thought i'd re-publish this entry from february with an update from tsn's web site. dunno what he's going to do with 5.2 tons of maple syrup, but it's the thought that counts, right?
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as you probably know by now, sara renner and beckie scott won silver for canada in the women's team sprint today. sara broke a pole half-way through the race and, in a commendable display of olympic spirit and sportsmanship, a norwegian coach handed her a replacement mere strides later. what makes this event even more impressive is the fact that norway's ella gjomle and marit bjorgen finished fourth. we can all do the math - if not for the actions of that coach, the norwegian team, in all likelihood, would have medaled.
do you think this coach considered the impact to his team before acting? probably as much as he considered how much impact his actions would positively impact my (and, I'm sure, many other canadians') feelings towards norwegians. for the rest of these olympics, if I can't cheer for canada in an event, I'll be cheering for norway.
in stark contrast are the comments by u.s. women's hockey team member, angela ruggiero. these hypocritical comments really ticked me off, especially when canadian team members had already admitted that, yeah, it sucks - but what are you supposed to do? i didn't see the u.s. games against switzerland and germany, but I don't think they were playing with only 4 skaters or maybe wrong-handed sticks, just be be 'fair'. and does she expect us to believe that team usa doesn't care about getting any advantage they can, even if it is only home-ice advantage? did they only play at 50 or 75% because they didn't want to embarrass anyone? i'd like to hear her coach respond to these questions....she might not be the coach for long....
i've played lots of sports, and i'd much rather get my bum spanked by an opponent that outclasses me, than have them take pity on me and not play the game the way it's supposed to be. there's no better way to learn and improve than to face 'the best' - and if that opponent can show some sportsmanship in the process, we're all that much better for it.
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