Forgive me for being entirely underwhelmed by the US hockey win over Canada. Well, not entirely: It was certainly an upset. But hardly anything definitive.
It wasn't for a medal. And, leading up to the game, a lot of folks had gone a long way to downplaying this US squad, talking about 2010 as a stepping stone to REAL success in 2014.
The operating theory I come back to is that this was no more meaningful than any regular-season win. Did the Cavs' win over the Lakers this season really mean anything? How about the Colts beating the Pats? Or the Red Sox beating the Yankees? Or UNC beating Duke?
The proof is in the championship -- or medal. And all that the US has done is implode the old expectations and move themselves into more the more standard scrutiny of American Olympic exceptionalism:
Medal or bust.
That's the lead of today's SN column, but you'll find a lot more, including:
*The most interesting thing about Tiger's thing on Friday.
*Why I'm off the Villanova Final Four bandwagon.
*Why I'm still not convinced the Cavs are the team to beat in the East.
*Why T-Mac saves the Knicks' season.
*Why the Hot Rod circuit is in for a huge change.
*Why Oregon is the new The U.
And more. Check out the complete column here. More later.
-- D.S.
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2 comments:
Jeez, can't we just appreciate a drama filled, tense, exciting game played by some of the world's best in front of a rabid crowd? We don't have to compare this to anything.
It was a great game. Who's saying it was anything like the 1980 win? We don't have to apply your instant history to everything.
"The operating theory I come back to is that this was no more meaningful than any regular-season win. Did the Cavs' win over the Lakers this season really mean anything? How about the Colts beating the Pats? Or the Red Sox beating the Yankees? Or UNC beating Duke?"
Are you flipping kidding me?! A that win ended up securing the #1 overall seed, a bye, and a much easier path to a medal than if they lost.
Of all people I figured instant history Dan Shanoff would be on board a bit, while I don't disagree what so ever that it wasn't a miracle, and doesn't come close to the russia game... that was a huge huge win, and far more important than a random regular season game.
For someone who always up-plays the most moronic things, to see you downplay an amazing game and a huge win was very disappointing to me.
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