another sam chan: the student blogger

After watching the 6-0 season opener by the Canucks vs the Flames, one has to be amped for the season. Here are my predictions:

Western Conference:
1. Detroit
2. San Jose
3. Vancouver
4. Anaheim
5. Chicago
6. Dallas
7. Calgary
8. Edmonton

9. Phoenix
10. Minnesota
11. Columbus
12. Nashville
13. Colorado
14. St. Louis
15. L.A.

Eastern Conference:
1. New York Rangers
2. Montreal
3. Washington
4. Pittsburgh
5. Philadelphia
6. Ottawa
7. New Jersey
8. Tampa Bay

9. Boston
10. Buffalo
11. Carolina
12. Atlanta
13. Florida
14. Toronto
15. New York Islanders

Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton are basically interchangeable in my opinion, so I got to give the hometown a nod up. Lets see yours!

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I’m not gonna front, I haven’t thought much about blogging the last week or so and it’s not because I’m lazy (oh yes it is). But the truth is, for the last 2 weeks, I’ve been completely glued to Olympics on the tv and online. My sleeping hours have generally fallen between 7am and 12pm. Even as I write, half my screen is covered with Argentina flopping against the US in men’s basketball. It’s been even rougher on me than back when I had a job. Now, while I am a big sports guy, I don’t intend for this blog to turn into some sort of random sports chatter, although you’re more than welcome to do so in the comments section. That’s because I can do that for free at niketalk and a billion other forums. However, I am memorized by how attractive this Olympics has been to everybody and I’ve come to the conclusion that it actually isn’t about sports.

From Michael Phelps to Usain Bolt to the supposedly 14 year old Chinese gymnasts, the Beijing games have provided plenty of flare, excitement, and newsworthy items. For the record, I have no idea why the US coaches would be whining that the Chinese gymnasts are too young. I mean, losing already sucks but crying foul because you lost to somebody younger than you? Where I come from, older people are supposed to have the advantage at all things except finger painting. But I digress….

Anyways, the key is what hasn’t been mentioned. Take a look at the medal standings: USA and China have dominated and grabbed most of the headlines for one reason or another. But what’s going on with the red, white, and blue today? Last I checked, they’re still in a war that many don’t really know what for. Something about the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. As for China? It just survived one of the most deadly earthquakes that left over 68,000 dead and has rebounded its morale swiftly. In a day and age where what’s considered news is 90 percent about people dying and 10 percent about the dead, the games have been a complete 180. Forgotten are Britney Spears latest haircut or who’s pregnant and or divorced. Hidden in the black and white pages is Bernie Mac’s sudden death. Instead, the news has been filled of success stories about athletes and their journeys to make it to the top. They talk about Michael Phelps troubled childhood and the rebound of a re-dedicated US basketball team.

So this is what these Beijing Games are about. For a brief period of time, people can momentarily forget about the difficulties of life, put away their swords and come together to witness healthy competition from athletes who have proven that with hard work and dedication, dreams can become a reality. The athletes are even saying all the right things: that they are what they are, athletes in a competition, and not politicians. Even as athletes from different countries compete against one another, they share a mutual respect for the fact they have all taken long journeys to get there. The attraction is so great that it is enough to get the US and Chinese president together to watch a meaningless basketball game where the results were determined before basketball was even invented. As the games start to conclude, there is a tinge of sadness in me because I know that once the games over, life’s troubles will resume. We will no longer get to feel the joy Bolt had when he won the 100m sprint or share the feeling Phelps had when he finally got his 8th gold medal. Not even vicariously. Our lives will go back to the way it was: the rain, the chores, and the stress. Take advantage of the last few days because we’ll go back to protesting against China and Burma soon. The Beijing games have been an absolute success. Let’s hope Vancouver 2010 can be even better. I wouldn’t bank on it, but after all, the current games were made in China.

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It’s hard to imagine Michael Phelps as an underdog. For those that don’t know, some quick wikipeding will tell you that he currently holds 6 world record times in Men’s Swimming. He is arguably the best (most gifted and talented didn’t seem to cut it) athlete in the world today and aspires to break former US swimming great Mark Spitz’s record of 7 Olympic Gold Medals. Only the best of the best get Olympic gold. Check it out: athletes such as Wayne Gretzky, Babe Ruth, and Wilt Chamberlain don’t own one – this guy wants 8 more after winning 6 in Athens four years ago. However, France had proven to be the favourites in the 4x100m Men’s Freestyle Relay, boasting swimmers who’s names are only paid attention to by those who follow the sport. All that you, as a casual reader need to know is that France not only boasted the World Record Holder Alain Bernard for the Individual 100m (4 laps in your community pool, 2 laps in an olympic sized pool) Freestyle, he also had this to say prior to the races:

“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for, I’ll start my Games in the 4×100 metres freestyle relay final, confident that my pals will have qualified easily. If the relay goes according to plans, than we’ll be on a roll.”

While the French were big talkers, they were not without skills to back it up and were the heavy favourites with three sprinters on the team. As amazing as Phelps can be, he cannot be four people. However, this blog is not about Michael Phelps. In fact, this isn’t even about swimming or the United States. This is about resilience and will power. This is what the Olympics are all about.

At 32 and past the prime age of average swimmers, Jason Lezak (Jay-suhn Lay-see-ak for many Chinese) has suddenly become the sound coming out of millions of mouths. Starting almost a full body length behind Frenchman and WR holder Alain Bernard, he front-crawled all the back to finger tip past him for the Gold Medal, World Record, and respect of the world. It seemed impossible and looked even worse as Lezak played catchup to the closest thing we have on earth to a 6’5 human fish. He never gave up hope, even when many others did, and was rewarded with defying the laws of physics and an unofficial world record at 46.06 – almost half a second faster than anybody else, ever. Look no further than the sheer joy on Michael Phelps face. He is ecstatic because he knows that this isn’t about him. This is greater than him (and he’s pretty great). This is the inspiration for anybody who wanted something more than anything else and succeeded out of pure will. The Olympics are important for the world because they show that it is not always the famous, the talented, the richest that win – it is those who show the most heart.

As for my mother country, Canada? Well, Brent Hayden certainly showed heart when he gave up his own individual race to focus on the same medley as Phelps, Bernard, and Lezak. The lead off man on the race, he had his own personal best at 47.56 – a mere .05 behind Phelps and tapped in at 3rd. However, the rest of the team did not make good use of his sacrifice, finishing 6th in the race. After three days, Canada has accumulated the same amount of medals in Beijing as the number of medals sitting in my closet: zero.

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I stayed up a little late (or early, depending on how you look at it) working on a submission for the Canucks.com blog contest. I realize I forgot to mention how amped I am about Steve Bernier. Well, if anybody from the Canucks is looking right now, STEVE BERNIER STEVE BERNIER STEVE BERNIER STEVE BERNIER . Check out the video of his first game in Buffalo. Wow, this guy has great hands. Check out that backhand pass. Let’s hope his first game back in the West will be even better. I really do believe he’s the second coming of Bertuzzi, minus the sucker punch. Just waiting on the ‘next Naslund’ now.

Sigh. Like most, I’m getting tired of the whole Mats Sundin thing, even to the point where I don’t really care anymore. I mean, sure he’s good, but he seriously is holding up the entire league. That, and that’s all Ek ever talks about anymore. I need some new stuff to read. The “soft deadline” is a sweet idea though. Next semester I’m gonna ask every prof if the due dates they give are soft deadlines.Anyways, here’s my submission:

There has been a wrenching feeling in my stomach the last few months. After a season which ended in a 7-1 loss to our playoff bound arch rivals, we lost our top two all time leading scorers and any remains of our West Coast Express line. Even though I’m overcome by grief, I still can’t help but feel excited for the upcoming season. Why? it’s actually quite simple:

Loss
Nobody likes the way we ended last season. The ones who were there last season have a sour taste in their mouth, I know I do. Sometimes, one has to fall to the bottom in order to rise to the top. I took some time off reading Canucks rumors to watch the Dark Knight the other night, The movie captured the humane side of Batman really well. Despite having all the money in the world, he felt pain, loss, and sometimes, he failed. However, that made him that much stronger. The same can be applied to our beloved Canucks. We felt lots of pain on our blueline. We suffered the tragic loss of Luc Bourdon. And, let’s not doubt ourselves; last year we failed, miserably. Ironically, that gives us more reason than ever to pay attention as we ice our most determined team yet.

Change
Any regular sports fan will tell you that one of the most exciting aspects of professional sports are trades. Trades provide a breath of fresh air and new hope. Like many others, I grew up following Trevor Linden and Markus Naslund religiously. Their class was always second to none and I always respected their attitudes on and off the ice. However, with the recent transactions like Darcy Hordichuk and Ryan Johnson, it is evident that we’ve decided to go with a different route: a team based on grit. As a longtime fan, this is new. Imagine a whole team of Burrows.

Youth
Youngsters like Mason Raymond, Ryan Shannon,, and Alex Edner have shown that they can be regulars on the team and Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieska are going to take larger roles in the dressing room. Remember all those times we were told to be patient and wait? This is what we were waiting for.

And there you go. Hey look, I haven’t even talked about that #13 guy! I will end off with one more reason though, but this reason warrants no further explanation:

we have Luongo.

Feel free to drop me a comment on how I did, and what I shoulda, coulda, woulda done. If you like what you’re reading, go ahead and share it with others! I also apologize for any random changes to the layout and look of this blog through out the next bit. I’m still in constant beta while I find something that is pleasing to your eyes.

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Roberto Luongo just hasn’t been good enough. I have to agree with Alain Vigneault. Our best player needs to play his best and that’s the only way the Canucks will ever get anywhere. Now that the season is officially over, let’s take a look at his stats.

0 goals in 73 games? Vancouver’s best player? Are we freaking kidding? That’s worse than Alexandre Diagle and Steve McCarthy! Okay, maybe not Alexandre Diagle who’s moved on to greener pastures. Oh wait, Luongo’s a goalie, he gets paid to stop goals, not score them. Silly me. Wait, somebody explain something to me. Has anybody ever won a hockey game by stopping goals? Has anybody ever made the playoffs by stopping goals? As Mr. Woodcock would say:

Rhetorical

I’m not a hockey player by any means (google: asian, small, and protective parents as child) but I find myself always relating hockey (and most sports really) to life. I fully understand (or so I think) the concept behind putting a defense first system in a game. The idea is that when you have solidified your own end, no matter who you are playing against, you are in control because they have come into your house. It is a very logical concept and is used by many people in many different formations. There’s only one problem with this conservative method, its a vote of non confidence in your team. By choosing to defend first, you are electing to let the other team attack you. Even metal thins after you bang on it with a hammer. This is not a case of iron sharpening iron, it is a case of rubber puck versus human wall. Eventually, the wall will break. In choosing to attack first, you must be so confident in your attack that the other team has to run back and literally have no time to even THINK about touching your house. In the same way, many people spend their lives defense first. They buy backup after backup, you know, in case stuff. Why buy a 5 pack of pencils? In case the first 4 break. Why buy vitamins? In case you get sick. Take chances, attack, score goals, its the only way you’ll win because otherwise, the best case scenario if you have a freak like Luongo to protect your house is 0-0. But even Luongo needs to take a break sometimes.

On a somewhat similar (lies, the only thing similar is the stupid hockey theme) topic, The after hours on the radio after the Edmonton/Vancouver game talked about a pretty interesting topic: Where does heart (in a hockey team, for those that don’t watch hockey and have been lost throughout this entire rant) come from? Both broadcasters seem to agree that it comes from leadership. When the leader pours his heart and passion out, the rest of the team follows. When the only guy without pads on who pours his heart and soul out is Alex Burrows, you’ve got a problem. Let me just say I love Markus Naslund. (not in a I want to bed him way). He’s a complete (cliche coming…wait for it) class act on and off the ice and the type of guy I’d want my kids (or somebody I don’t hate’s kids) to look up to. You’ll never catch him spearing or spitting on somebody. In fact, you can’t even catch him blaming Steve Moore for his injury all those years ago…which ultimately led to the demise of Todd Bertuzzi and Vancouver’s best chance at a championship since 1994. However, does he have heart? You take a look at the the difference between Naslund’s interview and Luongo’s interview after the Edmonton game. Luongo was holding back tears, throwing out frustration, anger, sarcasm and was generally a nasty guy to talk to. Naslund looked glummy and threw out the “we have to blame ourselves, we’re really disappointed, blah blah blah” Newspapers will jump all over this and continue to say that Naslund has no heart, check out Luongo in tears, etc. etc. etc. While its no doubt that Luongo cared so much to be in tears, does having heart give you the right to be a jerk? Does being polite and throwing out “disappointment” cliches mean you don’t care? While I don’t mean to defend Naslund, it’s pathetic that you have to be pissed off and tear up to show you give a damn.

Considering I have a considerable amount of papers left to right, it makes no sense that I spend an hour’s worth writing 700+ words on here. However, without crying, swearing, or giving you attitude, the time spent should show you how much I care about this blog, knowing full well that since university students are on the brisk of exams, procrastination is on full bloom and I will take advantage of that in order to gain more views and achieve world domination.

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