NHL Should Keep Players In Olympics
As you all know, I'm pretty much addicted to the Olympics. It's bad. I'm even more addicted to Olympic hockey. Whether it's the USA, or just any game, I'm a devoted watched. (If you've noticed, most of my tweets are of the Olympic hockey variety.
But, sadly, there's been some talk of the NHL not allowing players to compete for their country in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. This is a horrible decision, if it happens. First, the quality of hockey would suffer. NHL players are the best in the world, and having college players, junior players, and others play is just not the same product. The quality of hockey this Olympics has been awesome.
Second, this is the biggest stage for the NHL. The NHL is not that popular, compared to baseball and football. But, for two weeks, everyone is a hockey fan--especially when USA is doing well. To lose that exposure would be a mistake.
Third, no one would watch the NHL during that time. Everyone watches Olympics anyway. You're losing viewers.
Olympic hockey has been awesome, and it's due to all the NHL players. If the NHL does this, it will be making a huge mistake. Don't do it, NHL.
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USA Wins First Hockey Game
USA hockey played it's first game today, beating Switzerland 3-1. Bobby Ryan got the Americans on the board late in the first, off a blistering wrist shot. David Backes added the second goal, on a beautiful end to end rush, and finished it off with a nice backhanded move. Ryan Malone scored a power play goal, by setting up in front, and poking in a loose puck.
Ryan Miller was strong in net, making the saves when he needed too. One problem with the US: After dominating the first two periods, especially the second, they played a very lackadaisical third period. Switzerland dominated the third period, both in shots and in effort. Against better teams like Canada, that won't work.
But, so far, so good. There's scoring on this team, and two of the three goals came from fourth liners. Defense looks pretty good, led by Erik Johnson. I was impressed. Still, Switzerland is not a great team. Need to see what they can do against Canada.
Winter Olympics, Vancouver Edition
I'll be honest: I love the Olympics. A lot. I sit in front of the television for hours, soaking up as much Olympic action as possible. I love it. And I can't pinpoint why. Sure, the competition is tremendous. The world's greatest athletes on the world's greatest stage. But, there's something else. I can watch skiing anytime I want. I watch a tremendous amount of hockey. I could YouTube curling videos if I really wanted to. But I don't. I don't, mostly because, outside of a couple weeks in February, I could care less about curling, or about skiing, or about bobsledding. For two weeks in February, they become the most important thing in the world.
It may have something to do with the infrequency of it. Waiting four years to see these sports may be too long. Waiting two years for any Olympics is too long. It may have something to do with the stories. Maybe you loved the Michael Phelps story. Maybe you loved seeing an underdog finish first. Maybe you love seeing someone persevere.
It may have something with the parade of nations. Seeing the United States walk side by side with Afghanistan. Seeing Korea united. It may have somethipng to do with the fact the the Olympics are the only time that these nations can come together. They may be in war, they may hate each other, but for two weeks, they are one, battling each other only athletics, not in rhetoric or with weapons.
For me, it's all of these. It's rooting for someone. It's watching an obscure sport. It's rooting for a nation, a team, a story. It's seeing nations come together. It's two weeks. Two weeks of peace. Two weeks of national pride. Two weeks where nothing else is important, where the only thing that matters is sport, and the only thing that matters is watching sports. The worries about the economy, about our national security, about our broken political system are gone. For two weeks, we can forget about it. We can forget about our troubles. We can watch sports. We can watch nations come together. That is why I love the Olympics so much.
