflatable Beaver

I've been in a haze of Olympics the past few weeks, which explains the lack of posting. First, a few thoughts on that.

The British press calling Vancouver's games the worst ever was kind of amusing. It was three days in. It rained. Yes, that's right, the English were complaining about the bad weather. And then the Russians climbed aboard, and hated on us a bit more.

I found the Russian site Pravda's concern over the Georgian athlete rich coming from a country that just had a war with his people. Luge is a dangerous sport and this could have easily happened at any of the tracks. All of the athletes are aware of the risk. This track was approved by the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation, and doesn't really have much to do with the VOC or the Canadian gov't. So calling the country unfit to host international events is a bit much.

The VOC doesn't decide the skating results. If they did, Patrick Chan would have won a medal. And Elvis Stojko has been one of Plushenko's most vocal supporters. And also a Canadian. The whole discussion of sport vs art in that event (sports and arts being my passions) is very interesting to me. But perhaps not to you, so moving on.

All of this from Russia and also from the UK just sounds like they are overly critical of Vancouver almost as a pre-defense of their upcoming role as hosts.

The incomparable Jeff Blair wrote some of my favourite bits on the games, the best being the one on the luge and

Nodar Kumaritashvili. The bit about the rice krispie square was both strange and very endearing.

All in all, beyond the swell of pride that was so well articulated by Stephen Brunt (yes, it does indeed feel good to let your heart show) it was really fantastic to see so many sports showcased. The sliding sports and the short track speed skating are seriously exciting. Not that I minded the completely insane overtime goal. Seriously, Sidney, you are so forgiven for losing all those faceoffs in your own end. Speaking of, that's Russell Martin celebrating the win at the Dodger camp. The look on the other guy's face is the best part.

Also, Tessa Virtue's brother used to play baseball with my brother. And Christine Nesbitt went to my high school. So that means I am directly responsible for two of the fourteen golds. You're welcome.

So, now that I have that out of the way, on to the Jays.

As I have long suspected, it is a really bad idea to make buddies with AJ Burnett. Jose Molina learned that lesson the hard way. Molina became Burnett's personal catcher when Burnett's delicateness and Posada's ears rubbed each other the wrong way. George, with his superior bat, took exception and now Molina is a Jay. Poor thing.

I kid.

Browsing through the spring training pictures, I realized I didn't recognize that many of the guys. Honestly, it was a bit disturbing. As was this:

I'm not the only one who can't stop talking about him. His ghost haunts the Jays camp. McGowan, Tallet and Marcum were all looking for him at camp at 6 am. I'm ready for the snow to melt and for spring to get here.