Why the game is played

OK, I was wrong. Just days ago I stated it was “inevitable” that the US and Canada would meet in the gold medal final for women’s hockey at the Olympics. And then this happens: Sweden 3, US 2 in a shootout in the semifinal (Canada won their semi 6-0 over Finland). In my defence, however, pretty much everyone else got it wrong too – it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the US and Canada were the teams to beat, and everyone else had a lot of catching up to do. Obviously, there was less distance between the teams that we all thought, and it was close enough that on a given day, the underdogs with some spirited play and great individual performances from a few players (particularly goalie Kim Martin) could knock off one of the two favourites. Still a huge upset, but it’s the first indication in a while that the US and Canada are not truly invincible. Interestingly, Angela Ruggiero, who I ripped earlier, was one of the few who realised that it wasn’t a foregone conclusion:

“Going into these Games, a lot of people were saying, `Oh, it's USA-Canada.' And maybe it will turn out to be that. But you earn your spot to make it to that final game. Especially (against) those two teams, Sweden and Finland, you have to beat them. If you just show up, you're not going to win."

Too true. So, I won’t blame the US’s loss on hubris, but the point is made: take nothing for granted, it’s not enough to know you’re the better team, you gotta be the better team.

On a similar note, another event in the Olys today made a similar point, but this one I will attribute to hubris: Lindsey Jacobellis pulled off a Leon Lett moment when, on the penultimate jump in the snowboard cross final with a seemingly insurmountable lead, she tried a bit of showboating by going for the stylish board-grab, missed the landing, wiped out, and was passed before the finish line by the Swiss finalist, Tanja Frieden. (The two Canadian finalists were unfortunately unable to take advantage, each having wiped out rather badly in passing attempts earlier in the race.) She initially tried for the excuse that the board grab was needed for stability before revising her story to saying she was just trying to ‘have some fun’ with the ill-fated move. Well, I have nothing against fun. But there will probably be a lot of people (and her sponsors, I imagine) who will be less than impressed with that excuse for blowing the win.

So kids, the take home message is: a) the game isn’t won until it’s played, and b) the race isn’t over until you cross the line.

Now, get off your asses and go do something. You aren’t going to win anything by reading a blog.