Olympics - Team Canada No Shows

I went over to my wife's uncle's house yesterday to watch the men's gold medal hockey match-up between the US and Canada. It was a perfect end to a great couple of weeks. Those seventy or so minutes of hockey had all the ups and downs that many athletes, of all the winter sports, had lived through in their respective events. Joy. Disappointment. Sudden changes in momentum. Surprises. It was a picture perfect, down to the last minute, event. The equivalent of a win in speed skating by a few hundredths of a second. Both teams showed up and I was overjoyed the Canada won the game. Canada capped these two weeks with an amazing medal collection and the most golds ever collected by any nation at a winter Olympiad. The Canadians showed up, Team Canada showed up and we were proud from coast to coast to coast.

But then some decided not to show up. And I was disappointed by that.

Although I really enjoy watching the professionals play in the Olympics I have always had a part of me that felt that they just did not belong in these games. It seemed to me that the purity of the games was somehow lost on the pros. Competition for the sake of competing. Mingling with fellow athletes. Celebrating each other's wins. My gut always told me that having those millionaire, egotistical men somehow tarnished the spirit of the games - bringing the youth of the world together. Well, today, they proved me right.

They did not show up. Apparently Team Canada were too busy celebrating their gold medal hockey win with families and friends and could not bother to walk across Griffiths Way from GM to BC Place to take part in the Closing Ceremonies. It is a shame. They had made a nation proud today. We all cheered for them. They were also part of a larger Team Canada and they did not even bother to show up for the final party and join their fellow athletes to thank them, the volunteers, the fans, the country, the organizers. Nope. They are somehow above all of the pomp and circumstance and tradition of the Olympics I guess. Well then maybe they should no longer be invited.

It reminded me of very similar moment that I experienced, a few years ago, also in BC place, when I had gone to hear the Three Tenors sing at BC Place on News Year's Eve of 1996. A few minutes before midnight they decided to leave the stage. The crowd was anticipating some grand finale at midnight. We all thought that they must have gone offstage to prepare for the celebration that would ring in the New Year. Nope. The three goofs had decided that they would celebrate the moment with their families and not with the 60,000 fans that had paid between $45 and $4400 dollars per ticket to spend the evening with their heroes. Fame, money and egos somehow got in the way on December 31, 1996.

Well the same was true February 28, 2010. Team Canada did not, in the end, show up. Go back to beating the crap out of each other in your NHL.

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Comments

Dan B said…
I hear ya... but. I know that the broadcast said that the players were celebrating privately with family, and that may in fact have been the case for some or many, but in fact some of them were flying out of town tonight. The NHLPA pre-booked flights for each NHL athlete prior to the games to ensure that they are back for games as early as Monday night. Given that the NHL athletes (at least the Canadian ones) stayed in the Athletes Village, did in fact cheer on their fellow athletes, and participated in the final event of the Olympics, only a couple of hours prior to the ceremony, I give them a pass.
March 01, 2010
Grixti said…
Ease up a little on them Olivier :)
Actually they stayed at the Athletes' Village during the games and you could catch glimpses of them throughout the village signing autographs and posing for pictures. They have also been spotted at some of the games cheering on fellow Canadians. Overall I think this Winter Olympics they made a decent effort to experience what it means to be part of the Canadian Olympic team. From the interviews I've seen playing in the Olympics is a dream come true for many of them.
March 01, 2010
Olivier said…
Thanks for the comments. Interesting how an entry on hockey seems to stir emotions. I agree that it may have been a dream for some of the players and, yes, they are busy boys. When you are part of a team, Team Canada, you should be there until the end. When you wear a Canuck shirt you are expected to show up for all the team's events. Same goes for this. NHLPA, NHL and IOC had many years to work out a convenient schedule. Finally, don't they play back-to-back games in the NHL, in different cities? Not often but they do. So I don't believe they were too tired to show as some are saying.
Thanks for reading...let's see whether my post tomorrow generates as much interest.
March 01, 2010
alcino said…
The Olympic Games should be ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY for amateur athletes, professionals should NEVER, NEVER be allowed to participate.
March 10, 2010
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