how jeffrey james francis ircink sees the world
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Jeffrey James Ircink
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2:38 PM
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"I loved watching (Brett) Favre and I love watching Aaron Rodgers. Hank Aaron is known around the world. I'm honored to be included with them."
Posted by
Jeffrey James Ircink
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4:00 PM
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USA Bobsled I (or bobsleigh): Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler, Curtis Tomasevicz. First time in 62 years. Congratulations!
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Jeffrey James Ircink
at
7:58 PM
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Bill Demong - the first American gold in the history of the Nordic Combined.
And Johnny Spillane - silver in the Nordic Combined, his 3rd silver in these games.
Posted by
Jeffrey James Ircink
at
8:08 AM
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Finally...USA's Bode Miller captures his first gold ever, in the Men's Super Combined - his 3rd medal of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Posted by
Jeffrey James Ircink
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5:52 PM
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USA Olympic women's hockey team Angela Ruggiero was recently interviewed by the Daily News in Los Angeles. Ruggiero is one of the oldest members of the team, winning hockey gold in 1998 at Nagano, silver in 2002 at Salt Lake City and bronze in 2006 at Turin.
DN: "Is there any chance of you playing on the 2014 U.S. team?"
AR: "I don't want to pull a Brett Favre. I'm leaning toward no, but I'm not saying either way. I'll take it year by year. In 2006, I thought I'd retire, but all I needed was six months off and I felt rejuvenated. I'll keep training. But a lot of pieces have to come together."
I take offense (imagine that). First off, this chick's not in the same league as Brett Favre, though one could argue you can't fairly compare NFL football to Olympic women's hockey. And sure Brett has retired and unretired numerous times, driving the world (seemingly) and anti-Favre fans batty (not me). A more accurate statement from Ruggiero might have been:
AR: "I don't want to pull a Brett Favre or a Roger Clemens, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Junior Seau, Mario Lemieux, Reggie White, George Foreman, Lance Armstrong, Magic Johnson, Ryne Sandberg, or a Sugar Ray Leonard...". All athletes who've retired at least once - if not more times.
Then Ruggiero contradicts herself. "I'm leaning toward no, but I'm not saying either way. I'll take it year by year." Isn't that what Favre does? Didn't she just say she doesn't want to pull a "Favre"?
While representing the United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, Ruggiero made comments to Sports Illustrated website regarding the Canadian team's behavior during the preliminary round of the women's hockey tournament, for which she received some criticism: "I'm upset that Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation...There was no need for that. They're trying to pad their stats...Canada is running up the score for whatever reasons - personal, short-term."
When it comes to sporting events, it's my philosophy that - regardless if it's amateur (Olympics, but how "amateur" is it anymore?) or professional - you play to win and you score as many points as your opponent will allow you. Ruggiero graduated Cum Laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in Government, wrote a memoir on her hockey-playing experiences and was a contestant on The Apprentice. She's savvy enough to understand she should just keep quiet and play hockey.
Posted by
Jeffrey James Ircink
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2:56 PM
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If you don't wanna watch the entire video, go to the 7:00 mark for the final minute of play. I remember this like it was Wednesday. I was a sophomore in high school. How excited the country was. Mark Johnson, a member of that Olympic team who was raised in Madison, WI, is the head coach of this year's women's hockey team. They're supposed to be good.
The "Miracle on Ice" refers to the medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on February 22. The United States team, made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet team, 4-3, a team which was considered the best hockey team in the world. The US went on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland in their final match.
I wanted to put up a video of speedskater Eric Heiden but I couldn't find any videos that would post. He's the Wisconsin speedskater who won all five gold. Incredible athlete. Not sure but I don't think anyone has swept all five events in one olympics since (someone check that).
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Jeffrey James Ircink
at
5:00 AM
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USA - Evan Lysacek - Figure Skating/Men's. First time an American has won this event since Brian Boitano's gold medal win at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
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Jeffrey James Ircink
at
12:55 AM
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Congratulations to all the USA medal winners, thus far, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver! I believe my fondest winter olympic memories are from Lake Placid in 1980 - Speedskater Eric Heiden's (WI native) five gold medals and the Olympic Hockey team's magical gold medal run. Ahhh, youth! Take a look at 5 gold moments:
Lindsey Vonn - Alpine Skiing/Ladies' Downhill
Shani Davis - Men’s 1000m Speedskating (trained at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee)
Shaun White - Men’s Halfpipe (snowboarding)
Hannah Kearney - Freestyle Skiing/Ladies' Moguls
Seth Wescott - Men's Snowboard Cross
Julia Mancuso - Silver medal/Alpine Skiing - Ladies' Downhill. Julia "in" Olympic garb...
...and sans duds. SKOL FAVRE! SKOL VIKINGS!
Posted by
Jeffrey James Ircink
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4:13 PM
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