Category: Sports

Korea’s For Real

Two things:

1. I live in Toronto, a very cosmopolitan city
2. Toronto is located in the Eastern time zone

Therefore, this morning at 5:30, I was wakened by the sound of car horns. Again. You see, with the World Cup taking place halfway across the world, the results are always celebrated a little early here. And since we have so many different cultures here, it really doesn’t matter who wins. There will always be a flotilla of automobiles, blaring their horns and waving flags. In this case, I’m less annoyed than usual. Korea have proven to be a plucky team, and I’m definitely rooting for them the rest of the way.

Raptors Season Ends

Just like every other Raptors fan this morning, I’m second-guessing Chris Childs’ decision to throw up a desperation shot with more than five seconds left in the game. But really, Childs was the only player who seemed like he really wanted the ball last night. It was a sloppy affair, and the fact that Toronto couldn’t capitalize on an invisible Jerry Stackhouse means they didn’t deserve to win. All in all, though, a respectable end to an almost disastrous season. Now I’m cheering for Dallas!

Hockey Gold!

As I write this, the symphony of car horns is almost deafening outside my window. Cars are cruising up and down every major street with Canadian flags fluttering in the breeze. This is about as patriotic as we get as a nation, celebrating a hockey victory. The game was exciting and much closer than the 5-2 final score would indicate. Tonight, it’s good to be a Canadian.

Women’s Hockey Gold/Ghost World

Now, I’m not much of a hockey fan. But I was proud of the way our women’s hockey team played tonight. Killing off 13 penalties called by the American referee (and forgive me here, but isn’t there supposed to be some semblance of impartiality in the appointment of referees, especially in the gold medal game?) and playing with incredible grit and determination, Canada took home gold. No offence to the US team, who were also amazing. I thought it was a really great game, and coming from me, that’s high praise. Now maybe it will light a fire under our flaccid men’s team…

The second half of my evening was spent finally sitting down to watch Ghost World, the DVD of which Brooke bought me more than a week ago. We hadn’t seen it in the theatre, but I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. As a fan of the comic book, I thought it was translated to the screen quite faithfully, and I thought Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi’s performances were wonderful. I’m crossing my fingers that it wins the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.