VICTORY in VANCOUVER by
Collin Preciado
And that was it. Before Ryan Miller and the rest of the United States had any idea what happened, the raucous horn of Canada Hockey place ripped through the dreams of twenty-three American athletes. The rest of us sat at home, helpless, letting the sting sink in. The gold medal game for men’s Ice Hockey in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics had it’s biggest audience since the 1980 games at Lake Placid where the U.S. upset the Soviet Union in the semi-final round. For a couple of Americans, including myself, we saw this as an opportunity for our most beloved sport to be seen and enjoyed by the rest of the country who seldom watch hockey. It also happened to be the most exciting game I have ever watched on a national platform. The United States scoring with less than a half minute to force overtime is something that is usually reserved for a really cliche movie about hockey. Unfortunately for us, however, this movie was apparently made in Canada. As of right now the words “Sidney” and “Crosby” spoken in succession make me upset and slightly ill. I’ll eventually get over it, I actually highly respect him as a player and a leader, but for now Crosby is my least favorite human being on the planet (to clarify: of all my favorite people, he is officially on the bottom of the list). For a good ten seconds his elation following his overtime winning goal equalled absolute pure disappointment. What is so frustrating about this loss is that even though the better team MAY have won, the hardest working team did not. We could see how hard the young American men
Sidney Crosby of Team Canada, celebrating after his gold-medal clinching over-time goal.
worked and we could see the struggle on their face. They over came the odds and defied logic in how far they placed. They simply wanted it the most and they wanted to be able to bring back gold to America. You don’t win silver, you lose it, and that fate was not fair for this group of young guys who deserved much more. Ryan Miller deservedly won the tournament MVP. He didn’t carry the team on his back like many
people said he did, but he certainly helped. They kept showing his face at the end of the game and his expression matched our own. The disappointment was far too great to bear within the confines of anyone’s mind. It was sad to see those players forced to sit out there waiting to win their medals for losing. When you lose the Stanley Cup you can go back to your locker room away from the substantial amount of cameras placed through out the arena. This
was not the case here. I stewed in my own disappointment for the remainder of the day. It slightly subsided though. Canada won, fair and square, and I got to see one of the greatest games ever played. A group of young hungry Americans once again holding their own against the greatest players in the world. For that I will always be pleased and I will never forget how exciting the game was. No, how exciting ALL the games were. The Americans didn’t win gold, but they did win the mind and hearts of every American that watched that game. Many non-traditional hockey fans got to see the passion and intensity that goes into a 60+ minute game
of ice hockey and I no doubt believe many people have a new found respect and admiration for it. By the time I saw a smiling Ryan Miller proudly wearing his silver medal at the closing ceremony, I had forgotten about the loss and all I could think about was simply how amazing the tournament was. Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League is suggesting that they may pull NHL players out of the following Winter Olympics due to an inconvenience. The only inconvenience would be to not allow these players another shot at winning gold. When the next Winter Olympics come about most of these guys
will still be in their twenties. I find it hard to imagine that the rest of the United States of America won’t be ready to back up its team that we still love and believe in.
-CP