| 0 |
Subject: What does this game mean to Americans?
Posted by: JayTDawg
- [4412843] Sun, Feb 24, 2002, 04:16
beginning to an nbcsports article:
"Americans will beat their chests with patriotic pride during Sunday's Olympic gold-medal men's hockey match against Canada. They'll break into spontaneous chants of "USA, USA," and if their guys emerge victorious, it will be party time.
If not, then Americans will simply get on with their lives and go back to paying attention to the Super Bowl, World Series and the Final Four. You know, the sporting events Americans really care about.
Is hockey growing in the United States? Is the United States a world power in the game? Yes on both counts. To the rank and file in the USA, does this matter? Not really."
Heh, I think he sums it up nicely. In Canada a win would be the hugest imaginable thing. Here's wishing the best to both countries nonetheless
|
| 1 | JayTDawg
ID: 4412843
Sun, Feb 24, 2002, 04:22
|
"So, as you watch events unfold Sunday, remember this: A Canadian win will spoil the day for Americans. An American win will be cause for a national day of mourning in Canada. That's how much hockey means to Canadians."
|
| 2 | Greenbelt
ID: 17145249
Sun, Feb 24, 2002, 10:47
|
JayT;
TNX for starting this off. There are so many levels to this. Everything in quotes in the top, I would just add a big ol' DUH! to. I mean, what do you expect? Every host nation gets caught-up in rowdy revelry ( World Cup anyone?? ). But why is it that when us "yanks" get fired-up, we're all catagoricaly viewed as brash, stupid loudmouths? Perhaps it's because that many of my fellow citizens live-down to the most base stereotypes. Maybe it's just envy? Or angst? I do know that from my view, that we are both the most admired and hated nation on the planet. With the games on our turf, and the events of 11Sept. still in the front of our minds, "beat(ing) (our) chests with patriotic pride..." and "spontaneous chants of 'USA, USA,...'" is as much---or more---of an elixer than condensending gingoism. I've been reading around here this morning about how we walk on the Canadian flag, and trash dorms, and get "US" refs to give extra calls for our ladies, and such. But when we do something rotten and get caught, do we threaten to walk out of these---and the next---games? Do we elevate our anger towards that nation and it's people's? Do we flood the IOC's server with thousands of hate-e's ( causing it to be shut-down for 9 hours! ) including hundreds of death-threats toward a single athelete? I'd like to believe that we are a people that take the high-road, but my birthdate wasn't last week. I see plainly how loud and ugly we can be every day. I also see how decent and fair we can be, but that never seems to make the headlines. But as they say, "Lies and rumours take 2-3 laps around the world before truth can get outta the starting blocks." It's a dis that we live with everyday as part of being who we are. But I would like to apologize in advance for any crass scenes this afternoon. But please understand, we are feeling very pissed-upon these days and need something to scream about.Then, there are those of us who are just "fans of the game." Like me...and like ol' Michael Wilbon. Wanna read someone who's fired-up about hockey? Read no further than here.
I will be working on drywall for a build-out this afternoon, but bet-yer-arse that there will be a portable TV in the corner on top of a bucket! I have enjoyed watching these games. I've also avoided getting caught-up with the "we-rule-you-suck" nationalism that is all too attendant. But the skill, and the precision, and oh those lucky bounces ( to get a GW'er off of the goalies head! ). It has been splendid and spirited competion at it's best. IMHO, this tounry has evevated the sport not just here, but in many countries elsewhere. In about 48 hours or so...this board will be very busy with it's usual clamour of trade-talk and final scheduales and such. But for one afternoon, here's hoping for fun and high-pitched hockey played out on an international surface, but played the "North American" way with the best grinders on the whole orb! All for us to enjoy in prime time with no-other distractions. Just good ol' bust-ass hockey. I will be screaming nationalistic pride seeing the statue of liberty on our goaler's hat! HOWEVER, may the best team rule. GOOD LUCK CANADA!
GOOD LUCK USA!
And after it's all in the books, may all of us to the north and south, have a nice big cold one together and talk about "next time!"
|
| 3 | hawaii23
ID: 541150111
Sun, Feb 24, 2002, 10:58
|
I'll drink to that! Cheers!
|
| 4 | Ed S
ID: 100381818
Sun, Feb 24, 2002, 12:00
|
Great post Greenbelt!
Don't fall off the ladder;-)
Another canajun here cheering for the home side, hoping the game meets our expectations.
|
| 5 | josh
ID: 31181812
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 10:13
|
I didn't really have a problem with the US, but since the olympics I'm beginning too. The coverage by the American networks for these olympics was down right ugly. All they cared about was their own team and how many medals they had won.
A couple examples of this was when the short track speed skating was held on saturday. When the event had ended the only thing the US networks had to say was that Apollo Ono had been disqualified and the US relay team had fell in their race. No mention of who won the medals.
Also when the hockey game had ended on Sunday they didn't even show the teams receiving their medals.
I bet if the outcome of these events had been in favor of the US they would've showed the medal presentations.
At least when you turned on CBC's coverage of the olympics they were showing other countries competing and they even had bios on the other countries team members.
I guess Gretzky was on the right track with his comments about the other countries views towards Canadians but I think he should have been speaking more towards the Americans than anyone else.
|
| 6 | perk9600
ID: 4542177
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 10:21
|
Josh,
NBC is an American network that payed millions to cover the olympics. Of course all they care about is what we do. That is to be expected. While I want to know who wins each event it makes sense for them to show only those events we have a chance to win. That is why I was pissed when they started trying to call these the best olympics ever!!! Of course they were the best to us. We won more medals then ever before in our own country. Duh. But if you are from Russia or France were these the best winter olympics ever? I doubt you would think so. So on one level I can understand your frustration but on another I can't help but wonder what you expected?
|
| 7 | KrazyKoalaBears
Donor
ID: 266182910
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 10:38
|
NBC did show the hockey medal ceremony (even mentioned that the Russians had received their medals in a ceremony the day before), including the playing of "Oh, Canada", along with the post-game handshakes. Maybe your NBC affiliate decided to show something else?
|
| 8 | flyboyz
ID: 59126712
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 11:08
|
Josh,
NBC made a point of stating that they started the day planning on covering a 2 medal winner only they thought it would be Ono.
Instead they went to Pelletier and the Canadian
relay team who I believe they said were clearly at a different level than the rest of the field.
C'mon Josh, don't be an ugly Canadian... if it wasn't for the NBC skating commentators cracking open that first bottle of whine, your pairs team
would have gotten stuck with the silver and I have yet to hear one credible report about the Canadian flag 'incident'...
Anyway, congratulations and lets get back to work.
|
| 9 | KrazyKoalaBears
Donor
ID: 266182910
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 11:38
|
NOTE: The following message SHOULD NOT be construed as anti-Canadian or anti-[fill in the blank] sentiment. It is ONLY an offering of reasoning based on facts. There is also some other reasons why NBC covered mostly American athletes compared to other countries in primetime coverage: 1. The USA had the most number of participants of any country at the games. Any time given to other athletes would take away from coverage of the "hometown" athletes, which would make Americans mad at an American broadcasting company for not covering the "hometown" team to the fullest extent possible. 2. The USA won 34 medals in 17 days. This means that NBC had to cover an average of 2 medal wins per day in primetime coverage. Since most people don't want to see just the finals, this also includes some qualifying runs, semifinals, and finals. That's a lot of coverage for the limited time they had. 3. "Skategate" and all the other Figure Skating competitions took away precious time from the lineup schedule that NBC had to keep up according to point #2. 4. MSNBC and CNBC covered most of the other competitions involving other countries with their daytime and late night coverage so there was little to no reason for NBC to regurgitate the same coverage. They wouldn't have had the time to do so even if they tried.
|
| 10 | Rogue's Strikers
ID: 251182418
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 12:26
|
Josh, I think you'll find that most networks are like that for their home country. I remember watching TSN Sportsdesk a few months ago trying to find out how Tiger Woods did (my friend had told me about an amazing eagle shot Tiger had made, I wanted to see it), and TSN showed the top 5 scores followed by the position of the 4 or 5 canadians in the tournament. They all finished around 30th to 50th. They then went on to interview some canadian guy called Morhardt IV or something, who finished a career-best 31st, along with highlights of his better shots on the day. They followed that up with a few shots of the tourney winner. No Tiger eagle shot, no Tiger ANYTHING. What great coverage, EH?
So its commonplace enough to see this sort of thing.
I have a question though, did NBC cover the olympics for every country? Or did say, France, have one of its local TV stations covering the games too? If they did, I'd be willing to bet they covered more French skiiers than they did women's hockey games...
|
| 11 | Dec
ID: 1411192116
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 12:39
|
TV will always shows athletes from their country first and the winners after. If you go in Holland during Olympics, you better like Speed Skating or it will be on long two weeks.
It's true for every nation. It just happens that we have access, here in Canada, to US network and those silly americans always win more medals than us. Yes we know they are good but we don't want them to remind us.
I really like the alpine skiing montage when they compare the race of the best two like they were skiing at the same time. It was really cool.
|
| 12 | perk9600
ID: 4542177
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 12:40
|
RS I think that is the case. But being a Canadian I'm sure they have more access to American Network television. But I would bet that each country that could afford it had its own coverage, although it may have been as extensive due to the production costs that go into putting on that kind of show.
|
| 13 | Dec
ID: 1411192116
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 12:42
|
Rogue,
The french coverage is like the US without the medals.
|
| 14 | rugg
ID: 341422511
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 12:54
|
I have satellite and got to see more variety because CNBC and MSNBC were also showing coverage. I'm not sure how your local cable networks handled it. It was cool because we got to see a lot of curling. Very intersting. Amazing how they put those stones exactly to the inch. Problem was they didn't really explain the rules very much. Apparently it's huge in Canada. The announcer said it's actually in the rules of the game that the winner has to buy drinks. Is that true? If so I'll be lobbying my local ice rink to put in the curling courts (or lanes or whatever you call where they play)!
|
| 15 | perk9600
ID: 4542177
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 13:08
|
Dec,
The way they could overlay 2 skiers like that was very cool. And they did it so fast. You could watch each run and then they would show you parts of them to show where time was lost against the leader. That is a very cool technology.
|
| 16 | KrazyKoalaBears
Donor
ID: 266182910
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 14:18
|
rugg, general rules of curling: 1. Only "stones" within the "house" (everything from the outer edge of the red circle to the center) count towards scoring. 2. The team with the stone closest to the center wins the "end" (inning). The number of the scoring team's stones that are in the house that are closer than the opponents first stone count for the score. So, if the scoring team has 3 stones all around the center of the house and the opponents closest stone is in the red circle, then the scoring team gets 3 points. 3. The amount of "sweeping" affects the distance of the stone. More sweeping clears the ice and actually melts the top layer of ice, causing the stone to travel further. Less sweeping causes less distance, but also causes more "curling" (curving of the path of the stone by way of a slight turning action the thrower puts on the stone as they release it). That's the general stuff. There's a lot more, including rules about "blockers" and how far stones must travel and when an opponent can sweep on your throw, etc., but this should help for the next time you watch.
|
| 17 | JayTDawg
ID: 4412843
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 14:30
|
ha ha, curling rinks rugg is the word you're looking for. yes curling is huge here in Canada, and I'm glad there was some coverage of it. Its a great game, hopefully some Americans do take it up (as long as they leave the medals to us)
I think what josh was referring to on the American coverage was the contrast between CBC's Olympic approach. Granted, Canadian atheletes are always shown but so are the best atheletes of competing countries. For instance, during the speed-skating a race between a German and a Dutch skater will be shown, and commentator Steve Armitage will offer background information on their previous finishes in world championships etc. It makes the games seem very international and not simply Canada vs the world.
|
| 18 | josh
ID: 11392514
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 14:53
|
Thanks JayTDawg that is exactly what I meant.
I have nothing against Americans, hell I even cheer for one of their hockey teams instead of a Canadian one, but it seemed that their olympic coverage was all about them. Besides the 34 medals they won there were another 200 given out but you would never know it from the US networks.
|
| 19 | Greenbelt
ID: 43124258
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 15:39
|
Josh;
I have to agree ( although, I'm a harsh critic of our media---esp. T.V. ). While the technical aspects such as that dual-skier example ( which was way cool! ) were a nice touch, I feel that I watched WAY too much ice-dancing. Oddly enough, I like it, but I would've liked to see more hockey...even just ONE game from our ladies team. I also got the feeling that the US corperations were doing their best to whore-out the "Echo-boomer" demograph at every turn. The worse was a spot by Buick, that simply went..."Buick. It's all good." SHEEEEESH! Pass the Cheeeez, pleeeeez!Know what frosted my arse yesterday? I had that mini-tube monitoring the game on the paint bucket, and then early in P3, BAM! coverage goes to the Maryland Terps College Hoops game with Wake Forest! WTF?!?!?
"Yeah, but they were playing for #1!"
SO? They'll be playing for #1 every 2-3 days for the next month. Big deal! This game comes along every 4 years...and this match-up only every 50!
"Yeah, but it was the last game @ Cole Field house."
Who really gives a shirt about that old smelly barn. The new house will cost $12M...YES, you read that correct...$12M for college hoops! *SIGH! Outside of Detroit, it's hard to be a hockey fan sometimes!
|
| 20 | Sludge
Sustainer
ID: 24914721
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 15:48
|
josh -
Imagine that. US networks concentrating on US athletes.
|
| 21 | blue hen, almighty
Leader
ID: 34937217
Mon, Feb 25, 2002, 16:04
|
I laughed when I saw that dude yelling "we're number one!" He missed the parenthetical part, though:
(Finally) we're number one (at something).
|
| 22 | rugg
ID: 251202511
Tue, Feb 26, 2002, 11:26
|
Thanks, KKB. That clears some things up. That scoring is similar to Bocce Ball (or Lawn Bowling, depending where you are). I was getting really confused by the number of blocker stones that were set up before anything was really there. They mentioned something about 'now they can go for points' after a certain number of stones were played. Despite the confusion I still watched, just to see those guys (and ladies) send a stone through a maze of others, just fractions of inches from the rest! Being a big Bocce Ball fan, I like this curling thing. Problem is, good luck ever finding an ice rink around Chicago taking ice space for a curling rink. Anyway, thanks for the info.
|
| 23 | winmiller
Sustainer
ID: 591262611
Tue, Feb 26, 2002, 12:12
|
rugg,
I think there is a lot more Curling in the Chicago area than you suspect. Check out the links from the Illinois Curling Clubs.
These clubs are set up separately from the hockey/figure skating-type rinks. Anyhow, good luck.
|
| 24 | rugg
ID: 541532620
Tue, Feb 26, 2002, 21:21
|
Thanks a lot, winmiller! That's great. I'll have to check out a club or two. Most of those clubs are a little far north for me (about 45 min. drive), but heck, I gotta check it out at least once.
|
|
|
|
Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?)
|
|