Olympic Hockey: Is it time to hand it back to the amateur ranks?
February 24, 2010 - 9:01am
I'm of two minds with this, one wants to see the best, the other wants to witness the glory of nation vs nation minus the familiarity between players as we now see with many nations competing against their own club team mates. Opinions seem to be fairly split from what I see in general, comments?
Comments
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no going back now ...
No.
I would love to see hockey be returned back to amateurs. We have the NHL for the other guys. Time for them and their million dollar salaries to disappear from the Olympics.
What is amateur in hockey? The Juniors? Is there any such thing as a true amateur in the Olympics? In order to compete you have to be rich or have sponsership.
When Olympic hockey was played by amateurs -- it wasn't really played by amateurs, at least not by all of the teams.
The Soviet Union's hockey team was, essentially, composed of professional hockey players. Yes, they were "soldiers" but all they did was play hockey. Hockey was their job.
That's what made the 1980 USA v. Soviets hockey game such a stunning upset: The Americans were actually amateurs (they were college students).
I agree stargazer it is BS to have the professionals playing, ichanging it was just another ill thought out male ego thing.
Amateurism was a class myth.
yes, and some real star athletes like Jim Thorpe suffered terribly to maintain that illusion ...
You had to know something was going rotten in Denmark when the Great One opted to watch his favourite curling team from Alberta, eh?
I agree stargazer it is BS to have the professionals playing, ichanging it was just another ill thought out male ego thing.
Yep, thank Gaia for women's hockey, and speed-skating, and snowboarding, and..... Seriously! The "fair sex" should take a bow and rub it in in the process. It's only fair.
Hockey was taken over by professionals long ago-amateur hockey exists only in Beer Leagues now.
Ya George, another example of the "professionals" in society thinking they know better and ARE better.....
You have problems with "professionals", Remind?
changing it was just another ill thought out male ego thing.
Well go ahead and tell us how, don't leave us hanging like that, I appreciate your regular why men are bad posts.
Remind has problems with excellence in general.
Oh, the thread topic. Go amateurs! I get kinda pumped by watching women's hockey in the Olympics. The men's side just seems wrong somehow.
changing it was just another ill thought out male ego thing.
Well go ahead and tell us how, don't leave us hanging like that, I appreciate your regular why men are bad posts.
C'mon Yarg. You really mean to say you feel all exposed when yours is left hanging out like that.
I don't think we can go back.
Go amateurs! I get kinda pumped by watching women's hockey in the Olympics.
Oh yeah! Love rooting for a team that actually wins (yes I live in Toronto).
Besides the NHL, there are also KHL stars, and players from Swedish, German, and Swiss pro leagues competing in men's hockey. I'd like to see all of the pros get the boot...the beer leaguers are exactly the right guys we should have playing in the Olympics...I'm sure the other hockey nations have their own beer league equivalents.
Gary Bettman won't commit NHL players to 2014 Olympic Games
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/winter_olympics_2010/2010/02/19/2010-02-19_gary_bettman_wont_commit_nhl_players_to_2014_games.html#ixzz0gIM1Ii3j
*snip*
Bettman complained yesterday about losing control of NHL players here who are earning total salaries of $2.1 billion from pro clubs. He argued the league requires more access to its players at Olympic Games, and a better licensing deal, to promote players and the league.
"We have a multibillion-dollar business we're responsible to," Bettman said.
Apparently, the Olympics disrupts the season as they're headed into the playoffs.
I like the best on best. Unfortunately, we are no longer head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the world.
Yeah this Olympic hockey is prolly the best hockey we'll see for a long time. Enjoy it while it lasts.
It's time we gave the NHL the boot, at least from Canada.
For the next winter olympics, let's have a team elimination process in Canada, with the winning team representing us in the 2014 games. Didn't we already do this before. And enough of this ego driven superstar, owning the podium bullshit. Let's tell Bettman to go fuck himself.
I think we should pass a law that if an person is chosen to participate in the Olympics (and a number of World Cups) that their employer must make allowances for their participation.
I think the NHLPA should have some input on 2014.
I watched the women's team defeat Finland tonight. A treat for these jaded old eyes. These amateurs play the firewagon hockey that propelled the Canadiens to la gloire in the long ago. Awe-inspiring to see them wheel and rocket up-ice as soon as they got the puck. Just as entertaining as the NHL variant. In spite of the lop-sided score, the Finnish goalie, Noora Raty, was really impressive. She reminded me a bit of Tony Esposito, tumbling about in the net like a caffeinated panda and generally keeping her side in the game.
I would love to see hockey be returned back to amateurs. We have the NHL for the other guys. Time for them and their million dollar salaries to disappear from the Olympics.
Another puzzling interpretation of reality....... Olympic hockey players actually get absolutely no more or less pay than they would if they had stayed home and watched it on TV. Their salaries are paid in any case, and they are risking career ending injury to represent their country.
Plenty of other athletes are paid to train for years specifically to get to the Olympics, and some are paid cash if they win a medal.
Neither applies to hockey players.
They do get free room and board while they stay in the Olympic Village. Would you prefer we send a bill for that too?
The NHL has done some stupid things, but I really doubt they are dumb enough to abandon a premium showcase like the Olys.
It does not really disrupt anything, all teams still play all 41 home games in Olympic years.
I think we should pass a law that if an person is chosen to participate in the Olympics (and a number of World Cups) that their employer must make allowances for their participation.
Why would you have the law favour the money marketing extravaganza that is the Olympics over the money marketing extravaganza that is the NHL?
The players want to play and the fans want them to play.
I like the best on best. Unfortunately, we are no longer head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the world.
I would say: fortunately ...
as for a return to amateurism,
if you think Olympic drug-testing is intrusive, wait till Olympic bodies had to pursue income tests: Where did you get such a fancy car? Who paid for your house? Your children go to a private school, how can you pay for that ??
I like the best on best. Unfortunately, we are no longer head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the world.
I would say: fortunately ...
as for a return to amateurism,
if you think Olympic drug-testing is intrusive, wait till Olympic bodies had to pursue income tests: Where did you get such a fancy car? Who paid for your house? Your children go to a private school, how can you pay for that ??
It makes sense to send the best possible athletes to the Olympics.
It doesn't make sense to moan about how some of those best athletes also have money.
Otherwise, what does an Olympic hockey tournament establish? The fourth-rate players from country A are better than the fourth-rate players from counter B?
Otherwise, what does an Olympic hockey tournament establish? The fourth-rate players from country A are better than the fourth-rate players from counter B?
no, that the fourth-rate players from country A are inferior to the disguised Pros (long-time students/minor-leaguers/career "volunteers") from Country B
I would love to see hockey be returned back to amateurs. We have the NHL for the other guys. Time for them and their million dollar salaries to disappear from the Olympics.
Another puzzling interpretation of reality....... Olympic hockey players actually get absolutely no more or less pay than they would if they had stayed home and watched it on TV. Their salaries are paid in any case, and they are risking career ending injury to represent their country.
Plenty of other athletes are paid to train for years specifically to get to the Olympics, and some are paid cash if they win a medal.
Neither applies to hockey players.
They do get free room and board while they stay in the Olympic Village. Would you prefer we send a bill for that too?
Oh my, interpreting reality wrong. I don't care that they get paid next to nothing to "perform" at the Olympics. I do care that million dollar pro athletes play Olympic sports. But don't let what I actually said get in the way.
I used to think the women's hockey team were really good role models but quite frankly they just looked like spoiled and arrogant idiots with their ON ICE party. That is what all those tweeners who idolize them need to see underage drinking and cigar smoking in public in everyones face.
This in a city that has restricted the sale of alcohol at liquor stores to discourage public drinking by the spectators. What were they thinking? Our hero who scored the two goals in the win was breaking our drinking laws. She'll likely grow up to be a LIberal politician. Doe anyone think she should just be given a free pass for her blatant flaunting of our laws. Remember I expect at least as harsh a treatment and vilification for this hero as for someone who breaks a few windows. Broken windows or carnage on our highways from underage drunks drivers. That damn moral equivalency thing again. One is extremely misguided youthful exuberance the other teaches all "good" kids that underage drinking is not only acceptable it is what our best and finest do without any shame.
http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2010/02/canadian_women's_hockey_celebra.html
Wow, puritanism on babble. Who'd a thunk?
I guess in a province where it's mostly illegal to bring your toddler into a drinking establishment in the middle of the day, that's expected.
Our hero who scored the two goals in the win was breaking our drinking laws. She'll likely grow up to be a LIberal politician. Doe anyone think she should just be given a free pass for her blatant flaunting of our laws.
For one thing, she was flouting our laws. Secondly, only a puritanical, mirthless busybody would flaunt a law.
I think they had a champagne flauntain.
I thought you drank champagne in a flout?
Anyway, she was only flouting BC's laws--more like disregarding them. She's of legal age in her home province. Also: who cares?
Did we care about Jeff Montgomery's flaunting and flouting?
I thought you drank champagne in a flout?
Hmmm, apparently diphthongs aren't pronounced the same throughout the country, which would explain why yanquis think we say oot and aboot.
Anyway, I'd say one would drink from a flute or a floot, unless one were afloat in a boat or das boot.
Los!
The underage drinking doesn't bother. I think moving the party out on to the ice showed poor judgement.
The underage drinking doesn't bother. I think moving the party out on to the ice showed poor judgement.
Exactly are these young women roll models or not? I may be prudish but every year we have teens in BC die because of underage drinking. It kills kids but isn't a big deal for anyone except prudes. I hope your teenagers are not the binge drinkers in the crowd and if they are I hope they live till 25.
By definition, binge drinking is consuming more than five alcoholic beverages in one sitting or night according to a source on MADD Canada’s website. Statistics on the site also report that road crashes continue to be the leading cause of death among teens. This statistic was found to be even higher when the factor of driving while so heavily intoxicated was also added. When a person reaches a blood alcohol level of 0.10, they are 51 times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash than a non-intoxicated person is.
So, if the risks are so high, why are so many teens binge drinking? It seems that one of the main reasons is that teens don’t know when to stop. When you’re new to something it’s hard to know what’s acceptable. It’s even more difficult when you’re in a social situation where there’s a lot of pressure to fit in.Quote: The numbers are scary because they are so large, and it’s happening to people in our age group; someone in this group could easily be one of your closest friends.
- link
According to the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey, almost 21 per cent of Canadians aged 12 years and older binged on alcohol 12 or more times a year.
Read more: http://www.youthink.ca/yt/features/youthink/holiday-hangover-just-one-side-effects-binge-drinking#ixzz0gfdWF4OS
Oh yes and ALQ-Bong
Flaming spells are passe.
It wasn't a spelling flame. You used the wrong word.
Exactly are these young women roll models or not? I may be prudish but every year we have teens in BC die because of underage drinking.
They die because of underage drinking, or because of drinking and driving? Or because of drinking and doing other stupid things.
Seriously, did any member of the team drink and drive?
Did any member of the team drink and start a bar fight?
They just won a gold medal after a long team effort - they wanted to celebrate.
Good on 'em I say.
Spelling flames may be passé, but diction flames are so au courant.
I'm of the opinion that irresponsible drinking practices are the product of young people learning how to drink from each other instead of from (ahem) experienced adults. High drinking ages and puritan laws about drinking in public enforce and sustain this divide. If someone had done this with these talented women, perhaps they'd be drinking Paulaner or Samuel Smith instead of growlers of Molson Canadian...
According to the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey, almost 21 per cent of Canadians aged 12 years and older binged on alcohol 12 or more times a year.
Party on Dude these young women just having fun and if some of them are underage what of it. Its not as if they would have any influence on other young women.
And the nit pickers are right they flouted the law by flaunting their underage drinking.
This in a city that has restricted the sale of alcohol at liquor stores to discourage public drinking by the spectators. What were they thinking? Our hero who scored the two goals in the win was breaking our drinking laws. She'll likely grow up to be a LIberal politician. Doe anyone think she should just be given a free pass for her blatant flaunting of our laws. Remember I expect at least as harsh a treatment and vilification for this hero as for someone who breaks a few windows. Broken windows or carnage on our highways from underage drunks drivers. That damn moral equivalency thing again. One is extremely misguided youthful exuberance the other teaches all "good" kids that underage drinking is not only acceptable it is what our best and finest do without any shame.
http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2010/02/canadian_women's_hockey_celebra.html
Jon Montgomery is the life of Whistler's party
Now that he has a gold medal — the first medal by any Canadian in Whistler — the men’s skeleton racer has become the toast of the town.
Moments after his electrifying win, he said his celebration would include “a pint.” There he was, walking through Whistler’s pedestrian-only town plaza, chugging from a pitcher of beer with the devil-may-care attitude that, according to those who know him, makes him an Olympic champion.
Talk about double standards (though to be fair to the Star, they aren't the one's chastising the women's champions for not being prim and proper ladies).
Otherwise, what does an Olympic hockey tournament establish? The fourth-rate players from country A are better than the fourth-rate players from counter B?
no, that the fourth-rate players from country A are inferior to the disguised Pros (long-time students/minor-leaguers/career "volunteers") from Country B
That too, which is what always happened in the past as "amateurs" with made-up positions in the Red Army led the Soviets to gold medal after gold medal.
And do you ban all professional players, or just the NHL? What about junior leagues or European leagues which have gotten about as good as the NHL?
It basically means handicapping the sport in order to cause more problems while solving a problem that doesn't even exist.
The freakin dweeb, that took their picture, and sent it out to the media, thereby promoting "rat them out" behaviour is pretty freakin sickening,
The spectators had left the building ffs. Not one person would have known, if not for the fuckin rat.
And excellent point AJ, and surprising as we seldom agree on anything.
However not one word of condemnation for the golden boy with his jug o beer on the streets, but condemn those girls for their unseemly behaviour seems to be alright!
Sexist moralistic rat pukes...
Party on Dude[;] these young women [are] just having fun[,] and if some of them are underage what of it[?] Its not as if they would have any influence on other young women.
"Shall we gather at the river..."
Oh goodness! What next, these young ladies will use the wrong tea sets when entertaining their husbands' business associates? I'd rather see the example of beer-drinking, hockey-playing women having fun than a whining scold promoting his cheerless private temperance union.
That reminds me, when we won the provincial hockey championship when I was 15 or 16, someone brought a couple of cases of beer (gasp!) into the dressing room. I can feel the fires of hell as I type.
If you go to this link, you can link to bios for each member of the team.
All but one of them are over 19 years of age. The one and only player who is under 19, has a birthday on March 28th**. Most of them are considerably older.
We're hardly talking about a group of junior high school girls here.
**Edited to add - and she comes from Quebec, where she is old enough to legally have a drink.
al-Qa'bong,
About your trip to hell,
Was it good beer at least?
I feel my morals slipping away...
Aside from the fact they have lousy taste in beer, there's nothing to see here.
Party on Dude[;] these young women [are] just having fun[,] and if some of them are underage what of it[?] Its not as if they would have any influence on other young women.
I mean this only in a topical sense Al-Q.
Fuck off and die and stop with the flaming spells.
I'm a girls hockey Dad. If anyone should be upset I suppose I have the right to be.
My view.
Beer, Champagne and cigars all together - gross. Glad I'm not kissing that mouth.
Having a fun time together after such a big committment to win a gold medal is the least they deserve. And of course if these were not nice little 'girls' no one would even bat an eye.
kropotkin1951,
Spelling and grammer flames might be lame, but they are allowed.
Swearing at a poster for doing engaging in them is over the top.
Please dial it back.
Lou
What a great pic - thanks for that!
and Lou since when are spelling grammer flames allowed here? Something new in my time here I see.
I'll check with the other mods. Maybe I'm wrong.
I still don't think that makes it ok to swear at someone for doing it.
Fuck off and die and stop with the flaming spells.
Not so fast. That was a punctuation flame.
You're giving quite the demonstration of superior morality here. Wishing death upon someone for pointing out missing semicolons? What do you suggest be done to these wanton women, public flogging?
wow, there is something serious going on here, now lou is replying to me as me? what happened to my post that was there before, as it is gone
I want my post back, I made a lot of commentary to several people in this thread, and now I have lou erasing it and replying to me as me....
Soooooooo.......what is with the USA Finland game being over after the first period?
We going to start hearing from others, and the IOC that they want to get rid of men's hockey too, because it is sooooooooo disproportional and thus not viewing interesting?
You know seriously the sexist crap of the IOC and the CTV is beyond belief........ meanwhile Sir Jon is applauded and appearing on Oprah FFS.
What is with her and her having all the male gold medalists on anyway?
And yes bookish, all us women are worried about is how pleasant our mouths taste so men will want to kiss us.....what a freakin sexist way to frame the point you do not feel it is an issue.
and Lou since when are spelling grammer flames allowed here? Something new in my time here I see.
Interesting though, Al'Q had to edit his own post for spelling/grammer errors in order to do so...... :rolleyes:
....
Okay I paged back in the window I still had open on this thread and there was my initial post, so here it is again...
And Lou, it is one of those rules that are not formally listed, and AL'Q has been warned over and over and over again about doing this to people.
Sorry remind,
I was in a hurry, and hit the button to 'edit' instead of quote.
Do you want me to edit it back?
And yes bookish, all us women are worried about is how pleasant our mouths taste so men will want to kiss us.....what a freakin sexist way to frame the point you do not feel it is an issue.
Uh remind I would have said exactly the same thing if it was men. Exactly, exactly, exactly- that's not sexist just a realization that a mix of cigars, beer and champagne is not exactly a yummy combination.Nope I cleared it all up, and got my post back....but thank you for the offer.
Bookish respectfully no, I do not believe you would have, as you would not even internally have framed such a thought of kissing men, or not kissing them, who have been drinking beer and champagne and smoking cigars to celebrate their win.
let's be honest here eh!
Interesting though, Al'Q had to edit his own post for spelling/grammer errors in order to do so...... :rolleyes:
I don't recall if I did that here, although I do it all the time; but so what? That's why they call it "editing." I've gone over posts five or six times to make changes because I either see errors or I don't like the way posts look or sound.
Bookish respectfully no, I do not believe you would have, as you would not even internally have framed such a thought of kissing men, or not kissing them, who have been drinking beer and champagne and smoking cigars to celebrate their win.
let's be honest here eh!
Well you clearly don't know me because I make cracks along those lines frequently. In fact all I was really doing was re-using a line I used a couple of weeks ago after some friends were eating really heavy duty sausage and drinking home brew.
pfft, do not think it is a top of mind response for you, but hey fair enough, you want to hold that "comfort with your sexuality" position in order to say you were not being sexist, tis okay, but my estimation of your character sunk a fair degree regardless.
we were speaking of sexism about the IOC and medias reaction to this, and others here too, and yet you feel/ felt A okay to respond in a manner that would be considered to be just the same as those sexist others, on an anonymous board, where the vast majority of people do not know you, and thus would take it like I did.
BA I know you always like to be correct and never taken to task, but on this you just shoulda backed down, and admitted it was not appropriate commentary on your part when taken in context with indicating how sexist people are being about this.
Whatever, I went back and added the context of that comment. It is in fact something I say all the time about the smelly stuff people put in their mouths.
But keep reaching about my character flaws if it makes you feel better, but see I know me and you don't.
It does not matter BA, if I "know" you or not.....I know what your comment said contextually... and indicated......and it is not about character flaws it is about continued sexism here at rabble.
Realized or not by supposedly progressive men.
And apparently THEY thought it was a "yummy combination".
Your comment had absolutely nadda to do with their actions and it did nothing for the conversation, as a "girl's hockey dad", it just made another sexist opinion by a man in this thread.
I have consulted with Guru Oldgoat and I'm told that there is no strict rule or policy against spelling flames. I assume the same goes for punctuation. Although as he puts it "the culture of the community has evolved in a manner where spelling flames aren't really respected."
So sorry Remind, I think that means we have to give this round to the grammer nazis.
The grammar NAZIS started coming after me when I told him to stop using my sons life as an insult on this "progressive" board. He didn't apologize or think that maybe his actions are oppressive no he started flaming me instead. Now I am sure that the timing was merely coincidental and he really doesn't believe he has some right of privilege that allows him to insult my son to make a point but it sure doesn't fell like that.
I apologize to other posters for letting my temper post an adult response to childish games by someone who believes it is his entitlement to belittle people with intellectual handicaps.
I was belittling Sarah Palin, and left it at that.
Seig Heil!
And in other news...
Wickenheiser, a veteran of four Winter Olympics, added Friday that if the men's team had been caught celebrating a gold medal with cigars, champagne and beer, it wouldn't have been a big deal.
"I don't brush it off, the underage thing and being on the ice (with alcohol) - those things could have maybe been done different," she said. "But at the same time, it's celebrating, it's hockey, it's a tradition we do.
"When we see a Stanley Cup winner, you see spraying champagne all over the dressing room, you see 18-year-old kids there and nobody says a thing. (The criticism) is almost comical to me."
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2010Vancouver/Hockey/2010/02/26/13046...
Lou, respectfully it is a personal attack, as it is NOT on topic, and nothing more, and that is how it was treated by Michelle, particularily in respect to Al'Q's consistently doing it to people he wants to belittle.
ETA: Not that I want to compare you to Michelle nor any other moderator to her, but it used to be so predominent and lead to so many derailings of threads, and such bad feelings, correctly so I might add, as it is a personal attack, I would not like to see the ground gained, in not tolerating that kinda of passive aggressive personal attack lost.
Frankly, remind, you weren't even involved in the "attack" and if anyone is derailing the thread, it's you.
So, if those hockey-playing women had been pros, would they have been out there with root beer and carrot sticks instead of demon alcohol?
[I tried to Google a famous photo of the Montreal Canadiens sitting in their dressing-room drinking Coke (or was it Pepsi?) following a Stanley Cup win, but couldn't find it. I entered "'elmer lach' rocket richard 'stanley cup' soda" in a Google Images search but was shown little other than Bollywood images. How weird is that?]
frankly catchfire...............
Al-Q why do you think you have the right to use my son's life as a insult to belittle someone who is not intellectually challenged?
WTF did he do to you that gives you the entitlement to use him as an insult. Palin is not intellectually challenged and you are merely insulting my son and others who are. Why can't you get that? Why do you think you have the privilege to use my son as an insult? He is a human being not a insult to be hurled about by unthinking and unempathetic assholes like yourself. [I am using asshole in the sense that it is an orifice that shit comes out of]
[I tried to Google a famous photo of the Montreal Canadiens sitting in their dressing-room drinking Coke (or was it Pepsi?) following a Stanley Cup win, but couldn't find it. I entered "'elmer lach' rocket richard 'stanley cup' soda" in a Google Images search but was shown little other than Bollywood images. How weird is that?]
actually, Al, a while ago i had the occasion to watch the old black and white broadcast of the 1965 Stanley Cup final, game 7 between Montreal and Chicago; quite an eye-opener, apart from seeing a galaxy of stars, from Bobby Hull to Jean Beliveau and good but fainter stars like Bobby Rousseau and Stan Mikita at work
many many cultural differences, of course, but I noticed above all that even when winning the Cup it was quieter at the Forum, less crazy in the crowd generally, solid applause but no one going insane; even the players were amazingly, uh, sober: Hull said after the game to the TV guy that Montreal won "because they were the better team";no sulking, no bravado after being beat
Then you glimpsed the Habs dressing room, and no one was drenched, no splashing of bubbly, no riot, it was much more gentlemanly than what has emeregd in later decades. I do not recall seeing more than a beer or two. Maybe they were hiding them for the TV cameras, which again would be a cultural difference from today !
Below is the English version of the credo that adorned the wall. There also was a French version. It was written by Canadian head coach Mike Babcock with help from a friend from their Saskatoon days, Rick Larsen. He runs the Chicago advertising firm Leo Burnett.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/03/02/sp-canada-hockey-leavenodoubt.html#ixzz0h2ZMQWm7
What caused the change? If you get a chance to see a rebroadcast of old Grey Cup games you'll see the same thing. I watched the 1966 Grey Cup last fall and was surprised how low-key to nonexistent post-touchdown celebrations were. Hughie Campbell would make an impossible touchdown catch, then camly hand the football to the referee.
Another obvious difference is how the fans have become part of the sports spectacle. Not that long ago the fans would go to watch othere play; now the fans are doing such things as wearing team sweaters, and appear to have become "part of the game" themselves.
My Dad used to tell the story of a time when I was a little kid, skating at an outdoor rink, and a big kid asked me, "Who are you, Frank Mahovlich?"
I replied, "No, I'm Bobby Rousseau."
Nobody could figure one where that came from.
Did we care about Jeff Montgomery's flaunting and flouting?
I didn't really follow much about the Olympics except the hockey, and so didn't make any connexions here, but my mom emailed me a while back about some Olympian from Russell, Manitoba. She emailed again today, mentioning this Jon Montgomery guy - whose name I now recognise - and the beer-drinking non-controversy he created.
Cool. Someone from Russell in the Olympics.
Russell is a town of about 1,700 about 340 kilometres west of Winnipeg, near Manitoba's border with Saskatchewan.
Another local son - hockey star Theoren Fleury - was born in nearby Oxbow, Sask., and raised on a farm just outside Russell. He, too, has a gold medal. Fleury played for Team Canada in hockey at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
On certain nights we could see the lights of Russell from our farm. Theoren Fleury's dad, Wally, drove the zamboni in the Russell rink. I once heard him give an unrequested pep talk to my brother's team in the dressing room during a game.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/story/2010/02/20/mb-montgomery-russell-gold-medal.html#ixzz0h3xI7JxK
Compromise: have two separate men's hockey tournaments, just like there are two ski jumping events (small hill and big hill). One can be loaded with professional players from the NHL, KHL, etc. and the other can't.
One can be watched and the other won't be.
Soviet, er, Russian Olympic chief out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/world/europe/04russia.html?ref=global-home
Russians brought home only three gold medals out of a total of 15 from Vancouver, a far cry from the glory days of the Soviet Union when Russians dominated international athletics. This week, Mr. Medvedev decried the state of Russian athletics and called on officials to "have the courage to submit their resignation."
Given the level of Kremlin anxiety just four years before Russia hosts the next Winter Games in Sochi, Mr. Tyagachyov's resignation was unsurprising.
A former head trainer of the Soviet ski team, Mr. Tyagachyov was named head of the Olympic Committee in 2001. During his tenure, the Russian government began allocating funds to revive the country's athletic infrastructure, which had been left to rot during the chaotic days following the Soviet Union's demise.
How? Women's hockey ran on a different schedule from men's hockey, so a third separate schedule wouldn't hurt viewability. Of course the gold medal amateur's game won't occur at the same time as the noon hour on the last day of the Games.
The quality would be too low, JR. Even worse than the usual NHL pap.
When I grew up we used to watch the Saskatoon Quakers. Senior non-professional hockey (of course supportive businesses provided jobs to the key players). Senior hockey disappeared long ago and few even noted its passing.
The only way this will happen is if NHL team owners don't allow their players the time off. The reason is because professional figure skaters are also now allowed to compete in the Olympics and figure skating is the highest-grossing winter event. NHL team owners have to toe the line, as we found out re Balsillie and Hamilton last year, and Bettman's NHL is already in deep disrepute for their blatent contempt of fans. Purely from a PR POV I don't think the NHL can afford to give up the moral gloss that Olympic hockey gives to its players, especially the superstars skating with targets on their backs under international rules.
The word amateur in relation to the Olympics has lost all meaning anyway. Who is an amateur hockey player? Undrafted OHLers? College kids (not signed by an NHL team, natch)? Al-Qa'bong and son?
You can never go back.
imagine if the NHL pulled out of the 2014 Olympics, and Ovechkin kept his word and refused to miss the Sochi Games;
if he stopped playing for the Caps that season, joined the Russain national team and hence had zero income, could he qualify as an "amateur" -- $100 million contract aside ???
Once someone has played pro, he or she loses amateur status.
Senior hockey still exists, by the way; at least it does in rural Saskatchewan. I'm pretty sure even Saskatoon has a senior team playing somewhere. Mind you, from the time when I played - just over 20 years ago - to now, the number of teams has lessened considerably, while the geographical size of the leagues has increased. This has more to do with the economics of agriculture and the demise of small towns than anything to do with hockey, I suspect.
Teams from some of the bigger towns would pay ringers something like $100 per game to play for them, but nobody would have called those guys professional hockey players.
So as soon as they won a Gold medal and got the bonus goodies that countries like Canada now pay they would no longer be able to compete in the next Olympics.
It is not the competition it is the circus that is wrong. We have World Championships and host cites don't bankrupt themselves. The Olympics is not a sporting event primarily or it would have cost Vancouver $1 Billion at most for the games and not just for security. Every four years rich people get to together and award the Games and then the rich people in the hosting country spend fortunes building recreational facilities for primarily the rich people who live in alpine resort regions of the world. And the taxpayers get to pay. It has little to do with sport but boy do those rich people know how to party every four years. You know the ones in the fancy boxes at the events who didn't pay anything for their own tickets not like the plebs they sell the cheap seats too.
Cheers to that. I'm quite happy that I was out on the ice in the park playing beginer shinny while so many were in bars watching the hockey games.
I know it's really touching when someone without much cash has friends and family who support them and they work really hard and make lots of sacrifices is able to become the best at a sport and I can understand that it's interesting to watch someone who has had the finacial freedom to devote themselves to becoming really good at something but I just don't think I really get the olympics amateurs or not.
I do get this:
But I don't get why there is only one place like this, and why people had to come from across town so they could skate there in a city where there were so many celebrating in the streets the victory of a team of people they have never met.
The word amateur in relation to the Olympics has lost all meaning anyway. Who is an amateur hockey player? Undrafted OHLers? College kids (not signed by an NHL team, natch)? Al-Qa'bong and son?
You can never go back.
Actually you could quite easily, every country would have to establish a "national program" as was the case years ago, from there any prospect would to have to make a decision, not unlike many do now with college eligibility, for example they choose major junior or college, because choosing one can make you ineligable for the other. The national program was one option of many at one time.