Sports Illustrated put out this list of what it believes to be the Top 20 all-time sportscasters. Some of these guys are before my time, but unfortunately, most of them are not. Anyway, here is the list and a snappy comment or two, as well as who they missed and who I’m glad is not on here:

1. Jim McKay—The Bob Costas of his time. McKay hosted ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” as well as The Olympics. It’s hard to argue with putting him on top here, but it’s also easy to argue for a few of these others to be #1.

2. Vin Scully—If I hear ol’ Vin doing a game on TV, and with the MLB package it’s nice to still hear him doing Dodgers’ games, I don’t care who is playing….I stop and watch, and listen. It’s just comforting to hear the guy’s voice, which was made for broadcasting baseball.

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Yes, after Zach Parise of the United States tied the game at 2-2 with 24 seconds left in regulation, Sidney Crosby scored in overtime, securing the gold more Canada.

But you already know this. You watched the damn game. Everyone watched. But perhaps someone you know went with the Lakers taking on the Nuggets instead. That person will never like hockey or appreciate the thrill an Olympics can create.

The Americans were not supposed to medal; some of the players even had to cancel flights they had previously booked in preparation for a quick elimination. Nevertheless, they went out there and authoritatively beat a couple teams that were supposedly more talented — teams like Canada.

One couldn’t ask for a better hockey game. While the feeling of dejection produced by Crosby’s finisher will linger for some time, the rush of excitement that followed Parise’s goal is proof of why I love sports.

I hope you all enjoyed the game. I know I did. Now start watching the NHL again.

An impressive run for the USA hockey team fell short at this year’s Winter Olympics, as the Americans lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime in Sunday’s gold medal round. Sidney Crosby beat Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime to allow the Canadians to become the first host nation in 30 years to win the gold medal in men’s hockey.

The win certainly didn’t come easy for Canada, however, which led 2-1 for most of the game.

After pulling goalie Ryan Miller late in the third period, Jamie Langenbrunner redirected a Patrick Kane wrister off Roberto Luongo’s body and Zach Parise gathered up the rebound and snuck it past Luongo to tie the game with just 24.4 seconds remaining. But after seizing the momentum thanks to the thrilling goal, USA couldn’t get the job done in overtime and the heavily favored Canadians (who were 1/2 to win the tournament at the start of the Winter Games) seized the gold.

Even though they lost, USA’s push for the gold was arguably the most exciting part of the Winter Olympics. It would have been nice to see them go undefeated and complete the underdog story, but there’s no shame in beating Canada once and nearly knocking them off on their home ice in the finals. Gold would have been fine, but there’s a lot of pride for USA in taking home the silver.

Now this is how I always envisioned Olympic ice skating:

(Deadspin)

The hockey teams for USA and Canada both won in the semi-finals round last night in Vancouver and will now play for the Winter Olympic Gold medal on Sunday.

From the Washington Times:

The United States is the only unbeaten team in this year’s tournament, having outscored their opponents 22-6 in five straight wins — the longest an American team has gone without a loss or tie in an Olympic tournament since the 1960 squad.

Few people expected this kind of success out of this particular squad, as unlike some of the other teams in the tournament, the U.S. has only three players with previous Olympic experience, and had to rely on its young talent like Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane.

But standing in the way of perfection and the gold medal is the host Canadians, who were heavy favorites coming into the tournament and feature three Hart Trophy winners on their talent-laden roster.

The theme of this year’s gold-medal game is also one of revenge, as the two neighbors have supplanted Russia as each other’s top rival in the past decade. The U.S. and Canada now have met in two of the last three Olympic finals — not to mention splitting the last seven World Junior Championship titles.

Personally, the hockey tournament has been the most exciting part of this year’s Olympics and I love USA’s story. While it wouldn’t quite be another miracle on ice, watching Team USA spoil Canada’s run at a gold medal would highly entertaining.

Canada defeated the United States 2-0 to win their third-straight women’s hockey gold medal at the Olympics.

From ESPN.com:

Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals and Shannon Szabados made 28 saves Thursday before a raucous crowd ringing cowbells and waving thousands of maple leaf flags.

After Poulin’s two first-period scores, the Canadians dominated every aspect of the biggest game in this young sport, earning their 15th straight Olympic victory.

Playing with a consistency and passion its men’s team would do well to emulate this weekend, Canada remained unbeaten at the Olympics since 1998, when the Americans won the first women’s gold.

The Canadians kept nearly the entire game in the Americans’ end — outpassing, outshooting and simply outworking the only team in women’s hockey with a chance of standing up to them.

I didn’t even know the U.S. team made it to the gold-medal game. I guess the win would have been nice since chances are dwindling.

Goalie Roberto Luongo stopped 25 of 28 shots to lead Canada to a surprising 7-3 victory over Russia in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

From the Washington Post:

They weren’t kidding around. Team Canada, so rattled after losing to the United States in pool play Sunday, pole-axed the talented Russians, 7-3, in a quarterfinal game Wednesday evening at Canada Hockey Place. The Canadians will face the winner of Wednesday night’s late game between Slovakia and Sweden in the semifinals Friday.

What all of Canada had built into an Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby matchup — the red-clad, hockey-mad fans gave the arena the look of Verizon Center during a Caps-Penguins playoff game — instead turned into an eye-averting onslaught. Ovechkin was certainly a focal point, both for the crowd, which booed him during introductions and every chance it got, and for the Canadians, who hit him so hard and so often that Ted Leonsis probably had difficulty getting out of bed this morning. But neither of them had a point.

Not only were the Canadian goals plentiful, despite the Crosby drought, but some of them were works of art, tremendous displays of teamwork and crisp passing and anticipation. That isn’t always the case in Olympic play, where teams usually get only one or two practices before pool play begins.

One more win for USA and Canada and the greatest rematch known to man will commence.

All right, so it wouldn’t be the greatest rematch known to man (everyone knows that the Ninja Turtles vs. the Shredder in “TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze” was the greatest rematch known to man), but it would make for great, Olympic-style drama.

Propelled by two goals from Zach Parise and another powerful performance by goalie Ryan Miller, the U.S. men’s hockey team has advanced to the semifinals. The team faced a tough competitor in Switzerland, but found an edge in the last period to earn the 2-0 victory.

From ESPN.com:

But Zach Parise put all that frustration aside, deflecting a wrist shot from Brian Rafalski early in the third period, then scored into an empty net late to seal a 2-0 quarterfinal win that sends the U.S. to the next round against the winner of Wednesday night’s game between the Czech Republic and Finland.

“Relief and excitement, especially in a tight game like that when you are doing everything but score,” said Parise, who failed to score on his first 13 shots of the tournament. “The goalie was great and we did a good job of sticking with it. “We were pretty confident and said just keep putting pucks at him.”

Ryan Miller made 19 saves to backstop the victory and move the Americans within two wins of its first men’s hockey gold medal in 30 years.

For myself, the U.S. hockey team’s run has been the most exciting part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The feeling makes me want to gather up some of my closest friends and head to a fun bar to enjoy the next game. We can drink frothy glasses of beer, share stupid stories, look at pretty girls, and root for our countrymen.

Wait — never mind. NBC is broadcasting the game at 3 PM ET on Friday. Scratch those plans.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

After Martin Brodeur gave up four goals to the United States last night, Canada’s hockey team has decided to replace him with Roberto Luongo for Tuesday’s matchup against Germany.

From The Vancouver Sun:

Vancouver’s Luongo will take over in goal for Martin Brodeur when Canada faces Germany on Tuesday for the next matchup in Olympic men’s hockey.

“I’m pumped,” Luongo before the announcement today. “The adrenaline is really going. I can’t tell you how excited I am.”

Canadian coach Mike Babcock made the announcement today at a post-practice press conference.

Luongo will remain the starter as long as Canada is in what is now a single-elimination tournament, Babcock vowed.

Luongo shut out Norway 8-0 in Canada’s Olympic opener, before giving way to national-team incumbent starter Brodeur. But the veteran, who started at the last two Olympics, looked poor on two of the four goals that beat him during Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the United States.

It seems like Team Canada is reeling after their unexpected loss on Sunday, first facing the disappointment of its country and now the bruised confidence of its veteran goalie. Nevertheless, Luongo is a solid second option who should give the Germans a tough time in their elimination game. Unfortunately, it simply looks like Canada is fighting an uphill battle. Assuming the team wins, it will enter the quarterfinals and have the misfortune of playing Russia.