Passions ran hot in the Olympics and two countries rallied hard around that gold medal game. It was great contest where defence and goaltending magic squared off against the best snipers of the game. And America was rewarded with gold.
Just like any other championship game, the winners will chirp awhile, and the losers will lick their wounds with promises made that ‘next time’ will be different.
But it’s short-sighted and a disservice to the gold medal team to say Canada sucks. If they actually sucked, Team USA’s win isn’t any more special than Kramer’s karate class wins against 7yo kids in Seinfeld.Sure Kramer beat them, but it means nothing.
No. The red white and blue gold medal winners deserve something better. (Mens and women’s alike.) Admitting this was a contest between two fantastic teams, in which Team USA was the underdog IS what makes this win so special.
The win is great. But it’s just one piece of a larger picture. By its nature, NHL hockey is a sport in which elite players come from all sorts of places… mostly Canada, USA, Europe, and Russia, but even that list is growing. There’s something about that dynamic that has carved out a different sport than what you might see in other, more popular sporting events.
Forget the booing we heard since Trump came back to office. That’s just some POed Canucks who can’t figure out how to vote for someone that won’t give them a worse GDP than all 50 states for ten years running and are mad they’re getting the short end of the stick now that Trump’s fixing the trade imbalance. Americans have pride in dominating many events. Canada has just a few.
For them, it’s like diehard baseball fans seeing the Jays win the World Series, or NBA fans seeing the Raptors win… and then some.
But because hockey is built on a set of skills that requires a blend of skill, athleticism and toughness, it produces a different kind of culture. A culture that celebrates things that political correctness has bred out of other sports.
You WANT to be tested by the best, and this time around Americans got it, while completing the very same gold-medal sweep Canadians have enjoyed in the past.
Faces will change and new players will rise to the challenge. Crosby, who was injured for the last two games, won’t be back again next time. Neither will a few others on both teams. But hockey is different than sports where it’s easy and convenient to inject your politics into it. These aren’t all city kids who grew up in one-party political cities. A lot of these players are FROM ‘fly-over country’. They have billeted with families with ideas different than their own. For most, dreams of the big moment in the big game far eclipse the financial benefits of just making it big. Players take ‘hometown discounts’ in their salary negotiations if it means they can bring in one more great player that can help them hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Source: Clash Daily
