Loser of USA vs. Canada Gets Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber is a lot of things. Well liked is not one of them, unless you’re a teenage girl — and their opinions don’t count.

So you get things like this. It’s a billboard raising the stakes of the Olympic hockey semifinal matchup between the USA and Canada. Loser keeps Bieber.

The U.S. and Canada are probably the best two teams in the Olympic tournament. Canada beat the US for gold the last time the Olympics rolled around in 2010.

And, well, they should have. They invented the damn game. But the U.S. has virtually evened the playing field in recent years. They actually beat Canada early in the Vancouver Olympics before losing the gold medal game.

In this year’s Olympic tournament, the U.S. is 3-0-1. They’ve outscored opponents 19-6. Canada has an identical 3-0-1 record, but their games have been close, for the most part. They have a 12-3 scoring advantage.

So it will be the high-scoring U.S. squad versus the stingy Canadians for a spot in the finals and a life without Justin Bieber.

The game is at noon ET, Friday.