It was not a game that decided a medal in the Olympic men’s hockey competition in Vancouver. What it did determine was which team qualified for a bye and a spot in the quarterfinals.

The U. S. scored its first victory over Canada in an Olympic men’s hockey match in 50 years on Sunday night. The 5 to 3 upset triumph was the Americans’ first in the last seven tries against their neighbors to the north since a 2-1 win in the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw Valley.

Goalie Miller makes save

U.S. goalie Ryan Miller stopped 42 shots as Canada outshot the winners, 45 to 23 overall, and 14 to 4 in the third period. Speed, discipline and determination seemed to be the difference in the game, not to mention goal-tending. Miller outplayed veteran Martin Brodeur.

The unexpected success came one day short of the 30th anniversary of the United States’ most memorable Olympic hockey conquest, 5 to 4 over the Soviet Union in the 1980 semifinals at Lake Placid, New York. America still had to defeat Finland to capture the gold medal which it did.

NBC has already admitted it anticipates losing $250 million on these Winter Olympics. The network is attempting to cut losses by running as many commercials as possible.

COMMERCIALS OUTWEIGH ACTION

By David Biderman
The Wall Street Journal

An analysis of NBC’s 3 1/2-hour program last Friday night showed that there were 56 minutes, 41 seconds of commercials over 24 breaks——that’s three more minutes than actual event action that was showed.

Ski jumping, which took up about 30 minutes of the broadcast, featured less than two minutes of action, compared with four minutes, 46 seconds of replays ( there was, on average, more than one replay per jump ). More than half the time during the compulsory-dancing segments showed action, but good luck getting into a rhythm watching the sport. A commercial break separated each routine.

Most televised sporting events have similar setups, including commercials every half-inning in baseball and eight TV timeouts in NBA games. A Wall Street Journal study last month showed that NFL broadcasts feature just 11 minutes of action.

The one hour, 40 minutes of the NBC broadcast that wasn’t action and commercials included more than 10 minutes of instant replays and more than 10 minutes of preprepared video packages. The blimps were hard at work too, offering 2 minutes, 18 seconds of aerial shots. And don’t forget NBC frontman Bob Costas, who was featured in solo shots and interviews for more than 17 minutes—–including two glimpses of his trademark on-set fireplace.

Here’s a breakdown of what was seen in one 3 1/2-hour broadcast of the Olympics.

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Last week, we discussed the possible expansion of the Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences, and the prestige and appeal the University of Texas would bring to those leagues.

There’s a followup to that story as reported Sunday by sports columnist Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City.

“The Big 12 Conference has been very, very good for the Univesity of Texas. Texas has been even better for the Big 12. As long as the Big 12 has Texas, the conference is fine. Missouri can go to the Big Ten. Colorado can go to the Pac-10. But if Texas remains, the Big 12 is stable. As long as you’ve got the engine, you can pick up spare tires along the way. And the engineer, Longhorn athletic director DeLoss Dodds, says UT is happy with the Big 12. Dodds said the Big 12 has worked “probably better” than he hoped when he helped put the league together 15 years ago. “It’s been good to us and for us,” Dodds said.
Dodds said Texas—or any other Big 12 school——being sought by other leagues is not a bad thing. “That’s a good thing, that people are wanting what we have,” Dodds said. Dodds said UT is married to the Big 12 and that won’ t change “unless something drastic happens.”

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An NBA observation

by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News:

“The Cavaliers established themselves as the team to beat, not just in the East, but for the championship in general. By adding Antawn Jamison, the Cavaliers have a frontcourt that easily neutralizes the edge the Lakers’ front three usually offer.”