Mercy
A half-listened-to CBC radio-doc (yeah, I listen to CBC Radio, OK? There I admitted it.) was whining about how the Canadian Women's Hockey team's impressive 16-0 win over the Italian hosts and 12-0 over Russia endangered the existence of the sport of Women's Hockey as an Olympic event.
Pure Fuddle-Duddle, horse-twackey. They'd take crap for losing...Now they're taking crap for winning too well?
TSN gives the whiner a voice
And defenceman Angela Ruggiero questions why the Canadian women put 16 goals past Italy and 12 past Russia.
''I'm upset that Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation,'' Ruggiero was quoted Monday on SI.com, Sports illustrated's website. ''There was no need for that. They're trying to pad their stats . . . Canada is running up the score for whatever reasons - personal, short-term.''
While Canada has outscored its opponents 28-0, the Americans have been only slightly less prolific, winning 6-0 and 5-0 against better opponents - Switzerland and Germany.
''I'm upset that Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation,'' Ruggiero was quoted Monday on SI.com, Sports illustrated's website. ''There was no need for that. They're trying to pad their stats . . . Canada is running up the score for whatever reasons - personal, short-term.''
While Canada has outscored its opponents 28-0, the Americans have been only slightly less prolific, winning 6-0 and 5-0 against better opponents - Switzerland and Germany.
Jeez, do you think that it comes down to the good old-fashioned concept of GOAL DIFFERENTIAL?
But tiebreakers are decided first by the deadlocked teams' record against each other and then by goal differential. Davidson said the Canadians can't afford to leave anything to chance or risk losing the right of last line change as the home team in a playoff game if goal differential was factored in.
Ruggiero's acting as if this is the first blowout in Hockey history. The Americans are facing some tougher opponents, but if they had faced Italy and Russia, would they not have done the same thing?
You want a balance of talent in a mature sport. Women's Hockey isn't that mature yet. The best in the world are still getting better.
I believe that the sport will mature to the point of people like me actually PAYING to see good Women's hockey, rather than jumping on the bandwagon every four years when the Olympics come around. (C'mon, admit it: that's what Molson Patriots do.)
And the hand-wringers want them to slow down so that the laggards can catch up? Is this the way the best get better?
This attitude is even infecting our team:
Canadian star Hayley Wickenheiser would like to see a mercy rule in international play.
''The IIHF might want to look at a 10-goal differential,'' she said. ''It's been pretty disappointing. I was . . . surprised it was like that. I thought it was going to be closer. That's not great hockey.''
''The IIHF might want to look at a 10-goal differential,'' she said. ''It's been pretty disappointing. I was . . . surprised it was like that. I thought it was going to be closer. That's not great hockey.''
Mercy? "We do not train to be merciful here, mercy is for the weak. A man confronts you in the street he is your enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy..." Sorry, too much Karate Kid as a child...
Hmmm, outside of crappy movies or TV shows, how many teams have been considered great because they were merciful?
Were the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980's "merciful" to their opponents? How 'bout the 1970's Canadiens? No? Mercy would dictate that some team should "let" the Toronto Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup so the suffering of long-time Leafs fans can finally come to an end (or at least they could shut up about 1967.) Who the hell would want to watch that game? No one wants to watch a team that isn't trying their absolute best.
When I thought of doing this entry I found that Darcey had beat me to it. Peruse the comments there for more discussion.
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