Monday, February 24, 2014

USA! USA! U....S.....A?

What's Playing: You're The Best - Joe Esposito


Finally the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi are over. Now for those that didn't watch the Olympics because the Big Bang Theory marathon was on, let me drag out this thought a little more.

I personally LOVE the Olympics, summer or winter, even though the majority of the time I do tune in to view (at least for winter) it's figure skating or ice dancing, don't ask me the difference between them I can't tell. However, for the main event, Men's Ice Hockey, Our United States players decided to take some days off when it mattered most.

Going in I predicted Canada to win....let's be real if I was Canadian I would just play hockey too, so I'm not surprised. The thing that surprised, disgusted, and disturbed me was the performance of USA in the "playoff" matches between Canada and Finland.

The USA vs. Canada game was great to watch, filled with skillful stick-handling and jaw-dropping passes, but come 5 minutes into the 3rd period with the US trailing 1-0, a sense of doubt clouded over the Americans. The 3rd periopd proved to all viewers that Canada should win the game, and they did. It was a tough 1-0 loss but it was a good fight.

However, now with Gold not even possible, you would think the Americans would have a fire to get onto the podium. With one match left, and bronze on the line, the United States faced a surprisingly strong Finland team. With a handful of NHL players, the Fins were able to beat hometown Russia and had a strong showing up until the game versus the United States, which only further emphasised their greatness as a TEAM. The Canada game was disappointing, the Finland game was disgusting.

In case you didn't watch, USA ended up losing 5-0. They essentially played like they did in the 3rd period against Canada, except for the whole 60 minutes. On paper the score would be reversed, and USA would/were heavy favorites. Unfortunately, Finland harnessed a great power, teamwork. It was the same story of their success against Russia. Finland proved that teamwork wins over talent.

I just hope that the Rangers active in the Olympics come back home to the Garden this Thursday with some pep in their step.

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