Hail the Swedes!

And now that the love for the land of my paternal ancestors is out of the way, on to more important things:

Like the jerseys.

CasonBlog summed it all up pretty well--the Swift(tm) jerseys were pretty nasty. At first I didn't mind the Team Canada ones so much, but now that I've actually seen them in competition? Uhhh....no. They are bad, bad, all damn different KINDS of bad. That wouldn't necessarily preclude me from getting a Czech Republic Swift(tm) jersey with the Serene Master's name on it and framing it, but damned if I'd squeeze something like that over my jutting turrets.

And the Team USA jerseys? The dark ones? Gave me Vietnam flashbacks. I saw them and thought I was back in Da Nang getting shot in the ass by a sniper--oh wait, that was my father. But you get the picture. Give me the old-skool jerseys, like the ones the Swedes wore. Something with a little more to them than a "practice jersey" look. Something distinctive. Something with room to move, yanno?

What's next--the players all wear bodysuits like the speed skaters? That would up the beefcake factor a good bit for some of the more tele/photogenic blokes (which will probably gain more casual viewership from the ladies and the gay community), but the thought of somebody like that numbnut Mo Cheese (For the uninformed: he's the super-sized zhlub with plumber's butt that does a stupid dance in the stands at the Nexus of Evil errr Joe Louis Arena while wearing a Stanley Cup on his head) deciding to wear one of those just scares the piss out of me. There are some things that man was just not meant to know, and that's one of them.

*shudder*

The stars will never be right enough for that, kids. Ever.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Flyers captain Keith Primeau is expected to announce in about an hour that he's done for the season, after his latest concussion (which came to him courtesy of the Montreal Canadiens' Aleksandr Perezhogin way back in October). How many is this for him? Five? Six? Perhaps it'd be better for the guy to retire, for the sake of his health. I mean, at his age even next season is going to be iffy--it'd be better for him to retire, at this point.

And no, Flyers fans, I am not bitter about his holdout or anything--nor do I take any sides in the "who won the Primeau trade" debate. So you're more than welcome to spare me claims of jealousy or bitterness because you have Primeau and the 'Canes don't.

Prayers and best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery go out to Mario Lemieux, who underwent a cather ablation procedure yesterday to alleviate his cardiac arrhythmia.

A question for my Alberta readers: Does the WCLC have a lottery whose proceeds go to help support the Oilers and the Flames? Or am I on crack?

Now that the fiesta is over and the torch is extinguished, it's time to get back to work. Go Canes.