#1

Autistic high schooler catches fire

Long story short--last night, an autistic high schooler scored 20 points in the final four minutes of his team's final game.

It's an awesome story, one that will most likely be made into a Disney movie.

However, after watching the video...I realize that he is as normal of a high school basketball player as anyone else.

"I just caught fire, I was hot as a pistol," he said.

How cocky. haha.

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NORTH AMERICAN OLYMPIC HOCKEY

Going into the Olympics, expectations weren't very high with Team USA. Let's be totally honest--can a team full of aging veterans that most likely have already played their best hockey be competitive with teams sporting young guns such as 19 year old Alexander Ovechkin, 22 year old Ilya Kovalchuk, 23 year old Marek Svatos, and 18 year old Sidney Crosby. Well...not so much Crosby. He wasn't present at the Games, as he failed to be named to the Canadian squad.

Both North American nations failed to advance past the quarterfinals on Wednesday, as Finland held on to beat the United States 4-3, and Canada was knocked off by Russia 2-0.

Team Canada has a lot of questions to answer. They will not defend their 2002 gold medal, and a team loaded with superstars was shut out in 3 of its last 4 games. Like the Americans, they had a team filled with players who might have been picked for their past accomplishments rather than the current NHL season. How else can you explain the selection of Shane Doan (17 g, 24 a, -15 in 59 games) and Kris Draper (4 g, 12 a, -1 in 56 games) over Sidney Crosby (28 g, 37 a, -9 in 58 games) and Eric Staal (36 g, 39 a, +2 in 57 games)?

One might vouch for Draper by saying his aggressive play is essential to the team. However, the wider ice of international play is not conducive to his style of play, and Canada's offensive struggles make one wonder how much more effective a skilled player such as Staal would've been.

The Americans didn't have as big of a personnel problem as the Canadians, although 26 year old Coyotes defenseman Paul Mara might've given the ancient defense much needed youth.

Some writers are touting this American team as the end of an era, and I couldn't agree more.
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That's all for now.