Team USA breaks medal count record, but the gold shines on Canada...

Team USA captured 37 medals at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia and in doing so now own the record for the most medals ever won by one country at the Games.

An outstanding performance from the Americans who walked away with nine gold medals during their stay in Vancouver. Despite the Americans overwhelming haul of hardware, it was the host team, Canada, that shined the brightest at the top of the podium, as the Canadians collected a record 14 gold medals and finished third in the overall count with 26 -- just four behind the Germans. Germany finished second in gold medals with 10. Norway came in fourth overall with 23 medals -- including nine gold, with most of those coming in Alpine and Cross Country skiing.

Canada closed out the two-week competition by capturing the gold today in Ice Hockey with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over a gutsy USA team. And now it's on to Russia in 2014. Can't wait...the Olympic flame shines bright.

Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young said it best during the closing ceremonies tonight when he sang a ballad entitled, Long May You Run.

Rain, rain go away...

What's up with all this rain?

It is the last day of February here in the Old Pueblo and it is still raining. I know we are spoiled, but this is bordering on ridiculous. We all have things to do. For instance, I've hit the baseball field five times this year, normally our old-timers' team would have at least 25 games on the books by now. We can only hope the days in March will be better. I'm starting to get cabin fever. I guess I shouldn't complain, the residents on the East Coast will spend the next two months shoveling snow off their driveways. It'll take them three months to find a ball field, much less play on one.

All kidding aside, it could be worse. I even tried to play golf with some buddies down in Benson last week at the San Pedro Golf Course. Instead of teeing off in 72-degree weather, the temperature gauge showed a cool 27 degrees.

Spring training gets underway in just four days. Rain, rain go away!

Congratulations to the USA four-man bobsled team...

Congratulations to the USA four-man bobsled team for its gold medal run today at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

It's been 62 years since the United States has garnered a gold medal in bobsledding. The four men -- Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz -- climbed aboard their bobsled named Night Train at 3,044 feet above sea level and dropped 472 vertical feet, while reaching speeds up to 95 mph in less than a minute on one of the fastest, most demanding and treacherous tracks in the world.

Tomasevicz, who hails from Selby, Nebraska, is on my blogging list and you can check out his blog at: www.selbyne.blogspot.com or google Curt's Olympic Blog. He goes into great detail on his experiences at the Winter Games in Vancouver. The effort by the four gentlemen gave Team USA its ninth gold medal of the games and its 36th overall.

Wildcat fans will be craving more from MoMo...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: I hope Sean Miller has had time to find a cardilogist. I know he's busy but he'd better head over to the University Medical Center and get logged in with a heart doctor.

His young Arizona Wildcats will certainly continue to make his heart go a little faster than normal. But I guess I shouldn't worry, he seems a lot more calmer on the sidelines than I am at home, on my couch, watching crazy things like MoMo Jones' buzzer-beater last night in Palo Alto.

After squandering two 11-point leads and with its senior point guard on the bench and out of gas, the Arizona Wildcats roared back to defeat the Stanford Cardinal, 71-69, to improve to 8-8 in the Pac-10 and 14-14 overall. Without the outstanding play of two freshmen, Derrick Williams and Mr. Jones, the Wildcats would have flown home to Tucson tonight with their tales between their legs. Instead, they come home with a new lease on life -- rejuvinated, and ready to tangle with UCLA and USC at McKale next week in their final two regular-season games.

Willams netted 24 points and came up with a gigantic block in the final seconds, while Jones scored a personal-best 16 points -- the final bucket coming at the buzzer, a shot that should make all the ESPN highlight reels later tonight. If there is one thing I would ask of Williams, it would be to please make your free throws! He missed four, but he made up for it with his inside play. The Cardinal did not have an answer for him under the basket.

 hanks, Derrick and MoMo for keeping are hopes alive for postseason play.

If you're looking for a team to cheer for during the NCAA tourney...try the Lobos

I've been searching for a team to root for during the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament, which gets underway on March 16. If the Arizona Wildcats can't make the dance then I need to find a team -- besides the California Golden Bears, of course -- to get behind.

  need to find one, otherwise it's going to be pure boredom. You can rest assured I won't pick a team from the Big East, the ACC, or any team from the middle of the country as well. So, let's look closer to home. For my fun pick, I've selected a team that is 27-3 on the season, a team that has won 13 games in a row and a team that's knocked off six ranked opponents, including California (I assume the Bears will finally get back into the Top-25 after their win over ASU today). That team is Steve Alford's New Mexico Lobos. The Lobos are on a roll and are fresh off a win this afternoon over 13-ranked Brigham Young University. The game was played in Provo -- a place were visiting teams seldom win. In fact, the Cougars were the proud owners of a 21-game home winning streak. Until today, that is.

The Lobos go into their final week of regular-season play with four players averaging in double figures, with a fifth player not too far behind. New Mexico, ranked 10th in the country, clinched the Mountain West Conference title (and a trip to the NCAA tourney) today with its win over BYU.

Remember them?

The Cougars (26-4) rolled over the Wildcats at McKale Center earlier in the year in a game Arizona fans would just as soon forget. BYU will head for the dance anyway, as will UNLV (22-7) and San Diego State (20-8), the third and fourth best teams in the Mountain West Conference. Of course, those are two more teams Arizona fans would just as soon forget. UNLV beat the Wildcats in double overtime back on Dec. 2 at McKale, while San Diego State took down Arizona Dec. 12 on the Aztecs' home court.

To be the top dog in the MWC this year is quite an accomplishment for Alford and his Lobos. Alford has certainly done great things in his three years at New Mexico and he just might have the team this year that could reach the sweet sixteen and possibly even further.

Well, I feel much better...I've found a team to root for.

What's an Arizona Wildcat basketball fan supposed to do in March?

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: What the heck is an Arizona Wildcat fan supposed to do in March without its basketball team to cheer on at the dance?

The streak is all but done, especially after the Wildcats' lopsided loss at California tonight. The 95-71 loss to the Golden Bears leaves the Wildcats with a dismal 13-14 overall record with three Pac-10 games remaining -- which in all likelihood means no NCAA tourney and probably no NIT tourney as well.

Just one slim hope still dangling -- win the Pac-10 tournament and shock the college basketball world with an automatic bid to the big dance. As for me (and I'm not the only one), it has been a quarter of a century that I have sat in front of a TV and watched my beloved 'Cats participate in the NCAA tourney.

So, what do I do?

Buy up some spring training tickets, I guess. That would be a good idea, considering this will be the final dance for that event as well. Go fishing. Go hunting. No! Chances are, I'll end up on my sofa, turn on my Vizio and watch the NCAA basketball tournament anyway, just like I've done ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I'll probably shake my head a few times...still not able to comprehend the fact my Wildcats aren't there...among the 64 best teams in the land.

Risk taker gets it done at Cypress Mountain...

How many of us take risks and are awarded for our efforts?

And to go a little bit further, how many of us take a risk and go for it all when we're 50 feet above the earth on a set of skis forced to do a thing called a 'Hurricane' and then land on a dime on a snow-packed surface?

Not too many, I would think.

In fact, I can think of only one. His name: Jeret "Speedy" Peterson. On his final jump, the gusty USA Olympian did what the other 23 contenders couldn't do at Cypress Mountain last night and that was to rocket off a snow-covered ramp, go straight up in the air, do three somersaults and five twists -- all within three and half seconds, and then land on his feet with his hands held high in the air and a big smile on his face. That's exactly what Peterson accomplished.

The payoff: A silver medal for him and the United States at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. Peterson's performance at the Men's Aerials event helped Team USA lengthen its lead over Germany in the overall medal count. The USA has 32 medals -- six ahead of Germany. Norway is in third with 19 medals, while host Canada is fourth with 17, as all the Olympians head into the final two days of competition.