Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:
Thanks Vancouver, the Games were a blast
If it wasn't magic from Sidney Crosby, what was it? A flick of the wrist from the world's best hockey player, the dreams of 33 million Canadians were made real and the Winter Olympics ended with the flourish they deserved.
El Sid, The Next One, Sid the Kid, #87 ... If anyone was going to find a way past Ryan Miller in overtime, and give Canada gold number 14, somehow you knew it was going to him.
The Games are over, after a closing ceremony full of deliciously funny Canadian self-deprecation. As chief organiser John Furlong said, the hockey win over the U.S. will live on for generations in Canada. For the rest of the world, I think the Games as a whole will be remembered pretty fondly too.
Here are a few things I will treasure from my time in Vancouver:
1. The warmth of the welcome from the people of this city blew me away. Vancouver is as laid back as a Californian snowboarder, and if I occasionally found myself spitting feathers at how it could take five minutes -- FIVE MINUTES -- to prepare a cup of coffee, or how two beers -- TWO BEERS -- could possibly cost 20 dollars, including two types of sales tax and tip, well, you know, that probably said more about me than The Couver.
from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:
Winter Olympics, day 15 — live
The final race of the Olympic Alpine skiing programme is underway, with Austria's Benjamin Raich among the favourites. There are seven medals in play on the penultimate day of competition in Vancouver, Whistler and Cypress and we'll be here for all of them, so please join us for expert commentary from our reporters on the spot.
from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:
Winter Games, day 11 — live
Canada v Germany in the hockey is the highlight of the Winter Olympics programme today, with the host nation facing a test of nerve in this sudden death play-off.
That's not all, though, folks, with the men's giant slalom in alpine skiing one of five medal events.
from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:
Olympics Hockey Super Sunday — live
We're running a live blog on the mouth-watering line up of hockey on Sunday, featuring Russia v Czech Republic in Group B, Canada v United States in Group A and Sweden v Finland in Group C.
We'll be talking hockey all day so please feel free to dip in. The fun starts Sunday. Early.
The playoff beard grows into a Stanley Cup tradition
One of the great Stanley Cup traditions is the “Playoff Beard” and with the post-season just underway, you can already tell who might not pick up a razor again until their run at the famous mug ends.
As hockey traditions go, the Playoff Beard is relatively new, the New York Islanders widely credited with starting the fad during the 1980s when they won four consecutive hair-raising Stanley Cups.
Sport on sub-continent threatened after attack on Sri Lanka cricketers
Scenes of bloodshed on the streets of Lahore after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team bus instantly ended any hopes Pakistan might have held of coaxing the cricketing world back to its grounds.
Repercussions from Tuesday’s incident that left six players wounded and five policemen dead may also be felt through the entire region for years to come (read our main report here and click here for reaction).
