On bets, BlackBerries and bobsleds

WHISTLER, B.C. -- Not that this really means who will win and lose, but before the women’s bobsleds began last night in the rainy gloom of the Whistler Sliding Centre, a guy looked up the betting odds, just for fun.

Lo and behold, the sled driven by Kallie Humphries is the favourite on Interbet betting sites at plus-$200, or 2 to 1. Germany;s Kathleen Martini is next at plus-$275, Sandra Keriasis is third choice at 3 to 1 and Canada’s Helen Upperton is fourth pick at 5 to 1.

For those thinking pucks, it was expensive to bet on Canada against Germany; Canada was 4½-goal favourite and even laying that many goals, you needed to lay $140 to win $100.

There is time to check things like odds on the hand-held whilst riding the buses around, from venue to venue. British Columbia apparently has different traffic laws from Ontario. Leaving Whistler Olympic Park, we sat on a bus for about 15 minutes waiting for the departure time. The instant he pulled out, the driver was on his BlackBerry, chatting away to whomever. Wouldn't that be illegal in Ontario?

Good thing these are not exactly those winding Alpine roads, like the ones in France. Back in ’92, the road up from Albertville was so twisty and sharp-cornered that a Toronto columnist with a fear of heights (not this one) lost his lunch on the bus to the point he had to change hotels from the one up the hill. And those same Games, the road to Les Saisies was so wild a ride, particularly coming down, that Dave Anderson, the terrific New York Times columnist, nicknamed the press bus “the 44-man bobsled.’’

We all survived.

Say, the hockey game just started and how about that first shot of Martin Brodeur sitting on the bench? He looked like he just found out the hard way that someone else farted.

Comments

[angel guerra]

Let's face it Crosby is no Gretzky or Lemieux and he certainly is not in the same league as Ovechkin. There is a desperate need in this country to have a Canadian superstar so we'll believe anything. We blame it all on his linemates. But the biggest roadblock to a Canadian medal has got to be Babcock. That move last night to replace Nash on the shootout is just one example how this guy is out of touch with this team. He showed no awareness of Brodeur's vulnerability to handling the puck on his left side. The Americans knew this an exploited Brodeur's puck handling with two goals. Good luck boys...