Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Smaka » Sun, 22 Feb 1998 04:00:00


I support and love my country, but I have to say I'm glad the US lost their
hopes for an Olympic medal.  The Olympics are a special part of this world we
live in- truly a time for peace and friendship under the flag of unity.  So
many people look up to the ideals the Olympics represent and honor the medals
they award.  I don't think it fit for any team, who assembles for just a few
days of practice, who light-heartedly approaches the games, who thinks them
better than the others by not staying at the village, and who trashes their
host country in a display of unsportsman-like rage, to wear such a high honor.
To be honest, I can't wait for the basketball Dream Team to get their butts
kicked, too.

Good job to all those who sacrificed much to participate in the Games.  And
great job to all those who stuggle everyday to do their best, despite no hopes
of Olympic glory.

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Sam Call » Sun, 22 Feb 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

>I support and love my country, but I have to say I'm glad the US lost their
>hopes for an Olympic medal.  The Olympics are a special part of this world we
>live in- truly a time for peace and friendship under the flag of unity.  So
>many people look up to the ideals the Olympics represent and honor the medals
>they award.  I don't think it fit for any team, who assembles for just a few
>days of practice, who light-heartedly approaches the games, who thinks them
>better than the others by not staying at the village, and who trashes their
>host country in a display of unsportsman-like rage, to wear such a high honor.
>To be honest, I can't wait for the basketball Dream Team to get their butts
>kicked, too.

        1)  The US hockey players did stay in the village--I guess you missed all those stories
about all the damage to the village rooms.  (BTW, the Olympic Village in Atlanta had a LOT more
damage and was really trashed after the Games, but no one seems bothered by that.)
        2)  So you must not like any of the hockey teams since they are assembled just a few days
before the Games (except for a few countries without many NHL players)
        3)  they "tashed" the village, not the entire country of Japan
        4)  The USA Basketball Team (USA Basketball has stopped calling them the Dream Team)) will
not be beaten for a long time.   Oh yeah, IMHO, you can blame John Thompson for the pros being in
the Olympics.  And USA Basketball initially voted against allowing NBA players to play.
        5)  I do not follow hockey closely (find it boring for the most part), but I saw several
interviews and never got the feeling the US players thought they were going to walk through the
tournament.  They were confident (that is a fact of life with successful athletes), especially with
the success in 1996---the problem was that several players are having bad years and should have been
replaced.
Quote:
>Good job to all those who sacrificed much to participate in the Games.  And
>great job to all those who stuggle everyday to do their best, despite no hopes
>of Olympic glory.


 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Sam Call » Sun, 22 Feb 1998 04:00:00

Quote:


>: interviews and never got the feeling the US players thought they were going to walk through the
>: tournament.  They were confident (that is a fact of life with successful athletes), especially with
>: the success in 1996---the problem was that several players are having bad years and should have been
>: replaced.

>I think the real difference was in the interviews they showed on CBS the
>other night.  After losing to the Czechs, Gretzky couldn't stop talking
>about how well the Czechs played, and that they played the most
>impressive game of hockey he's ever seen.

>Brett Hull, on the other hand, couldn't stop whining about how pissed off
>he was and how the whole thing had been a huge waste of time.  There's a
>way to lose like a class act, and a way to lose like a little kid...

        Brett Hull has had quite a year running off at the mouth.  IIANM, he said soemthing earlier
about how the play in the NHL is so bad right now.
        The question I have is:  was he pissed off at the way the team played?
        I also remember one  of the players talking about what a waste of time it was (I will defer
to you that it was Hull):  Was he saying this just after a poor performance?  I have gone to races
where I knew I had a chance to win and then not won;  I have thought the same thing:  Damn, I came
all this way and it turned out to be a waste of time---now, later I put the situation in
perspective, but I have not had millions watching me and expecting me to win either.

        I guess this sounds like excuse making, but context is important.
        Regardless, the few athletes who spoke out or did damage have not been a good reflection of
US athletes or the NHL.

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Jason Mayfie » Mon, 23 Feb 1998 04:00:00

: interviews and never got the feeling the US players thought they were going to walk through the
: tournament.  They were confident (that is a fact of life with successful athletes), especially with
: the success in 1996---the problem was that several players are having bad years and should have been
: replaced.

I think the real difference was in the interviews they showed on CBS the
other night.  After losing to the Czechs, Gretzky couldn't stop talking
about how well the Czechs played, and that they played the most
impressive game of hockey he's ever seen.

Brett Hull, on the other hand, couldn't stop whining about how pissed off
he was and how the whole thing had been a huge waste of time.  There's a
way to lose like a class act, and a way to lose like a little kid...

--
Jason Mayfield, Arlington VA
Persist, Persevere, Deny, Pursue, Pain, Survive, Ignore, Endure, Strive,
Laugh, Cry, Live, Prevail, Scream, Sweat, Bleed, Sustain, Learn, Ascend,
Give, Get, GO!  189 Days Until Ironman Canada '98

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Mr. Wobb » Tue, 24 Feb 1998 04:00:00



Quote:
> I support and love my country, but I have to say I'm glad the US lost their
> hopes for an Olympic medal.  The Olympics are a special part of this world we
> live in- truly a time for peace and friendship under the flag of unity.  So
> many people look up to the ideals the Olympics represent and honor the medals
> they award.  I don't think it fit for any team, who assembles for just a few
> days of practice, who light-heartedly approaches the games, who thinks them
> better than the others by not staying at the village, and who trashes their
> host country in a display of unsportsman-like rage, to wear such a high honor.
> To be honest, I can't wait for the basketball Dream Team to get their butts
> kicked, too.

> Good job to all those who sacrificed much to participate in the Games.  And
> great job to all those who stuggle everyday to do their best, despite no hopes
> of Olympic glory.

if you want to see an ideal of olympic competition without the "evil"
influence of money take a look at women's ice hockey. the women from
all countries competed for love of the sport and to demonstrate that
they could play. if you saw any part of the gold medal game between
the us and canada you would realize how beautiful a sport ice hockey
can be when played by people who play for love and not money.

as a novice level (i.e. bad) hockey player i got a lot more motivation
to play out of the women's games than i did from the men's except for
maybe the czech's taking the gold.

with the czech's winning one of my wife's favorite sayings comes to
mind, "it's not the players you have on your team, it's the team you
have for your players."

wobbet

triathalete, hockey player, martial artist
proud to be bad at all of 'em

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Niclas H M Tyl » Tue, 24 Feb 1998 04:00:00

/Huge snip/

Quote:
>with the czech's winning one of my wife's favorite sayings comes to
>mind, "it's not the players you have on your team, it's the team you
>have for your players."

I think this saying sums up very well what we saw in the games. In the
end it was a country with only 11 players from the NHL who won, leaving
Russia, Canada and the USA with only players from the NHL behind. On
the other hand, it also might be an indication that perhaps the European
national hockey leagues are not _that_ bad after all..

niclas "Finnish recreational triathlete and occasional hockey fan" tylli

Quote:
>wobbet
>triathalete, hockey player, martial artist
>proud to be bad at all of 'em

--
 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Mike Tenne » Wed, 25 Feb 1998 04:00:00


Quote:

>/Huge snip/
>>with the czech's winning one of my wife's favorite sayings comes to
>>mind, "it's not the players you have on your team, it's the team you
>>have for your players."

>I think this saying sums up very well what we saw in the games. In the
>end it was a country with only 11 players from the NHL who won, leaving
>Russia, Canada and the USA with only players from the NHL behind. On
>the other hand, it also might be an indication that perhaps the European
>national hockey leagues are not _that_ bad after all..

NHL types are used to those 15 minute fight breaks every 5 minutes.
They couldn't skate with the Europeans.

Or maybe they all had Sudafed withdrawal.

<g>

Mike "TriBop" Tennent
http://SportToday.org/~wbrunner/

WebRunner Running
My Model Railroad
'98 Ironman Canada Iron***s Site

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Iron Pe » Sun, 01 Mar 1998 04:00:00

I have mixed feelings. In the end it was a team with a small amount of NHL
players that did win, but it was an NHL'er who just about single-handedly gave
the Czechs the gold medal (Hasek). Other than the US fiasco, the NHL'ers had a
pretty strong showing in the Olympics.

The trouble I have is that these players who have contracts with their NHL
teams are at risk of injury at the Olympics. A good example is Sakic, who
injured himself seriously at the Olympics. After the Avalanche risked
bankruptcy to sign him on, he'll be out for a number of weeks now due to the
Olympics. Is it worth the risk?

OK, after that said, back to triathlon...

"Iron Pete" Priolo

IMC'96 - 10:36:37    IMC'97 - 10:42:53

'98 - Gulf Coast Tri, IMC, BSLT, Blackwater - confirmed
(now if I could just copy my other sig onto my personal account---I like that
better :-)  )

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Ken » Sun, 01 Mar 1998 04:00:00

All should be banned from any future participation in international sports.
Nothing less is suitable considering their attitude/behavior.

IMH-97(1st in ag),   IMNZ-97(1st+record)    IMH-95(2nd),  IMH-94(2nd)+++ IMH
1998-Qualified

Quote:

>I support and love my country, but I have to say I'm glad the US lost their
>hopes for an Olympic medal.  The Olympics are a special part of this world
we
>live in- truly a time for peace and friendship under the flag of unity.  So
>many people look up to the ideals the Olympics represent and honor the
medals
>they award.  I don't think it fit for any team, who assembles for just a
few
>days of practice, who light-heartedly approaches the games, who thinks them
>better than the others by not staying at the village, and who trashes their
>host country in a display of unsportsman-like rage, to wear such a high
honor.
>To be honest, I can't wait for the basketball Dream Team to get their butts
>kicked, too.

>Good job to all those who sacrificed much to participate in the Games.  And
>great job to all those who stuggle everyday to do their best, despite no
hopes
>of Olympic glory.

 
 
 

Thoughts on Olympic Men's Hockey

Post by Sam Call » Tue, 03 Mar 1998 04:00:00

        Then find all those people whom trashed rooms in Atlanta and do the
same!

        Also, federations are hesitant to suspend people who take banned
substances, I doubt this will happen.

Quote:

>All should be banned from any future participation in international sports.
>Nothing less is suitable considering their attitude/behavior.

>IMH-97(1st in ag),   IMNZ-97(1st+record)    IMH-95(2nd),  IMH-94(2nd)+++ IMH
>1998-Qualified


>>I support and love my country, but I have to say I'm glad the US lost their
>>hopes for an Olympic medal.  The Olympics are a special part of this world
>we
>>live in- truly a time for peace and friendship under the flag of unity.  So
>>many people look up to the ideals the Olympics represent and honor the
>medals
>>they award.  I don't think it fit for any team, who assembles for just a
>few
>>days of practice, who light-heartedly approaches the games, who thinks them
>>better than the others by not staying at the village, and who trashes their
>>host country in a display of unsportsman-like rage, to wear such a high
>honor.
>>To be honest, I can't wait for the basketball Dream Team to get their butts
>>kicked, too.

>>Good job to all those who sacrificed much to participate in the Games.  And
>>great job to all those who stuggle everyday to do their best, despite no
>hopes
>>of Olympic glory.