Congratulations to Canada on its gold medal ice hockey victory. I'm sure Penguins fans will find it in their hearts to forgive Sidney Crosby, as long as he pulls off similar OT game-winners for us.

We don't care where you come from, son, but you gotta dance with the one what brung you. Eh?

A Canadian friend of mine e-mailed me the night of the game, frosty-eyed (you can't do misty-eyed in Calgary in February) with patriotism.

While they're usually not as in-your-face about it as we are, Canadians are very proud of their country and their culture. An American friend of mine who watched the first U.S.-Canada Olympic hockey game this year noted that the shouts of "Ca-na-da!" neatly aligned with the shouts of "U-S-A.!" so that the effect was of an arena full of partisans yelling "Blah-blah-blah! Blah-blah-blah!"

Another thing that Canadians have a deep love for is their bacon.

Americans who travel in Canada know the disappointment of being offered "bacon" and then being presented with back bacon, or peameal bacon, or Sir Francis Bacon, or some other cruelly comic Canuck excuse for proper salty, fatty, streaky strips of crispy pig the way we know and love it.

But Maple Leaf Foods commissioned a survey about bacon to promote its new reclosable packets of "centre-cut" bacon. And the startling thing about this survey is that 43 percent of Canadian men presented with the choice picked bacon over sex.

Now, I'm not saying American men wouldn't do the same. I'm just saying that we would definitely rank hockey at LEAST as low as No. 3, whereas I'm not so sure about the Canadians.

I can't help but wonder now what goes on in Canadian strip clubs.

Very slightly fewer Canadian women chose bacon over sex - 42 percent, though that's within the survey's 3.1 percent margin of error. The good news is they can remain competitive with the charms of Miss Piggy by skipping the pricey perfume and dabbing on a little bacon grease; 23 percent of men in the survey chose the scent of sizzling swine as their favorite aroma.

I remember reading a news story years ago claiming scientific research had found American men were most aroused by the smell of pumpkin pie. Seriously, ladies, we have been had. When I think of the amount of money I have spent on Lancome that I could have spent on Libby's and the cash I wasted on eau de toilette rather than Bacos, it makes me downright hungry.

According to the survey, bacon lovers consider themselves good lovers, and romantic, too. And yet, on the prairies of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada's enlarged heartland, nearly a quarter of respondents wondered if "my partner loves bacon more than me." Fully half of respondents from British Columbia said they would give up sex before bacon, but you have to remember what British Columbia is famous for: marijuana.

The Quebecois, thanks to their heavily French heritage, were much more willing to give up bacon before, during or after sex.

Bacon, long scorned as a forbidden food, is making a rebellious comeback fueled by its intoxicating aroma and crispy, sweet, smoky goodness. Maybe it truly deserves a culinary spotlight at center stage, or centre stage, which is farther north. Eating too much may make you largre, but it gives you confidence as a lovre and may be the hearty fare that makes the Canadian hockey playres winnres.

Bacon can unite us, because it transcends flags, sports, forms of government, geography and even spelling. As a baconphile myself, I embrace my Canadian brethren (after wiping the grease off my hands) and join them a chorus of joy.

Blah-blah-blah! Blah-blah-blah!

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.