The Circus

The good
In the end, it happened. The finish every Canadian (and a good many neutrals) was hoping for transpired when the men's ice hockey team took out the United States to win the glitteriest gold medal of any handed out at the Vancouver Winter Games.

That is not to be dismissive of the other world-beating efforts on display during the competition, but for the home nation – a country in the perpetual shadow of its southern neighbour – this was the one that mattered more than any other, perhaps more than anything else in Canada's sporting history.  

The scenes in the stadium and across the country following wunderkind Sidney Crosby's overtime goal were uproarious, but were they a sign of celebration or relief? Did Canada's fear of losing this seminal match outweigh its desire to win it?

Hockey is the national id, Canadian poet Richard Harrison once observed and certainly the national identity was uppermost in the mind of the Vancouver Sun when it opined that Crosby's OT shot had saved the country from a nervous breakdown.

Whatever. These games had the tragedy of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the bravery of Joannie Rochette and the artistry of Virtue and Moir. But Vancouver's defining moment came – as it was destined to – in the very last act.

Whether it caused greater relief than triumph for Canadians is a mute point – it still made everybody feel so good they even enjoyed Nickelback in the closing ceremony.

The bad
Canada was able to have a laugh at itself in yesterday's closing ceremony to the XXI Winter Olympic Games. "We are, after all, home to the funniest people on the planet" said the local press. And the Canadians proved it by putting Nickelback on the bill.

Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne and even William goddamn Shatner got a gig. So where the hell was Men Without Hats? WHERE? For shame that Olympic organisers did not see fit to include the geniuses who gave us The Safety Dance and . . . um . . .

Well, the lack of an obvious second hit did not stop MWH releasing a 'best of' album entitled: The Silver Collection. As the home nation set a new Winter Olympic record for gold medals won, perhaps the Hats' absence is understandable . . . a little bit. But just remember to dance. Because if your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance, then they're no friends of The Circus's.
 
The indecipherable
"The fans do not lose hope that piggy national team at the last day of competition still be added yet another award," say our good friends at IT Chuiko. And The Circus thinks they summed it up rather elegantly.

After all, "the main decoration of the Olympics will be the final game of hockey tournament in which teams come together Canada and the United States."

Who could argue with that?

A picture paints a thousand words
The future Mrs Michael Clark, Lara Bingle, is suing footballer and raconteur Brendan Fevola over a photo he allegedly took and distributed with his mobile phone. The Circus has seen the picture. It seems to show Ms Bingle on the cusp of uttering a swear word, but we don't think it was "bloody".

Numbers game
18 – points scored by Melbourne Storm against Leeds Rhinos in the World Cup Challenge match
10 – points scored by Leeds
2 – consecutive losses Leeds have had in the Challenge match
0 – qualms Leeds had about blaming its loss on match referee Richard Silverwood

Quotes of the day
"Great ones do that, and you never quite know why the chance ends up on their stick, but it does."
- The Vancouver Sun eloquently expresses the nature of greatness in sport after 22-year-old hockey star Sidney Crosby sealed his team's and country's hockey win with an overtime goal.

"It feels like shit."
- The man Crosby got past to score, US goalie Ryan Miller.

"A great player made a great play. I think both teams are winners, and maybe more than anything, hockey in general."
- US (and losing) coach Ron Wilson. A word of advice from The Circus, Ron: don't ever bother applying for any jobs in Australia.

Headline we'd like to read
Maxine McKew beats John Howard for ICC vice-president gig


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