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Russia VS Canada.During Wednesday night's Olympic hockey game between Canada and Russia, I looked away from the TV twice for maybe a moment at most – and missed two goals by the Canadians. Things happened quickly in that one.

I suppose it didn't matter that much, though, because you didn't need to see every second of the play to get the message that the Canadian team was more physical, focused and just flat out better on this night, as the 7-3 final score would suggest.

Since Russia is the reigning world champion, you get an idea of just what transpired in this one.

I'm not sure anyone saw this coming. Russian coach Slava Bykov surely didn't, leaving shellshocked goalie Evgeni Nabokov to take a fearsome beating, pulling him only after the game was well out of hand. Canada led 3-0 just 13 minutes into the game, 6-1 early in the second period and cruised on in. Russian star Alex Ovechkin was badgered basically into an afterthought.

It was an overwhelming performance.

Just a few days ago, the Canadians looked in dire distress. We seemed ready to witness one of the great meltdowns in the history of sport.

Here's what they were up against: Before the Olympics began, a lot of people thought this would be the game for the gold medal, but Canada had played itself into the position of needing to beat one of the planet's hockey superpowers in a quarterfinal game just to stay alive.

And the Canadians hadn't beaten Russia in the Olympics in 50 years.

Instead, the stage is now prepared for what could be one of those sporting events we'll talk about for a long time. Canada and the United States have reached the semifinals of this amazingly entertaining tournament.

With victories on Friday against Slovakia and Finland, respectively, they would meet for the gold.

I don't care if you don't know a hockey puck from a beanbag, that's one game you'll have to watch. The passion of the Canadian fans makes it so. It's not possible to want something more deeply than they want this gold medal, and the stress was starting to show. They needed a shootout to beat Switzerland 3-2, then were beaten 5-3 by the United States last Sunday night. It was the first time Canada lost in Olympic hockey to the United States since the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley.

That put them in the incredible position of needing to beat Germany in what amounted to a play-in game, just to make it the game against Russia.

But now?

If they play the rest of the tournament like they did against the Russians, Canada will be awfully hard to beat. We can only imagine right now what the atmosphere will be like if Canada and the United States meet for the gold. Electric won't begin to describe it.

You had to feel good for former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle, who had a goal and two assists for Canada. Boyle was essentially run out of town by the soon-to-be former owners of the Lightning, not long after he had signed a contract extension with a no-trade clause. It was a classless move to a classy guy by the Bolts. We just need to point that out every now and then.

The U.S. team hardly looked like a juggernaut in beating Switzerland 2-0 Wednesday, but the Americans are 4-0 in the tournament and that should count for something. The game against the Swiss was starting to look like one of those types of games – shots clanking off the post, one dribbling across the goal line a fraction of a second too late at the end of the second period, frustration beginning to increase.

Good teams figure out a way to win games like that, though. That's what the United States did.

Tournaments like this can do wonders for hockey.

Even though NBC has relegated the games to its cable stations MSNBC and CNBC, that has actually been a good thing. The games aren't competing with skiing and skating for air time on the main network, so hockey fans get uninterrupted treatment of their favorite sport.

NBC has done a good job of following the action and showing how desperately Canada wants to win. I can't imagine the pressure that must be on that team, but the Canadians are cranked up and rolling now, playing with confidence and giving their countrymen reason for hope.

It was quite the sight to see against the Russians.

President Obama's bipartisan health care summit follows months of heated debate in which substance has often been drowned out by partisan rancor. CNN.com provides live updates of the talks. You can also watch the discussions live on CNN.com.
(CNN) -- 11:31 a.m.: "The main point is, we basically agree. There's a not a lot of difference here," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, says. "There's opportunity for us to work out some of these differences."
11:27 a.m.: From CNN contributor John Avlon: Maybe I'm not cynical enough, but these talks so far seem civil and substantive -- a real education for the American people.
And it's a reminder that people can achieve more when they sit across the same table and talk rather than when they fire off press releases demonizing the opposition.

It's striking to me -- and hopefully to the people in the room -- how much they agree. There is a lot of common ground on specifics -- it's a combination of philosophy and partisan politics that's keeping them apart. One thing is clear -- the American people would be well-served by having more of these bipartisan policy summits.
11:14 a.m.: From CNN contributor John Avlon: Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, is sometimes called "Dr. No" -- he's a small-government conservative and a practicing physician.
At the outset of the summit, President Obama gave him a hug -- these apparent political opposites actually co-sponsored a bill together when Obama was in the Senate, a transparency bill known as "Google for Government."
Coburn focused his remarks on the costs of medical malpractice reforms and waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid. It's a doctor's perspective that is worth taking into account. I've personally never understood why health care reform isn't framed as a bill who substance was determined by doctors. People trust their personal physician a lot more than their congressman.
11:06 a.m.: From CNN contributor John Avlon: Let's boil down some of the wonk: Republicans have advocated a step-by-step approach to health care reform. Some of their specifics -- medical malpractice reform and purchasing insurance across state lines -- would make powerful, substantive pickups that the Democrats should adopt.
It may anger liberal constituencies like trial lawyers, but that's precisely why it would send a substantive centrist message to independent voters. But the core idea of a market exchange to pool insurance purchases -- through private or co-op mechanisms rather than a new government bureaucracy -- is an idea that should appeal to Republicans. Reflexive opposition to it indicates that politics is trumping policy.
11:02 a.m.: Obama and Sen. Lamar Alexander get in a tense exchange over whether the president's health care plan would increase premiums.
Obama says he'd like to get the issue settled about whether premiums are reduced "before today, because I'm pretty certain I'm not wrong."
11:02 a.m.: From CNN's Dana Bash: E-mail from a GOP aide as Reid is talking -- "Wow.. Dems decided the best way to open this summit is to choose the two least popular politicians in their party to speak."
10:57 a.m.: Several lawmakers jump after a loud bang. It's just the pool reporters departing (and the door slamming).
The clock above the fireplace appears broken. It's stuck at 4:00, which happens to be when the summit ends.
10:55 a.m.: From CNN contributor John Avlon: Washington considers this summit nothing more than political theater, but independent voters expect more.
They want to see more than photo-op bipartisanship -- they want to see substance, civility and accountability, a constructive give and take.
President Obama's opening remarks aimed for both the head and heart. He was careful to lay out expectations in a way that connected with independents, challenging the assembled congressmen to "not just trade talking points."
Key players in the health care debate
Video: Why White House summit matters
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He spoke about his family's experience with health care. The challenge is for the president to define the common ground and then encourage the Congressional leaders to build on it.
That doesn't mean starting from a blank sheet of paper, as Sen. Lamar Alexander demanded -- but he was right in pointing out that historically major pieces of social legislation have passed with bipartisan margins and were build that way from the beginning.
10:52 a.m.: Obama says all of the speakers so far have gone over their allotted time, including him. He encourages everyone to "be more disciplined" going ahead.
10:50 a.m.: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says "no one is talking about reconciliation."
"The bill on the floor that my friend Lamar [Alexander] is lamenting here has significant input from the Republicans," he says.
Reid says Republicans have a right to oppose the current legislation, but they also have a responsibility to "propose ideas for making it better."
10:45 a.m.: From CNN's Dana Bash: Sen. Lamar Alexander has a relatively low profile on the Hill despite his big title: chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. This is like the old Lamar Alexander from the presidential campaign trail. Alexander pursued the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000.
10:43 a.m.: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quotes the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, saying, "Health care is a right, not a privilege."
10:38 a.m.: CNN's Dana Bash points out Republicans have started sending out e-mail challenging Obama's and Pelosi's remarks: "Like a campaign event or debate, partisan opposition research/fact-checkers are up and running."
10:32 a.m.: Sen. Lamar Alexander seems to be laying out the Republican ground rules -- start over and stay away from reconciliation.
Reconciliation is a process that bypasses the Senate rule of 60 votes being needed to end debate. By using it, only a majority vote would be needed to advance a bill. Republicans have warned of severe political consequences if Democrats go that route.
10:24 a.m.: Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, says Obama's plan is too much like the Senate plan. He recommends taking the current bill and "putting it on the shelf and starting from a clean sheet of paper."
Sen. Christopher Dodd, a key author of the Senate health care bill, told reporters Wednesday that if Republicans continue to demand that Democrats scrap their health care proposals and start over, "then there's nothing to talk about."
10:19 a.m.: Obama says he doesn't know if all of the gaps can be bridged.
"But I'd like to make sure that this discussion is actually a discussion, and not just us trading talking points."
10:17 a.m.: Obama says he has looked at the various health care plans out there. "There is overlap. It's not perfect overlap, it's not 100 percent overlap, but there's some overlap."
Obama says he thinks the health care plan he released Monday is "the best blend of the House and the Senate legislation that's already passed."
10:12 a.m.: Obama is delivering opening remarks. The summit has four themes: cost control, deficit reduction, insurance reform and expanding coverage.
10:04 a.m.: President Obama walks into the Garden Room of the Blair House.
9:50 a.m.: Lawmakers are taking their seats at the Blair House, site of Thursday's health care summit. The house, which is the official guest house of the president, has been the scene of historic moments that go far beyond a diplomatic hotel.
Related: Health care summit site already a part of presidential history
9:47 a.m.: CNN's Ed Henry reports: The administration's new goal for passing the final health care legislation is by Friday, March 26, three top Democratic sources tell CNN. If Congress misses the deadline, lawmakers will have to move back to other issues like job creation and unfinished spending bills.
The new deadline adds more pressure to the White House negotiations because it gives the president only one month after Thursday's summit to get a final package completed or else he will risk seeing his signature domestic issue go down in flames.
9:36 a.m.: From CNN's Dan Lothian, who is serving as pool reporter: At the president's seat is a small clock. Each setting has a Blair House notepad, pencil and napkin. At House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's seat, there is a black notebook and two pens.
9:35 a.m.: A source in the Congressional Republican leadership tells CNN they are not inviting an additional party member to today's health care summit, rejecting a late offer by the White House to include another Republican and underscoring the animosity which built in the day before the summit. This, after officials in the Obama administration invited an additional Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and an additional Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, CNN Radio's Lisa Desjardins reports.
Republicans are furious, saying the White House insisted there was no more room at the summit for any members or staff. Wyden is expected to attend. As CNN's Dana Bash reported, Snowe declined, citing party protocol.
7:30 a.m.: Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas tells CNN the health care summit "is about theater. This is not about substance, unfortunately." Cornyn is not attending the summit.
7:15 a.m.: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says "we're very close to health care reform for the American people." Asked he thinks Obama should have presented a plan earlier in the debate, Gibbs tells CNN's American Morning that this administration has gotten health care reform farther than it's been in seven decades. "I'm not going to second guess the process that's gotten us this close," he says.

C.R. Johnson Died In Horrific Ski Crash.
Current Olympians and others in the ski community are mourning the loss of professional free skier C.R. Johnson, who died in a fall while skiing a steep chute at California's Squaw Valley.

Johnson, 26, who has competed in the Winter X Games, was skiing with a group of friends when he fell while trying to negotiate a "very, very tight, rocky area," said Jim Rogers, a member of the Lake Tahoe-area resort's ski patrol.

He fell face-first, then spun around and struck the back of his head on rocks in the Light Towers area of the resort. Johnson was wearing a helmet, but Rogers said the helmet took a serious blow.

Ski patrol members were called shortly before 2 p.m. but were unable to revive him. Placer County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Ausnow said Johnson died on the slopes.

Johnson was well-known at Squaw Valley, a challenging resort near Lake Tahoe's north shore that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. It also is the home base for several members of the U.S. ski team, including Olympic alpine medalist Julia Mancuso.

She tweeted about Johnson's death late Wednesday: "crazy day just got a little bit more unexpected... just learned that my friend and insane skier CR Johnson just died at Squaw.. my heart and prayers go out to everyone at home and CR's family."

Olympic snowboarder Louie Vito also tweeted his reaction: "RIP to my homie CR Johnson. He will be missed by EVERYONE. At least he was doin what he loved but CR YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!!!"

Johnson's father was an avalanche forecaster at the resort for about a decade, Rogers said. The younger skier also had rebounded from a serious injury suffered during a competition in 2005 that put him in a coma for several months.

"This is a man of very, very strong skiing talent," Rogers said. "This young man had been a fixture here at Squaw Valley for years. ... He grew up at Squaw Valley."

Tendulkar's 200:Sachin Tendulkar's 200 breaks ODI world record.
Tendulkar hit an unbeaten 200, the first ever double century in ODIs, and built partnerships with Dinesh Karthik (79), Yusuf Pathan (36) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (68) as India finished with a mammoth total of 401 for three.
South Africa stuttered with their reply and although AB de Villiers made a brave 114, the visitors were bowled out for 248 in 42.5 overs.
ndia, with Tendulkar at the forefront, were merciless with the bat, despite the early loss of Virender Sehwag (nine), as they made the most of Dhoni's rare success with the toss.

Sehwag, pronounced fit only hours before the start following a back injury sustained in the previous game in Jaipur, was caught at third man off Wayne Parnell, but South Africa thereafter were battered into submission on a placid surface.
Tendulkar, who had lashed Parnell for boundaries on either side of the wicket for his first runs, unleashed an onslaught from which South Africa never recovered.
The master batsman brought a dazzling array of strokes into play as he smashed South Africa's bowlers around the park en route to a 37-delivery half-century.
He slowed down a bit as he neared his 46th ODI century, but once past the mark, he again opened up, smashing Jacques Kallis for three boundaries in one over.
Karthik, who had come in at the fall of Sehwag's wicket, had played the supporting role admirably as he went on to achieve to his fourth ODI half-century.
The pair added 194 for the second wicket when Parnell struck again, luring Karthik into a pull which the batsman mistimed, hitting straight to Herschelle Gibbs at mid-wicket.
There was little respite for South Africa, however, as Pathan smashed four boundaries and two sixes in a brief stay, while adding 81 for the third wicket.
Pathan's dismissal at the start of the 42nd over, however, hardly created a blip as Dhoni raised the tempo with a blistering innings, reaching his 35th half-century in the process.
Tendulkar, meanwhile, raised the highest individual score in one-day cricket, going past the previous mark of 194 jointly held by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar and Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry.
He reached the mark off only 140 deliveries with a couple of runs of Parnell, hitting 25 boundaries - the most by a batsman in a single innings - and three sixes along the way, before reaching his double century with a single off Charl Langeveldt in the final over.
South Africa, who hold the record for the world's highest chase in one-day internationals, began in poor fashion as they lost Gibbs (seven) in the third over and thereafter suffered blows regularly.
Gibbs attempted to paddle a delivery - pitched outside off - from Praveen Kumar to square leg, but only managed to drag the ball back onto his stumps.
Pinch-hitter Roelof van der Merwe (12) lasted only 12 deliveries, miscuing Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to Suresh Raina at cover, while Hashim Amla made 34 before he was Sreesanth's second victim.
Kallis had made 11 when he dragged a delivery from Ashish Nehra onto his stumps, Alviro Petersen was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja for 11 and JP Duminy was trapped in front for a first ball duck by Pathan.
The experienced pair of Mark Boucher and De Villiers then added 31 runs for the seventh wicket, but Pathan broke that stand by winning a lbw verdict against Boucher.
De Villiers then continued to offer stiff resistance and reached his fifth ODI century, but Nehra took a superb catch at mid-on to remove last-man Langeveldt (12) and bring up victory.

Ben Bernanke:Bernanke's testimony.The dollar turned lower against the euro, pound and yen Wednesday as investors digested Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on monetary policy.

What prices are doing: The dollar slid 0.7% against the euro to $1.3605 and 0.2% against the British pound to $1.5452. The greenback also fell 0.3% against the yen to ¥89.98.

The dollar was higher against the euro and the pound Tuesday following a report that showed U.S. consumer confidence fell sharply in February, snapping a three-month streak of improvement. The downbeat figures sparked concern over the strength in economic recovery, triggering investors to turn to the buck for its safe haven appeal.

What's moving the market: Fed chairman Ben Bernanke headed to Capitol Hill Wednesday for his two-day semi-annual testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. He warned lawmakers that although government action has launched economic recovery, the sluggish job market is still a concern.

He reiterated that the Fed's benchmark lending rate, which impacts the price of consumer loans, will continue to hold near zero. It has stood near the historic low since December 2008.

Last week, the central bank raised its discount rate, which is what banks pay to borrow direct from the Fed, to 0.75%. The move sparked hopes among investors that the Fed would move to tighten monetary policy and raise the benchmark rate sooner than expected. That confidence pushed the dollar higher against its rivals.

Mosi Tatupu:Mosi Tatupu died at 54.
According to a report from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, former NFL running back Mosi Tatupu passed away on Tuesday in Massachusetts. He was 54 years old.

Tatupu, the father of Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu, played 14 years in the league, mostly as a fullback and special teams player, including 13 years with New England and his final season with the Los Angeles Rams. Mosi Tatupu finished with 2,415 yards and 18 touchdowns.

The cause of death was unknown Tuesday, but according to a family friend, Tatupu suffered from high blood pressure and other ailments.

“He had some health issues,” Barry Markowitz, a family friend who was told of the death by Tatupu’s ex-wife, Linnea, said in the Star-Bulletin.

Mosi Tatupu served as the running backs at Division III Curry College in Milton, Mass.


The Seahawks formally announce the signing of CFL defensive end Ricky Foley and punter Tom Malone, reported here earlier.

According to multiple reports, as expected the Chicago Bears have hired former Seahawks president and general manager Tim Ruskell as the team’s player personnel director, although the Bears are denying the report.

According to the NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, Hawks LB Lofa Tatupu is due a $4 million roster bonus in March, but he expects Tatupu to stay with the Seahawks.

More La Canfora: The Bears could be in the market for Carolina’s Julius Peppers or Green Bay’s Aaron Kampman.

Pat Kirwan of the NFL Network offers 10 prospects to keep an eye on at the scouting combine.