First, the Doors did the Ed Sullivan Show, then Debbie did Dallas, but Sunday Night Ryan Kesler did Canada.
I hate them.
That phrase will live forever. That was Ryan Kesler's response to a question about the Canadian hockey team prior to last nights game. At that moment he was put on the ledge. Either be shoved off and die, or scream at the top of your lungs and cause an avalanche that destroys thousands of pursuing warriors. Well, Ryan Kesler did just that. The game was the most intense hockey game anyone has seen in the last 5 years (including last years Stanley Cup Game 7). Ryan Kesler set the tone.
The Champ is here!!! The Champ is here!!!
Ali shouted this at the top of his lungs. Brass young man not worried about the juggernaut he was fixing to face, not worried about what people would write or say prior to the fight once he was served his expected ass beating. In a moment of dire desperation in the closing minute of a game so close to evaporating 57 minutes of hockey the Americans put together, Kesler delivered his kill shot. A play that is the metaphor of an entire locker room. A race to the puck that he had no business winning, a desperate dive that could have left the team in a 6 on 4 rush with the game on the line after being peppered like a chess club in paintball for the previous three minutes, he dove, connected with the puck, and slid it into the open net. Kill shot. Legend. Rename highway 75 after him, and plant two statues on either side in its farthest northern stretch.
The game had everything any fan of anything could ever imagine. No, change that, the game had anything any American could ever imagine. No, it wasn't the Miracle on Ice, in fact, it wasn't even the Belarus upset over gold medal favorite Sweden in the elimination rounds in 2002, but it was a statement. This team was probably sick of hearing the likes of people like me say that 2014 is "our year" and this olympic tournament would just be merely a trial before the young kids, that shocked the world 2 months ago, took over USA hockey.
Sure, along the way Ryan Miller played phenomenal, Rafalski got a hat-trick (Langenbrunner did not touch that puck), Sidney Crosby cried like a baby considering the first goal went off his stick, he totally dove to try to pull some cheap ass move to prevent a goal only to have Chris Drury go 2001 all up in his face, and he was sitting in the box responsible for the power play goal that wound up being the game winner. But nobody on the Americans did was Kesler did.
I hate them.
Well, thankfully for me and my fellow Americans, Canadians now hate you. But don't worry, they're flat on their back just like Sonny Liston and you're screaming "what's my name!?". Legend.
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Legend? It was a nice hustle play. It wasn't a game winner, if it didn't happen the outcome very well could have been the same. It wasn't in a championship game, it didn't even knock out Canada from the tournament. It gives USA momentum going into the medal rounds, but will be quickly forgotten once the US is eliminated or wins a gold.
ReplyDeleteKesler's hustle and the outcome of that play in particular was symbolic of the attitudes of both teams. Canadiens think they invented the sport and are entitled to a gold medal. Brodeur's terrible performance played a huge role in Canada's loss. He's an old lazy fat fuck. The majority of Canada's team has a Stanley Cup, a gold medal or both. Why should they even care? Crosby cares more about protecting his reputation than representing his nation. Lets go back to the old days when pros weren't allowed to play and young men, still fighting to be noticed, were playing with passion. What Kesler and his teammates did was great...but its hard to choose one team of rich, pampered assholes over another team of rich, pampered assholes. All I'm really hoping for with these Olympic games is that somebody steps on Ovechkin's neck.
ReplyDeleteWell, for starters, the moment will be remembered forever if the United States wins gold. Few people remember, but when the Americans defeated the USSR in 1980, that didn't secure gold, not even bronze. The USA had to win against Finland to get gold, a loss got them nothing. This was under the previous tournament format which was all round robin and had no single elimination. Had we never beat Finland that following night, the 1980 miracle would have been for not.
ReplyDeleteAs for "spoiled millionaires", it really depends on who you speak of. Every american player is a "spoiled millionaire" and tonight we just watched some spoiled millionaires play the most anticipated game of the tournament globally (canada and russia). The "spoiled millionaires" are making this tournament the worlds greatest. Send some college kids and you have an amateur tournament that frankly I could do without. The olympics are all about who is the best. Players play with heart if they have heart, not just because they're receiving no paycheck.