Olympic Bet of the Day – We got back to the winning ways thanks to the dominance of Lindsey Vonn. She paid off at even money (less by post time), so she netted me $100. That means I’m down just $125 and climbing. Happy days are ahead. To try to keep up the winning spirit I’m going to go right back to the well. Lindsey Vonn skis again today – this time in the Super Combined. That event involves one run of the downhill and one run of slalom. Vonn is far from the best slalom skier out there, but she is competent, and I think that her downhill competence and current form gives her a good chance of opening up as much of a lead as she’ll need. She pays +240 to win, so she’s worth a shot.

I’m also going to throw in a big parlay because that will make watching all the different events exciting to watch. I’m going to group a bunch of favorites and see what happens. Here are the eight legs of the bet – Canada (-430) over Sweden in men’s curling, China (-325) over Japan in women’s curling, Lindsey Vonn (-165) over Anja Pearson in super combined, Ole Einar Bjorndalen (-215) over Christoph Sumann in biathlon, Jon Montgomery (-300) over Jeff Pain in skeleton, Melissa Hollingsworth (-275) over Marion Trott in skeleton, Gretchen Bleiler (-240) over Zhifeng Sun in halfpipe, and Christine Nesbitt (-435) over Annette Gerritssen in 1000m speedskating. That crazy grouping will pay $592 on the $100 bet if (when) it wins. It’s the kind of bet I would never make on a normal day, but then betting on something like the Olympics is something I would never do on a normal day, either.

The Other Stuff

I saw three absolutely incredible performances at the Olympics today – once in a generation kind of things. It makes me more than a little sad that none of them were Canadians. If you are paying any attention at all to the Games you can obviously guess all three of the performances. First, Lindsey Vonn not only won on a difficult downhill course today, but she did it in ridiculously dominating fashion despite her injury issues. It was spectacular. So, by the way, were some of those crashes – it was like a very bad day at Daytona. Awesome. Next, Shani Davis won the 1000m speedskating with total ease. There was no point at which the result was in doubt. He didn’t jump at the start like everyone else, and so he was behind in the early splits, but he’s so powerful and so consistent that you just knew he was going to win. Finally, Shaun White didn’t just win the halfpipe, but he redefined it. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the sport by any means, but there was no doubt after his first run that he had won the gold medal with ease, and no doubt after his second run that he had crushed the score of his second run. The concentration and skill required to put together a second run like that when he had already won gold was unbelievably inspiring. All three athletes are so much better than everyone else they compete against that it is almost impossible to believe – like Tiger or Federer and not too many other people on the planet. Great, great stuff to watch.

I’m torn about the Cavs’ deal. On one hand, I think that Antawn Jamison isn’t half the player that Amare Stoudemire is, and he certainly doesn’t have the upside or longevity. He’s a 33 year old guy that hasn’t really won anything – even if he has averaged 19.6 points per game in 10 of the last 11 years. On the other hand, I love how the Cavs were able to get Jamison – he was essentially free. They only had to give up three things for him. First, Zydrunas Ilgauskas – a player who has been used as a 20 minute a game backup, and who will almost certainly be bought out and could join the Cavs again in a month. Second, the rights to some guy named Emir Preldzic. That’s hardly a dealbreaker. Finally, their first rounder this year – a pick that is going to be so low it’s all but worthless. The Cavs also picked up Sebastian Telfair, a reasonably competent deep, deep depth guy. So, if Jamison works out he’ll add 10 or 12 points per game more than they had before, and it cost nothing. Great deal. The only thing I don’t like about it is that Jamison is signed for two more years as part of a four year, $50 million deal. If Jamison doesn’t fit then that could be a burden – perhaps one that would drive the only player that really matters on the team out of town.

You can definitely add Purdue to the list with Kansas and Kentucky of teams that I won’t be in a hurry to knock out of my bracket. That was a huge, huge win at Ohio State. Tough, tough team.