How I Crafted Like A Champion (or “A Peek Into The Demented Mind of Lady Bee”)

Can you guess what I made with this classic baby yarn?

It’s been a head-spinning 24 hours of breaking news: Forsberg’s retirement (*sniff!*), pitchers and catchers reporting (YES!) and Arcade Fire‘s tremendous Grammy win (OUI!). So dizzying that one needs to sit down, take stock, maybe do a little knitting to calm down.

While one of us Ladies… checks on Games Mistress to she how she’s faring through this Pujols drama (CAN’T YOU SEE YOU’RE KILLING HER, ALBERT?!), let me tell you how I made out in our Craft Like A Champion Challenge.

Won’t you let your red heart show?

Allow me (again) to bask in a little national pride for a moment.

Canadians spend a lot of time navel gazing and musing over the fact that we don’t wear our hearts on our sleeves much. We’re afraid of coming on a little too strong, and when we do, we apologize profusely.

I’m so glad that for a change, we let our flag wave often and proudly. We sported the red and white. We sang our anthem spontaneously. We celebrated with beer! We even came off as a bit obnoxious.

For once, Canadians need not apologize.

(Exception: the closing ceremonies music. Let me make this clear: most Canadians don’t like Nickelback. Here‘s an example of a band we should have had close the Vancouver games, which also explains the mystery behind the title of this post.)

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Games certainly had its ups and downs and fair share of criticism. There will be plenty of time for analysis in that regard. For now, let’s just bask in the glory of those record 14 gold medals, including one in…mens’ hockey!!

Forget Own The Podium. They Own Our Hearts.

Hayley Wickenheiser: OWNS IT!

Canada’s much-ballyhooed “Own The Podium” program to support its Olympic athletes has weathered tremendous criticism for falling short of expectations.

I can’t help but roll my eyes at all of this. You can’t build a development program overnight, and let’s face it: these athletes are obviously doing something right. Much was made of the fact that we had never won gold in Montreal or Calgary. Today, we have eight gold medals. And we still have curling and mens’ hockey to go!

Look, I never expect Canada to be overly dominant at any Olympics. The U.S. and various EU countries regularly kick our asses in the medal count: fact of life. We accept it. Remember, this is a nation that lost its Expos and hasn’t seen the Stanley Cup travel down Yonge Street since 1967. We’re used to not having it all in the sports realm. And that’s OK. We have a rich hockey history and public health care and we can boast that Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot (NOT DEAD!) all hail from here.

What was the point of this post? Oh yeah: CANADIAN OLYMPIANS WE LOVE, EH?

Holy Patriotism, Batman!

The Olympics can bring out the best and worst of one’s allegiances to their country.  I’ve never found myself hating on countries like Germany and South Korea in the past, but make them the USA’s latest competition, and I loathe them.  I’ve also encountered another sort of conundrum.  Being a huge hockey fan, I have allegiances to certain players because they play for my favorite team.  None of the players that I love play for Team USA.  Uh-oh!

So after the jump experience my patriotic conundrum. 

It’s MILLER TIME!!

USA! USA!

Apologies to our own Lady Bee in advance, but we’re not just talkin’ country pride here. We’re talkin’ hometown pride. That’s right – the Buffalo Sabres’ own RYAN MILLER is a force to be reckoned with, and that means you, Canada! 45 shots on goal is impressive and all, but Ry’s stopping 42 of them and helping Team USA on to a 5-3 win over Canada this past Sunday is even more impressive in my book. More after the jump on the, well, crap that my hometown hero had to go through leading up to that kick ass night.

Figure Skating Liveblog Bonanza

UPDATE: The link below should actually work, and in a non-mobile form. Sorry aout that.Assuming Miss Minda understands how to make this thingie work, we’re gonna liveblog this thing. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. (Which is French for “click that link right there.”)
Olympics and OMG JOHNNY WEIR

New heights in curling fashion

The figure skaters can’t have all the fun. Meet Team Norway.

Ladies…now with more liveblogging

If you follow us individually on Twitter, the past two days you’ll have witnessed a lot of snark flying around about figure skating.  Though it seems a bit out of character for some of us, it turns out there’s a lot of figure skaing love shamefully lurking beneath our sports fan facades.

That and a love for all things Johnny Weir have led us to live blog tonight’s men’s figure skating short program. Join us at 7pm CST as we liveblog tonight’s Olympic coverage for snark, sequins, sarcasam, skating and sass!

We’ll be using Cover It Live again, so check back here tonight and join in the conversation

Johnny Weir tonight! Not that NBC mentioned him…

A strange NBC promo made NO mention of the Fabulousity That Is Johnny Weir. As fans of La Weir, the Ladies will not stand for this snub.

Check out the promo, then vote in the poll below.

Leaving Weir out of Olympics promo:
(polls)

Live Blogging Women’s Hockey

I’ll be liveblogging the US Women’s Hockey game against Russia tomorrow at 4:30 pm over on UW Hockey Blog Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets.

I’ll be using Cover It Live, which is the program we used when we liveblogged the All-Star Game for Ladies… so you should be familiar with the program.

I believe this link will take you to the live blog when it goes live at about 4:15 pm tomorrow, but I’ll come back and update tomorrow to make sure.

Come check in with me if you’re at work and can’t watch the game or just to join in the discussion. Hopefully the game will be a little more exciting than yesterday’s rout.

Send in the clowns.

So if you’re following me on Twitter, you’ve discovered that I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with figure skating. (Okay, okay, that’s like saying John Mayer has an obsession with saying spectacularly stupid things in public.)

Given that I hate most girly aspects of sports (pink anything and everything, Ladies Nights, and the existence of Alyssa Milano’s Touch line, to start) like burning, some of the other Ladies…were mildly confused when I started shrieking about toe loops and salchows. I mean, it’s figure skating, right? I should like manly things, like the biathlon and moguls. I should frown on feathers and sequins and Dick Button.

But here’s the thing. I love figure skating. I loooooooove figure skating.

Vancouver is golden!

Winning at home is always sweetest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

It finally happened!

Canada didn’t win gold in 1976 in Montreal. We didn’t win gold in Calgary in 1988, either.

But tonight, in Vancouver, it happened.

Alexandre Bilodeau of Quebec – a toddler when Canada last hosted the Winter Games – is the nation’s newest Olympic hero as he captured gold in the Freestyle Skiing – Men’s Moguls competition. He also made a little history, becoming the first Canadian Olympian to win gold on home soil. Bilodeau beat the heavily favoured Dale Beggs-Smith (a Canuck, incidentally, competing for Australia) with a score of 26.75.  Team USA’s Bryon Wilson captured bronze in an impressive effort.

Bilodeau’s inspiration? His brother Fredric, who lives with cerebral palsy, and who was cheering for Alexandre harder than anyone else in the red-and-white clad crowd at Cypress Mountain. You can read about Alexandre and his brother here and watch their story “Source of strength” here.

I don’t think freestyle skiing has ever moved me to tears. Bravo Alexandre!

It’s the Sports Gods Valentine to you!

Surely you weren't expecting Schwartzenegger here! Vancouver Canucks legend Trevor Linden with the Torch earlier today (Photo Credit: Arlen Redekop)

This weekend is the sports equivalent of being handed a heart-shaped velvet box of decadent dark chocolates and not knowing whether to start nibbling on the dipped hazelnut or the coconut creme. But let’s face it – we deserve to be spoiled! Yes, there’s this party going on in Vancouver right now, but if you need something to keep you busy until the Pacific timezone catches up to, there’s lots to choose from.

Opening Ceremonies Bingo: Now With More Ski Jumping!

Four years later, this low tech illusion from Torino is still one of my favorite Olympic opening ceremonies segments ever:

After this last week, a good portion of North America is going to need some snowed-in activities this weekend. So in honor of the Vancouver Games’ impending opening on Friday, I give you an updated version of Olympic Opening Ceremonies Bingo!

Hump Day Hottie: Team USA

Since I’m snowed in today, I have snow on the brain.  And, as most of you know, I usually have hockey on the brain.  So why not show you a glimpse of some Team USA Hockey hotties?  So follow me after the jump for some hotties to watch for in the next coming weeks!

Ladies… Linkups: Your Pre-Super Bowl Edition

I would have loved to have had a Friday Foodie for you, but with my recent vacation, the two night classes I’ve been taking and the usual mama and work stuff it’s been too hard to find the time.

But you know who does it better anyway? The original author of our Football Foodie Fridays, The Starter Wife, who has been busily dishing out 14 days of delectable Super Bowl eats, including Sugar Pie. Sugar Pie! I didn’t know people outside of French Canada made this! Youpi!

Speaking of countdowns, Fack Youk has been counting down the days until spring training begins, pinstripe-style. If you love baseball history, check it out over your lunch break. It’s good reading!

The Ladies… also salute those who gave us a kind shout-out in the blogosphere in recent days, like Stumptown Magazine whose writers discuss everything Portland, Oregon. Like Rudy Fernandez.

We also thank the ladies at the funny and feminist Not My Gal for including ours among their My Gal Blogs of the Week. It’s where you’ll find an insightful piece on that ad. Regardless where you stand on the issue, check it out.

Mens’ hockey is fun to watch and all, but we’re really excited about womens’ Olympic hockey! CuteSports linked you to Team USA’s profiles a few days ago. Here’s where you can learn more about Team Canada. I wonder if it’s too late to order a Wickenheiser jersey for next weekend.

And now I give you stretching Saints…

(Reuters Photo)

Enjoy the game Sunday!

Hump Day Hockey

I’m jumping in here for a moment to bring you the recently released Olympic women’s hockey schedules for both Team USA and Team Canada.

The best part? They’re being fully televised!

(h/t to Badger Hockey Blog 60 Minutes)

Feb 13th: Canada vs Slovkia 7 PM (CNBC)
Feb 14th: USA vs China 2 PM (USA)
Feb 15th: Canada vs Switzerland 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 16th: USA vs Russia 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 17th: Canada vs Sweden 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 18th: USA vs Finland 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 22nd: Semis 2 PM (USA) & 7 PM (CNBC)
Feb 25th: Bronze 1 PM & Gold 5 PM both on MSNBC

all times are CST

NBC’s Olympic website also has some nice profiles of all the Women’s Team

I Was There…With Glowing Heart

Now that's hot!

Forgive us for the large buffet of tasty offerings just prior to Thanksgiving, but we’ve had so much to share today. Me? I was fortunate to have a real hottie come to my city tonight.