I just logged back on to my computer a little bit ago after spending most of the day playing tennis, reading a book and taking a long nap. Apparently I missed a hockey game?

It sounds like it was epic, but as the only guy in the developed world who wasn't watching, what fascinates me was the way I found out about the news -- or, more precisely, the order in which I found out.

First was a bunch of people on Twitter, starting at 2:53 p.m. ("I'm pissing my pants and I don't even know anything about hockey," was the first one I noticed, from Ryan Naraine.) A minute later, at 2:54 p.m., the news was in the Breaking News Twitter feed. Two minutes later, at 2:56 p.m., the New York Times had the news in its Twitter feed, and word of the result buzzed into my phone via the Breaking News app.

Three minutes after that, at exactly 2:59 p.m., the NYTimes.com news alert showed up in my email inbox: "Olympics Alert: Canada Wins Hockey Gold With 3-2 OT Victory Over U.S."

Does a minute or three really matter? Not really. It just caught my attention because it was a perfect test of speed for the modern news media, in all their forms.

Most news reporters will tell you that being first on a surprise breaking news story, such as a natural disaster, is as much about luck as about competence -- depending, for example, on which wire service's desk editor happened to be on a coffee break when the news broke.

In this case, however, everyone (except me, apparently) was tuned into this game, and the Sunday editors and tweeters at the New York Times were no doubt on high alert to get the news out as soon as it was over. And there was no real advantage enjoyed by random people, a.k.a. citizen journalists, like there often is when people happen to be on the scene of a news event. In other words, it was a perfectly fair race.

Of course, for anyone who has been paying attention, it's not surprising that our loose networks of online contacts were faster with the news than The New York Times was. But when you stop and think about it, it was a clear demonstration of how much things have changed in the world, and how the business of media has been turned upside down.

OK, now I've got some hockey highlights to find before finding my way back to my recliner.