Sunday 28 February 2010

Thank you, USA

Sidney Crosby celebratesThank you for a wonderful game that had us scared right till the very end.

But what really made me proud was when the Vancouver crowd cheered for American goalie Ryan Miller as he received his medal. And when the Canadian crowd cheered the American women's team as they received their medals. It's wonderful when your athletes do you proud, but it's even nicer when your people do you proud.

And having watched these Olympics from the US, may I say I was very impressed by NBC's coverage. It was done with a warmth and a generous spirit that I really enjoyed.

Canadian or not, it takes the Olympics though to make me watch two hockey games in one week. I watched the Canada-Russia game and the gold medal game and they were well worth watching.

4 comments:

G. said...

Similar thoughts were on my mind via FB earlier. I was expressly most proud of all the unheralded US athletes that stepped up when so many of the big shots proved so disappointing.

Too, I was half-rooting for Canada with Men's Hockey over the US, anyway, b/c it kind of made me mad to see how many folks, including friends, were exulting over the US win in the first meeting these Olympics. Poor sportsmanship is just that, and it changes my loyalty. I mean, to have said "hooray USA," is one thing, to go bragging about how awesome it was to see us "school" Canada in their own backyard wasn't cool. This gold for Canada is poetic justice at its finest, in light of such comments, the same as it was for Plushenko running his mouth.

I do wish Canada had let McKeever ski, though: I was late catching wind of his story, but wow, how awesome, no? That would have been really cool, and it's not like any of the other four made it to the podium, anyway. I mean, I understand the coach's motivation, and he wasn't wrong for it, but still...

Finally, "woo-hoo!" I finally signed up to get email notifications so I don't have to manually check (and, I know, I know, you told me to, but I'm slow to embrace technology, of however minor a sort, I guess). =)

Anyway, hooray, for Canada! Hooray for the US! Hooray for all the kids that get out there and do their best, from whatever nation! They ALL are deserving of our praise... well, most of them: the Americans leave a lot to be desired sometimes--maybe if Vonn, Belbin, and others had spent a little more time practicing than peeling their clothes off for swimsuit shots, they'd have lived up to all their hype...

eh? Isn't that the it, "eh?"

Janet said...

Yeah, it would have been cool if McKeever had skied, all right.

Still and all, a good Olympics for both Canada and the US. Russia is fuming, mind you.

I don't think it is possible to pronounce "eh" correctly with a Georgian accent... ;o)

G. said...

LOL! Do you remember the McKenzie Brothers, with Moranis? I'm not sure, if you do, if you will say you liked the act or not, but I loved them growing up.

And yes, I have read about resignations being asked for there, myself... sometimes, it's easy to see the old Soviet, strong-arm mentality still at work. lol

Who was it that said the Russian people were never capable of anything more than a despot? That is not actually how the quote was worded, but something to that effect.

rsctt said...

good sportsmanship has come back!

 

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