As a diehard hockey fan, I certainly won’t deny that I’m still a little bitter over USA’s overtime loss to Canada in the gold medal game at the Vancouver Olympics. The fact that Sidney Crosby himself scored the winning goal was almost too much to bear. That being said, I definitely enjoyed watching the game, and I was happy to see the 21st Winter Olympic Games end in a thrilling matchup between the two North American rivals. However, in the aftermath of this instant classic, I noticed that the result of the game had evoked several disappointing responses from fans of both
As I do after every big sports matchup, once the game had ended I went straight to my computer and logged on to the ESPN.com forums to see what others had to say about the game’s outcome. Not surprisingly, I witnessed a slew of angry, hostile attacks from citizens of both countries directed towards the other. A large number of the comments had little to do with the Olympics whatsoever. A number of debates raged over healthcare, foreign policy, and whether or not Sydney Crosby is the world’s greatest hockey player or a whining, crying little girl.
All this got me thinking; how could an Olympic hockey game instill so much hatred between two otherwise habitually friendly nations? “America’s Hat” jokes aside, the U.S. and Canada have enjoyed one of the most peaceful relationships between two neighboring countries throughout the history of the Western world. At 5,525 miles long, the U.S.-Canadian border is by far the longest undefended border in the world, and despite the media’s attention to China-US trade relations, Canada actually stands as our largest international trading partner. Although we do live in a highly embittered political climate, that’s no excuse for the level of animosity I witnessed on the ESPN forums.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to there being a healthy sports rivalry between the two countries, and there’s absolutely no reason why Americans and Canadians shouldn’t be proud of their respective country’s performance at the 2010 Winter Games. Furthermore, there’s no point in condemning the political implications involved in competitions between certain countries participating at the Olympic Games. The Olympic rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which persisted for most of the second half of the 20th century, was simply inevitable given the state of relations between the two world superpowers.
Nevertheless, the Olympics ought to primarily be a celebration of athletes, not individual countries. During the Olympics, the entire world is supposed to come together to have its citizens compete against each other in fantastic displays of physical strength and endurance. In that respect, it’s a shame that the traditionally amiable relationship between the U.S.A. and Canada could be wholeheartedly ignored by so many hockey fans due to the gold hockey medal game. Both teams put up stellar performances; although it’s okay to be delighted or disappointed by the outcome, it’s important not to overreact.
On a similar note, I was also bewildered by Americans who said that they were “happy for Canada,” because they were the home country and they “wanted it” (i.e. a gold medal victory in hockey) so badly. Just because a country is hosting the Olympics does not give it any more of a right to seek national self-glorification.
Finally, I must say that I was slightly disgusted by the way several media outlets portrayed the Canadian hockey victory. Some pointed out how the Vancouver Olympics had started out on such a tragic note, with the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, but were now ending in a jubilant celebration by the home country. No doubt, this was horribly insensitive. In no way does Canada’s gold medal make the luger’s death any less difficult to bear for his friends and relatives.
And that’s just the point. In the end, being patriotic is one thing; being offensive is quite another.
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