Morning links, Day 16

The final full day of competition here. The final full day of morning links:

An essential read ahead of tomorrow's Canada-US men's hockey final: Michael Farber at SI.com takes a look at Brian Burke, dealing with the recent death of his son Brendan during these Olympics, "Man of his word":

The Olympics are an obligation, not an option, to the 54-year-old. As Team USA practices in a frigid community arena, Burke says, "Lincoln lost a son in the White House. So did Jefferson Davis in the Confederacy. They didn't go home. They finished the job. USA Hockey didn't ask me to do this on the basis of, Will you do this if your personal life allows it?"
Burke, a Civil War buff, does not mean to sound self-aggrandizing by comparing his situation with Lincoln's and Davis's. He just does. "There's not a shortage of ego to the man," says Mike Milbury, a former NHL player, coach and G.M., and Burke's friend of three decades.

In one of the more remarkable sports stories here, Norway's Marit Bjoergen goes for her fourth gold medal today in cross-country skiing - something no one has done before. But her rival, Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk, has accused Bjoergen of cheating. Kowalczyk has won three medals this Games, and was once cleared of a drug offence just before the Turin Games:

"She wouldn't have won without her medicine," Kowalczyk is quoted on the Polish website Wirtualna Polska. "Marit knows very well she wouldn't have much to show without her helpers, neither against me nor the other women."
Bjoergen uses medication to combat athletically induced asthma, medication that is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances. However, WADA has cleared Bjoergen to use the medication.

Here's Ron Wilson, behind the bench for the U.S. team and much to some Leafs fans' surprise, showing he can, you know, coach. From Damien Cox's early column yesterday:

"When you've got great goaltending, very mobile defencemen and skill up front, you just try to stay out of the way," Wilson, who coached the U.S. to victory in the 1996 World Cup, said after the resounding victory over the Finns.
Then he added, "I didn't come into the tournament to prove my coaching abilities."

Quote of the day, from Hayley Wickenheiser: "Get real. We were enjoying the moment. Things happen. Everybody just take a deep breath. Nobody on the team smokes. We are aware that it's not the image that we want to portray. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed."

And finally, Vancouver's English Bay lights have been illuminating the night sky during these Olympics. Vectorial Elevation is the installation that winds up tomorrow, so there's still time to enter your lights pattern from your computer at home. Check out Randy Risling's video for a lovely look-in.