RSSIs hockey > politics?
Mar 01
I don’t know, but a few things I thought were funny during last nights stellar game:
- At one point CTV showed Gretzky sitting with Harper, chatting. That hurts a little.
- There was a camera in the bar Gretzky’s in Toronto, where people would freak out when they were the ones on TV, and the guy front and center looked like Jack Layton.
Anyways, I’m glad the gold medal goal was Crosby’s.
Mar 01, 2010 @ 09:16:46
Grats, Canada! You were afraid you’d never get a gold on home soil and instead you owned the podium (the gold one anyway, which is the only one that matters. No coach has ever said, ‘this team needs more silver medalists’)!
When it comes to international politics, the Olympics is surprisingly important. Look at how Russia reacted to it’s mediocre medal standings: they’re almost ready to declare war on Canada. Over figure skating scores. Just be glad the US had a good medal haul or they’d be bitching just as loudly. If anything, these games proved:
Hockey > Curling > Figure Skating > Speed Skating > Politics.
1. Harper sitting in the stands was a common sight during the Olympics, but if it makes you feel better, no one outside Canada knew who he was. They were all looking at Gretzky.
2. I think it’s great when Harper and the king of Sweden attend sporting events. It keeps them busy so they don’t try something dumb like legislating.
But the real reason these Olympics were so popular was Nodar. After he died, people couldn’t change the channel for fear they’d miss another luge accident!
All in all, a great Olympics.
Mar 01, 2010 @ 11:12:41
I was thoroughly proud of Canada’s Olympic accomplishments. I’m sure the same is true for all Canadians. I just hope that the swell of nationalism that accompanies our country’s performance never even begins to approximate fascism. In fact, I think the youngest player of Canada’s men’s hockey team sets the tone I most hope for:
“I don’t see it as a joking matter between the two of us,” Toews said Sunday after Canada’s 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. in the gold-medal game at Canada Hockey Place. Toews and Kane were among the best players on the ice.
“I think I will definitely be very, very respectful of what their team did in this tournament and what he did,” Toews added. “We were this close to coming out on the losing end too, and it wouldn’t have been a good feeling. So you got to give it to him for the way he played and leave it at that.”
– Jonathan Toews
Mar 03, 2010 @ 09:16:08
The real question is: Did Canadians go too far?
There was the initial wave of self-pity when your first poor athletes only got silver medals. The first Canadian skier to get a medal almost cried because she let her country down. Oh no, Canada’s inferiority complex is on display again for all the world to see.
I thought that would end with the first home gold, but then it turned ugly. Criticisms of the Own the Podium guys flew from every direction, allowing unreasonable expectations to overshadow an organization that simply supports athletes in training.
This anger was palpable in the later events. The worst was curling. The fans would actually blow horns as teams opposing Canada attempted shots. They broke out into the national anthem during the final game, *before* it was over! What must that have been like for Norway, who had to stop the game for several minutes to let the crowd finish?
And then, after all the grumbling and moaning, Canada comes out on top of the gold count, and the nationalist outpouring swallows up all the other international presences, which were fighting not to be drown out the entire games.
None of these behaviors would have been unforgivable had there been a bit more attention paid to the international spirit of brotherhood and competition that the Olympics are supposed to embody.
The goal should never have been to Own the Podium. Yes, get your golds in hockey and curling, but let the other countries have their moments of glory, and celebrate, not bemoan, those moments with them.