Sour Grapes From Grapes
I guess Don Cherry has to slag someone, now that he's been slapped for slagging French hockey players. That, and it's hard to keep your name in the news when the NHL takes a two-week hiatus to accomodate the Olympics.
"Hockey commentator Don Cherry criticized the Canadian women's hockey team Wednesday for running up the score against their weaker opponents at the Winter Olympics."
Now, the last time I checked, the whole purpose of a competitive sport is to run up as high a score as you can. Right?
And the whole purpose of the Olympics is to demonstrate the abilities of athletes, right?
Obviously, the Canadian women's team were actually in a position to do both. So they did.
"'To run up a score like that, that is wrong,' said Cherry. `First of all it is not the Canadian way.'"
It's wrong? It's unCanadian? Our national sport? Not excel? oh...I get it -- It's not ladylike!
"American defenceman Angela Ruggiero, considered the best defenceman in women's hockey, told SI.com, Sports Illustrated's website earlier this week, that she was upset that 'Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation.'"
Now, from a competitor in the same sport and at the same (maybe) level, I would expect this kind of bitching. After all, it's in Ruggiero's best interests to keep the Canadian team's score as low as possible, isn't it -- considering that as a defenceman, she is going to have to face those power forwards in the fight for the gold.
But...she also said, "...especially against the host nation." The host being Italy. Ruggiero being an Italian name. Hmmmmmm...
"'If you run up scores like you're running up scores now, and beating all these Europeans teams like that and making mockery of their hosts. . . If you keep it up, you're committing suicide, they'll throw those games out.'"
Listen up, you broken-down old has-been: This is the Olympics. Higher. Faster. Stronger. Go for the Gold.
If other countries with "hockey" teams are having a hard time keeping up, they can do one of two things. They can either practise their chosen sport and take it as seriously as our Canadian women do. Or they can save themselves the embarassment and simply not enter a team into an event when they know they're outclassed to begin with.
Not Canadian? Grapes, you're not relevant!
Hayley and Team Canada: YOU GO, GIRLS!
*****
UPDATE THE FIRST: Looks like the run for the gold won't be between Canada and the US after all. Could be Canada and Sweden. Although, I don't like the shoot-out at all. More luck than skill involved. However, those are the current rules, and I am in the minority.
UPDATE THE SECOND: Somebody musta been readin' my mind. I think it would be entirely too much to think they were readin' my blog...
"Hockey commentator Don Cherry criticized the Canadian women's hockey team Wednesday for running up the score against their weaker opponents at the Winter Olympics."
Now, the last time I checked, the whole purpose of a competitive sport is to run up as high a score as you can. Right?
And the whole purpose of the Olympics is to demonstrate the abilities of athletes, right?
Obviously, the Canadian women's team were actually in a position to do both. So they did.
"'To run up a score like that, that is wrong,' said Cherry. `First of all it is not the Canadian way.'"
It's wrong? It's unCanadian? Our national sport? Not excel? oh...I get it -- It's not ladylike!
"American defenceman Angela Ruggiero, considered the best defenceman in women's hockey, told SI.com, Sports Illustrated's website earlier this week, that she was upset that 'Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation.'"
Now, from a competitor in the same sport and at the same (maybe) level, I would expect this kind of bitching. After all, it's in Ruggiero's best interests to keep the Canadian team's score as low as possible, isn't it -- considering that as a defenceman, she is going to have to face those power forwards in the fight for the gold.
But...she also said, "...especially against the host nation." The host being Italy. Ruggiero being an Italian name. Hmmmmmm...
"'If you run up scores like you're running up scores now, and beating all these Europeans teams like that and making mockery of their hosts. . . If you keep it up, you're committing suicide, they'll throw those games out.'"
Listen up, you broken-down old has-been: This is the Olympics. Higher. Faster. Stronger. Go for the Gold.
If other countries with "hockey" teams are having a hard time keeping up, they can do one of two things. They can either practise their chosen sport and take it as seriously as our Canadian women do. Or they can save themselves the embarassment and simply not enter a team into an event when they know they're outclassed to begin with.
Not Canadian? Grapes, you're not relevant!
Hayley and Team Canada: YOU GO, GIRLS!
*****
UPDATE THE FIRST: Looks like the run for the gold won't be between Canada and the US after all. Could be Canada and Sweden. Although, I don't like the shoot-out at all. More luck than skill involved. However, those are the current rules, and I am in the minority.
UPDATE THE SECOND: Somebody musta been readin' my mind. I think it would be entirely too much to think they were readin' my blog...
posted by Chimera at 2:52 PM
8 Comments:
What I don't understand is...what exactly would Don Cherry have them do?
Try LESS hard once they're, oh, let's say, five points up?
Don lead weight belts? Play with an eyepatch? Skate backwards only? Pull the goalie?
I dunno...stay barefoot and pregnant with the next generation of male hockey players?
I don't think Grapes thinks of women and contact sports in the same context.
I mean -- he doesn't think the French players have what it takes...and they're all men!
I'd love to see him in a face-to-face with Hayley. Conversation, I mean. No contact -- she'd kill him!
Just saw Cherry rant about all the criticism against him -- he got a hat trick of it yesterday, he said, from the media (plus all our blogs he hasn't noticed) -- on CBC. As usual, he's amusing, and to give him credit, he has supported women's hockey from the beginning with Hazel McCallion (wouldn't one like to be a fly on the wall when those two get together?!). I still disagree with him.
I totally agree that Ruggiero is being a whiny baby. She's also probably just trying to get under their skin.
On the other hand, the olympics is also about sportsmanship, and when you've beaten a team, as I understand our ladies were conclusively doing, there's no need to humiliate them with a huge score. Just dump it in, and keep the score as is. Practice circulating the puck maybe...
I do understand your argument though. The Olympics are about performing your best. I think La Presse's Pierre Foglia said it best when he wrote that women's hockey isn't really an olmypic sport when there are 2 teams competing (the swedes weren't seen as competition at the time). Even with 3...
Incidentally, Cherry is a fool and the CBC needs to carry more Canadiens and non Toronto games (I think I posted on that a little bit back).
They let women play hockey?! Who knew.
Guess Cherry forgot about when Canada ran up the score 33-0 against a Swiss Team one year.
how does one decide the "Canadian way?"
Many of the Italian girls, who are all 15 or 16, were actually impressed by the Canadians, and not down at all. One in an interview said she now knew what they were supposed to play like.
Cherry is like Jack Layton, loves the sound of his own voice....
I don't watch TV, so I didn't get to follow the games. And after the fourth or fifth goal, I probably woulda been cheering the Italians on -- 14 and 15 years old? My gods, that's young to be going up against Hayley's "comets!"
I like the attitude, though. Maybe by 2010, they'll be ready to give us a run for our medal...
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