Sunday, February 28, 2010

I Changed My Mind

Back in December I served a table of 6 who were all members of the NBC Olympic broadcast crew .

After dinner we discussed the upcoming Olympic and my expectations, I said with conviction that "Regardless of what else Canada does if we don't win Gold in Men's Hockey the Games will have been a failure".

For a long time I stood by that statement but in the past week I've changed my mind . Even if the Men's Hockey team does not prevail this afternoon against the Godless scourge in Stars and Stripes, and I firmly believe we will, these games are an athletic success for Canada.

Alexandre Bilodeau got it started and along the way there were great moments like John Montgomery, Clara Hughes (whose bronze shines as bright as gold to me), Joannie Rochette, Jasey Jay, the phenomenally named Tessa Virtue and the precision of Kevin Martin's curling rink. There was disappointment for some and a heart breaking number of 4th and 5th placings but in the end, in my mind, we did Own the Podium.

This morning the DPK U11 Silver Shadows finished off their season three hours early, a 4-2 win for those keeping track, so that everyone can be nervously ensconced in their own place of worship to watch the Gold Medal game at noon. It's a massive game, a defining moment in many ways but win or lose the athletes of Canada have more than met my expectations.

Still that 14th Gold would be sweet, but no sweeter than the other 13 .