As unhappy as I was about the US women's hockey team losing to Canada in the gold medal game, the Canadian celebration was hilarious. Following the medal ceremony, the players stayed on the ice for over 70 minutes reveling in the moment by drinking beer and champagne and smoking cigars. The International Olympic Committee has already criticized the team and will be investigating further.
Honestly, who cares? These women have worked their asses off for four years, for very little pay, to reach one goal: win the gold medal. They achieved their goal so let them celebrate. After North American professional sports teams win championships they always smoke cigars and consume alcohol, so what's the big deal? I truly believe that if it were men who celebrated like the Canadian Women, it wouldn't have even raised an eyebrow. Yes, one of the players drinking was 18, while the legal drinking age in British Columbia is 19, but still, who cares?
The International Olympic Committee is way too strict. US snowboarder Scotty Lago was kicked out of Vancouver after someone took a photo of him, well, having fun with a female fan. It was a little inappropriate, maybe, but being forced to go home is way to harsh of a punishment. These athletes have worked so hard to accomplish their goals, and when they do they should be allowed to celebrate a little bit. The IOC has many more important things they should be concerned about, like making sure no one dies. They failed at that once already this olympics.
Hopefully the Canadian men's hockey team will not be celebrating at all. There is a very good possibility that their will be a USA vs. Canada rematch for the gold medal (knock on wood). How crazy would that be? For the US to beat Canada again it would take a miracle, but I think the USA hockey program is pretty accustomed to that. First though, the USA has to beat Finland and Canada has to beat Slovakia.
Go America!
No comments:
Post a Comment