For the past two weeks, the world’s best athletes gathered in Vancouver, Canada to compete in the XXI Winter Olympics (and, apparently, to distract me from my psets). After seventeen days of procrastinating in front of the TV (and enduring countless bad Geico commercials), there’s my list of the ten most memorable things from north of the border.

The New Orleans Saints upset the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami on Sunday night. Although the game wasn’t exactly the high-scoring shootout between two of the best offenses in the NFL everyone had anticipated, it was nonetheless filled with back-and-forth action, gutsy calls, and clutch plays.

MIT Athletics had an outstanding year in 2009. Several teams ended their years nationally ranked, and many others earned NEWMAC Championships and went on to compete for national championships. Here’s a look at some of the notable results of MIT’s teams from the past year. (For a complete list of varsity results, see the Year in Review Scoreboard on the right.)<b></b>

The Boston Blazers of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) fell to the Toronto Rock in their 2010 season opener at TD Garden on Saturday, 17-7.

The MIT Field Hockey Team captured the NEWMAC Championship this weekend, shutting out Mount Holyoke 2-0 in the semifinals and defeating Springfield 4-2 in the final. With the wins, the Engineers improved their season record to 17-4 — a program record — and earned the second conference title in program history.

The MIT Women’s Soccer Team won its first-ever NEWMAC Championship — and its first conference title since 1989 — this weekend, defeating Wheaton College in the semifinal and defending champions Springfield College in the final. The Engineers won both games with a score of 1-0.

It’s October once again, the time of year for the MLB playoffs.

Football season is upon us once again. After months of waiting, we can finally restart our fantasy leagues and spend Sundays wishing we were in front of the TV instead of finishing up pset… Anyways, here are The Tech’s preseason picks for the playoffs.

On Tuesday night, the Orlando Magic defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals to cut the Lakers’ series lead from two games to one. The Magic, playing in front of their home fans, withstood a hot start by Kobe Bryant and a late Lakers rally to earn their first Finals win in franchise history.

Two weeks ago, I made some comments and predictions about the young baseball season. Now, as teams wrap up their first month of play and we enter May, here’s the follow-up to that previous column, as promised…