More often than not sporting events don't live up to the hype. But that wasn't the case in the gold medal men's hockey game. This was a fantastic game to watch, and it seems fitting that it ends with Crosby scoring the game winner in overtime. Of course I wanted team USA to win. But it almost felt like Canada needed this victory. If we beat them, where would that leave their seemingly fragile psyche's.
Before we get too far, let's talk about Crosby's career thus far. He's been to two straight Stanley Cup Finals, and winning the most recent one, and becoming the youngest captain to ever lead his team to victory in the Stanley Cup Finals. He's already won a NHL MVP, and now he's scored the overtime game winner in the golf medal game. If this 22 year old keeps it up, he just might make a name for himself in the hockey world before he's done.
The game was great, the Olympic tournament was great. I hope that they have NHL players in the 2014 Olympics in Russia. It would be hard to regress and use college or amateur players again. One of the NHL's big points is that this is the time of the year to be successful. There is no NFL, baseball hasn't started yet, and college basketball isn't to the tournament yet. But they are forgetting one thing. If they don't play in four years, they'd be going against the Olympics instead of being a part of them.
Lastly everyone is talking about the significance of this game, and what the NHL needs to do to capture some of the excitement from the games. But take the game as it was. A great hockey game, between two well known teams. If the game had been Slovakia and Russia, it wouldn't have gotten nearly the attention. It was great if you're an American or a Canadian. This isn't the miracle on ice, or any other cultural event. It was a great game, that ended a great tournament. It was as good a sporting event as I can remember. The NHL can't capture a whole lot from this. It is almost two different sports. The intensity isn't there, and NHL season is dragged over 82 games, plus two months of playoffs. The Olympics were played over the course of 12 days. It isn't going to make much difference for the NHL. This isn't going to change the majority of the countries view of the sport. A lot of people enjoyed curling, but that isn't taking off either.
So let's enjoy it for what it was. A great tournament by the Americans, coming up just short of the gold. The Canadians claimed they're ownership of the sport. The two teams combined provided a very exciting couple of games, and a great tournament. Let's just hope they do it again in four years.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Do you believe in Upsets!
First let's stop comparing the US beating Canada last night to the Miracle on Ice. It's not even comparable. The USA team is full of NHL players playing in the same league as the Canadian players.
But with that being said, it was as much fun as I've had watching a sporting event in a while. We went into their country and kicked their ass at their sport. We were underdogs and no one was predicting a win for the US team. They had too much talent, and we were too young. We were supposed to be building for the future. It's not too often that everyone was proven wrong.
What's fun about it is seeing the absolute joy the players had after winning the game. This game was a preliminary game that only had a bearing on what seeds teams got. Canada can still win the gold, and the US team can still go home empty handed. But the players jumped into a hog pile on the ice after the win. When do you see that other than after the winning the Stanley Cup. As for the Canadian side, you could see the pressure of a nation on their shoulders getting heavier and heavier as the game moved on.
But last night hockey was ours. Canada is our neighbor to the north. Say Canada to anyone, and the first word that comes to mind would be hockey. The pride themselves in everything that is hockey. That is the only sport that matters in their eyes. Ryan Miller prevented that pride from going into the net 40+ times. He stood on his head. I said it before the tournament started, that the goalies are so good, that anyone of them is capable of winning a game by themselves.
Imagine if some other country brought a baseball team over and beat the best American team at Wrigley field. We would be devastated. I know, I know we don't do well in the world baseball classic, but that is different, and the timing of it prevents the best performances from the best players. That is what Canada must feel like right now. Add this in with the rest of the Olympic gaffes, and Canada not have high self-esteem at this point.
Like Herb Brooks said, after the 1980 team beat the Russians, "If you don't win the next game, no one will remember that last game!" So the US advances as the #1 seed. The get to avoid Sweden, Russia, and Canada until the gold medal game if they get there. How fun would it be to play the Russians for the gold medal, 30 years after the 1980 Olympics.
But with that being said, it was as much fun as I've had watching a sporting event in a while. We went into their country and kicked their ass at their sport. We were underdogs and no one was predicting a win for the US team. They had too much talent, and we were too young. We were supposed to be building for the future. It's not too often that everyone was proven wrong.
What's fun about it is seeing the absolute joy the players had after winning the game. This game was a preliminary game that only had a bearing on what seeds teams got. Canada can still win the gold, and the US team can still go home empty handed. But the players jumped into a hog pile on the ice after the win. When do you see that other than after the winning the Stanley Cup. As for the Canadian side, you could see the pressure of a nation on their shoulders getting heavier and heavier as the game moved on.
But last night hockey was ours. Canada is our neighbor to the north. Say Canada to anyone, and the first word that comes to mind would be hockey. The pride themselves in everything that is hockey. That is the only sport that matters in their eyes. Ryan Miller prevented that pride from going into the net 40+ times. He stood on his head. I said it before the tournament started, that the goalies are so good, that anyone of them is capable of winning a game by themselves.
Imagine if some other country brought a baseball team over and beat the best American team at Wrigley field. We would be devastated. I know, I know we don't do well in the world baseball classic, but that is different, and the timing of it prevents the best performances from the best players. That is what Canada must feel like right now. Add this in with the rest of the Olympic gaffes, and Canada not have high self-esteem at this point.
Like Herb Brooks said, after the 1980 team beat the Russians, "If you don't win the next game, no one will remember that last game!" So the US advances as the #1 seed. The get to avoid Sweden, Russia, and Canada until the gold medal game if they get there. How fun would it be to play the Russians for the gold medal, 30 years after the 1980 Olympics.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Winter Olympics
I enjoy watching the winter Olympics. It is fun to see sports that you wouldn't normally watch. But it seems like the Winter Olympics are trying to hard for the most part? For the most part none of the sports are natural. And by natural I mean like running or swimming, basically the Summer Olympics. Even for basketball, all you need is a ball. It just seems like everything has to be perfect for the Winter Olympics to work.
The weather becomes the biggest factor in the winter Olympics. We've heard for days now that there wasn't enough snow to do certain skiing events, and then yesterday they had to postpone a skiing event due to too much snow. I find that odd.
Yesterday there was grumblings that the speed skating wasn't fair, because of Zamboni problems. Apparently they had two ice resurfacers, and they both broke down at one time. So it left long breaks in the middle of the competition, allowing certain athletes to rest for hours in between races, while the other athletes weren't allowed that luxury. It also created unequal ice conditions. As a person who's done hundreds of resurfaces in my life, I know that each resurface can be different, and each machine does a different job. Some lay more water than others, and can even cut at different angles. Although if that happens you've got a problem. But it sounds like that was happening in the speed skating. Depending upon what lane you were in, you either got hard ice, or soft ice. So that made a huge difference. If you look at the results the skaters who were expected to be near the top that raced in the bad lanes, didn't finish as well as expected.
I heard a good quote on the radio today. "The Winter Olympics are made for countries who have cash and mountains, or mountains of cash." So much of these events are based on the equipment that the athletes have. Obviously that can be said about most sports. The track athletes aren't wearing old beat up tennis shoes. But it just seems like the equipment matters so much more. The ski's that the mogul skiers have have electronic chips in them to reduce the vibration in the skis. These chips are used in US fighter jets. The blades the good lugers use cost $20,000 a piece, and the manufacturers won't reveal what they're made of.
And another note on the Olympics, isn't it weird to think that some of these people dedicate anywhere from 4 years to their lives to be good at something that might take less than 2 minutes. And all that can be negatively affected by uncontrollable forces like weather or equipment? You train for 4 years as a speed skater, and then a Zamboni breaks down right before your heat, and you have to sit for an hour and a half, only to resume on ice that is different than your competitors? That doesn't seem right.
I'll continue to watch the Olympics, especially the hockey, which is the most unnatural of them all. But it just seems like the Winter Olympics are forced upon the world, and try to hard to get it perfect. They race on hills with not enough and then too much snow for skiing. The sled down icy hills to death, and skate on artificially made ice. They are fun to watch, and it is nice to see some of the great stories every four years.
The weather becomes the biggest factor in the winter Olympics. We've heard for days now that there wasn't enough snow to do certain skiing events, and then yesterday they had to postpone a skiing event due to too much snow. I find that odd.
Yesterday there was grumblings that the speed skating wasn't fair, because of Zamboni problems. Apparently they had two ice resurfacers, and they both broke down at one time. So it left long breaks in the middle of the competition, allowing certain athletes to rest for hours in between races, while the other athletes weren't allowed that luxury. It also created unequal ice conditions. As a person who's done hundreds of resurfaces in my life, I know that each resurface can be different, and each machine does a different job. Some lay more water than others, and can even cut at different angles. Although if that happens you've got a problem. But it sounds like that was happening in the speed skating. Depending upon what lane you were in, you either got hard ice, or soft ice. So that made a huge difference. If you look at the results the skaters who were expected to be near the top that raced in the bad lanes, didn't finish as well as expected.
I heard a good quote on the radio today. "The Winter Olympics are made for countries who have cash and mountains, or mountains of cash." So much of these events are based on the equipment that the athletes have. Obviously that can be said about most sports. The track athletes aren't wearing old beat up tennis shoes. But it just seems like the equipment matters so much more. The ski's that the mogul skiers have have electronic chips in them to reduce the vibration in the skis. These chips are used in US fighter jets. The blades the good lugers use cost $20,000 a piece, and the manufacturers won't reveal what they're made of.
And another note on the Olympics, isn't it weird to think that some of these people dedicate anywhere from 4 years to their lives to be good at something that might take less than 2 minutes. And all that can be negatively affected by uncontrollable forces like weather or equipment? You train for 4 years as a speed skater, and then a Zamboni breaks down right before your heat, and you have to sit for an hour and a half, only to resume on ice that is different than your competitors? That doesn't seem right.
I'll continue to watch the Olympics, especially the hockey, which is the most unnatural of them all. But it just seems like the Winter Olympics are forced upon the world, and try to hard to get it perfect. They race on hills with not enough and then too much snow for skiing. The sled down icy hills to death, and skate on artificially made ice. They are fun to watch, and it is nice to see some of the great stories every four years.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Men's Olympic Hockey
Tuesday the Men's Olympic Hockey starts, and I can't wait. I'm going to watch every game. I'm going to be the guy that knows who's on Norway's power play. The Olympic hockey tournament one of the if not the greatest sporting events in the world. I'm sure the World Cup is riveting, but I live in the US so I don't care about it. So I'm going to love this hockey tourny.
This is a rare event featuring the best professional athletes and money is not a factor. The NHL takes a huge risk in allowing these players to do this in the middle of their season. But we'll get to see the most skilled hockey players in the world playing for pride. I love fighting in the NHL, and that's where it stays in the NHL. There aren't any goons in this tournament, there is no place for them.
What I love about it, is the fact that these guys fight each other one night, and then turn around and play side by side in the Olympics. As far as the NHL goes, a dream match up would be Washington and Pittsburgh in the Eastern conference finals. Crosby and Malkin against Ovechkin and Backstrom. In the Olympics you might have Ovechkin and Malkin against Crosby for the gold medal in Crosby's home country.
Most teams have great goalies, so they matchups become so important, because any one of the goalies can win a game by himself.
FEBRUARY 21st.
Game #1 Czech Rupublic vs. Russia
Game #2 USA vs. Canada
Game #3 Finland vs. Sweden
These aren't cities that don't like each other. Yesterday I went to Minnesota vs. Vancouver, and it's a fun rivalry, but these games pit countries against each other that don't get along. Now this isn't 1980 USA vs. Russia, but it's still fun. I don't anything about Sweden or Finland, but I do know that they don't like each other. So I'm going to watch the little hockey war play out.
So tune in, and enjoy it. Because this isn't normal hockey, it's like 3 all-star games a day, that play the best defense in the world. You have the best players and coaches playing for pride.
This is a rare event featuring the best professional athletes and money is not a factor. The NHL takes a huge risk in allowing these players to do this in the middle of their season. But we'll get to see the most skilled hockey players in the world playing for pride. I love fighting in the NHL, and that's where it stays in the NHL. There aren't any goons in this tournament, there is no place for them.
What I love about it, is the fact that these guys fight each other one night, and then turn around and play side by side in the Olympics. As far as the NHL goes, a dream match up would be Washington and Pittsburgh in the Eastern conference finals. Crosby and Malkin against Ovechkin and Backstrom. In the Olympics you might have Ovechkin and Malkin against Crosby for the gold medal in Crosby's home country.
Most teams have great goalies, so they matchups become so important, because any one of the goalies can win a game by himself.
FEBRUARY 21st.
Game #1 Czech Rupublic vs. Russia
Game #2 USA vs. Canada
Game #3 Finland vs. Sweden
These aren't cities that don't like each other. Yesterday I went to Minnesota vs. Vancouver, and it's a fun rivalry, but these games pit countries against each other that don't get along. Now this isn't 1980 USA vs. Russia, but it's still fun. I don't anything about Sweden or Finland, but I do know that they don't like each other. So I'm going to watch the little hockey war play out.
So tune in, and enjoy it. Because this isn't normal hockey, it's like 3 all-star games a day, that play the best defense in the world. You have the best players and coaches playing for pride.
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