Ron Artest Taking His Talents To Finland?

Ton of rumors flying around the internet today that Ron Artest is heading to Finland today, and may decide to stay there. This is a very odd story since Artest has 3 years left on his contract with the Lakers. From the Lakers standpoint they have to be praying he goes. He is not worth the money he is getting and his production really fell off last year. Plus, he is fucking crazy, and proved it once again as he is changing his name to Metta World Peace.

Like I said I am perplexed by this story, but then again Ron Artest usually do that to me.

Sounds More Like A Polish Thing To Do

The town of Heinola in 1999 played host to the first Sauna World Championships. Last weekend, the town some 70 miles northeast of Helsinki held the event for a 12th time, which organizers now say will be the last time. Even in Finland, news of that closed sauna door has to be embraced with open arms.

The two-man final last Saturday ended horrifically, with both contestants hurriedly yanked out of the hot box, and one of them, Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy, left dead. A Russian amateur wrestler in his 60s, the seemingly fit Ladyzhenskiy expired after sitting in the sauna for six minutes, enduring a temperature stoked to more than 230 degrees Farenheit.

Yes, that temperature is correct. Ladyzhenskiy and his co-finalist, Finland’s Timo Kaukonen — both of them veteran extreme sauna competitors — competed in a hot box cranked up to about 10 percent above the point at which water boils. Not a dry heat, either. By tournament rules, a half-liter of water was splashed over the sauna’s heater every 30 seconds, which added moisture to the air, and possibly added to the lethal atmosphere (Boston.com).

I had never heard of this before, but it has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard in my entire life. You put two people in a small room and crank the heat above the point of boiling water. If that wasn't bad enough you add steam every 30 seconds, which makes it feel hotter, and makes the body cooling down process even harder. So basically this was the live cooking of 2 people in front of a crowd. You would think the world as a collective whole would be smarter then this, but I guess not.

I would never expect this from Finland either. This sounds like something from a 3rd world country, or Poland. How was there no doctor that came out during the 12 years that they were doing this and say "Hmmm, probably not a good idea". Maybe I should move to Finland, because it sounds like I could be the #1 doctor in no time.

And yes, that picture above is them.

Olympic Hockey Semifinal Preview

The final four. Kind of surprising. No Russia, no Sweden, no Czech Republic. That's what's so great about this tournament and about the game of hockey. It's played on ice, not paper.

3pm - NBC: USA vs. Finland

OK, now I'm actually pissed about what time these games are on. In earlier rounds, I tolerated the 3pm starts, because what else would you do with 3 or 4 games on a day. But now with only two games, they easily could have put this game on at 5pm, or even 6. Give US fans on the East Coast and Midwest (where most American hockey fans reside) a chance to see the semifinals. And give potential fans of the game a chance to watch it on TV, instead of inevitably ignoring it while they work.

Anyway, to the game. Finland won't blow you away with too many star-studded names, but they are ranked 4th in the world. They did win Silver in '06. They're deep and they're solid. Mikka Kiprusoff in net is outstanding. He's 4th in the NHL with a 2.18 GAA (only 0.02 higher than Miller's), and he's 6th in the League in SV%.

The Finns are also just as hungry as the US. After losing to Sweden in '06, veterans like Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne are starving for that Gold in what could be their last Olympics.

I think the Finn's experience helps them win a close, tight-checking game. I see a 3-2 win for the Finnish (now do you get the "Finish Him" pic?)

9:30pm - CNBC: Canada vs. Slovakia

Both teams had to fight through an extra round. Both teams have beat the Russians. If Slovakian goalie Jaroslav Halak beats the Canadians, will he ever be cheered by Canadien fans again?

The Slovaks feature players from 4 different Leagues (NHL, Russia's KHL, Swedish Elitserien, and the Slovak Extraliga). But don't let that fool you. Some of those European league guys are NHL veterans like Richard Zednick, Zigmund Palffy and Jozef Stumpel. The Slovaks also have firepower from Zdeno Chara, Marian Hossa, and Pavol Demitra.

The Canadians have depth. But they've been inconsistent. So has Slovakian goalie Halak. If both teams decide to show up at 100%, Canada will win decisively. But if Martin Brodeur goes crazy playing the puck, and Halak is on, this game could get very interesting.

I'm rooting hard for the Slovaks, because screw Canada. It'd also be nice to be able to make Canadiens fans weep at the Bruins/Habs game I'm going to on Tuesday. Especially whenever Chara touches the puck.

I have to pick Canada, though. 4-1 to Johnny Canuck.

-The Commodore