Monday, February 22, 2010
Glaucon of the North
Don't know about you, but there's nothing like a newspaper or magazine article that gets me chortling with excitement than one that combines inisight, humor, and the need to consult a dictionary/encyclopedia (online or a tactile one).
Ian Brown's take on the loss last night by Team Canada to Team USA in Olympic hockey had me laughing and scrambling for a reference book/site simultaneoulsy. Ian Brown, by the way, is like Rick Reilly, only more awarded. Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Reilly have similar acerbic wits that gently poke holes in our over-the-top sports maniacal view of the world as we know it.
A clip follows:
"The morning conversation on the Canada Line yesterday was about the hockey team. There's a conversation on the Canada Line, Vancouver's newest subway line, every morning during the Olympics. It's very high level - a regular rolling Plato's symposium. All strangers, people on their way to the Throb downtown....Everyone predicted a game with lots of fore-checking. "They'd better figure out they're playing for the red and white, and not for money," the Glaucon of the group said. "So far they don't seem to realize how big this is." There were at least five people in the conversation. None of them had known each other two stops earlier. "
What a great little piece! Hockey, opinionating, and new/refreshed knowledge....
....Oh, and yeah, a Team USA win.
Sorry, Darrell! You have to admit, though, a loss is much more interesting to talk about, in most cases, than a win.
...and, yes, I am getting tired of the Miracle of Ice thing being dredged up here, south of the border, for the umpteenth time. Give it a rest, NBC!
Just hoping that this last game will bring out Ms. E from her dormancy so that her fans can once again enjoy her puck prose at A Theory of Ice, a most intelligent site of hockey insight.
Ian Brown's take on the loss last night by Team Canada to Team USA in Olympic hockey had me laughing and scrambling for a reference book/site simultaneoulsy. Ian Brown, by the way, is like Rick Reilly, only more awarded. Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Reilly have similar acerbic wits that gently poke holes in our over-the-top sports maniacal view of the world as we know it.
A clip follows:
"The morning conversation on the Canada Line yesterday was about the hockey team. There's a conversation on the Canada Line, Vancouver's newest subway line, every morning during the Olympics. It's very high level - a regular rolling Plato's symposium. All strangers, people on their way to the Throb downtown....Everyone predicted a game with lots of fore-checking. "They'd better figure out they're playing for the red and white, and not for money," the Glaucon of the group said. "So far they don't seem to realize how big this is." There were at least five people in the conversation. None of them had known each other two stops earlier. "
What a great little piece! Hockey, opinionating, and new/refreshed knowledge....
....Oh, and yeah, a Team USA win.
Sorry, Darrell! You have to admit, though, a loss is much more interesting to talk about, in most cases, than a win.
...and, yes, I am getting tired of the Miracle of Ice thing being dredged up here, south of the border, for the umpteenth time. Give it a rest, NBC!
Just hoping that this last game will bring out Ms. E from her dormancy so that her fans can once again enjoy her puck prose at A Theory of Ice, a most intelligent site of hockey insight.
Labels: 2010 Vancouver Olympics
Comments:
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As if to cement the Canadian credentials of himself, his subjects, and The Subject Itself, Brown writes: "They knew hockey the way Northrop Frye knew the Bible." Too right!
I'm not especially broken up by last night's game, even if the last five minutes managed to raise my hopes to unprecedented levels. There is a Game 6 level of consciousness at work that outsiders (and I would include the majority of US hockey fans) don't really get, which offers its own unique gifts. The simple fact is, 95% of Canadians are talking about last night's game. What's the percentage south of the 49?
I'm not especially broken up by last night's game, even if the last five minutes managed to raise my hopes to unprecedented levels. There is a Game 6 level of consciousness at work that outsiders (and I would include the majority of US hockey fans) don't really get, which offers its own unique gifts. The simple fact is, 95% of Canadians are talking about last night's game. What's the percentage south of the 49?
The simple fact is, 95% of Canadians are talking about last night's game. What's the percentage south of the 49?
WP,
You are 100% right.
Just a little fun fact re. that Miracle on Ice thing a few Olympics back. In their infinite wisdom, NBC opted not to broadcast the Soviets-USA game. All the hoopla later seems ridiculous since the majority of the US population (with only about 15K spectators actullay seeing the game, I'd say majority means 99.99999& of the population) never even saw the game until much later.
.....I miss the unification that one sport has for an entire nation, as hockey has for Canada. There is nothing south of the Border that has that continuous hold on the collective soul; nothing is binding here longer than a NY minute...on a collective basis, I mean.
WP,
You are 100% right.
Just a little fun fact re. that Miracle on Ice thing a few Olympics back. In their infinite wisdom, NBC opted not to broadcast the Soviets-USA game. All the hoopla later seems ridiculous since the majority of the US population (with only about 15K spectators actullay seeing the game, I'd say majority means 99.99999& of the population) never even saw the game until much later.
.....I miss the unification that one sport has for an entire nation, as hockey has for Canada. There is nothing south of the Border that has that continuous hold on the collective soul; nothing is binding here longer than a NY minute...on a collective basis, I mean.
The girls are home, so I asked them. "Are you kidding? Everyone's talking about it!" A number like "95%" hardly indicates just what that implies: I'm talking about mothers pushing strollers, if not the contents of that stroller.
Darko, you have to tell me: does it get like that with soccer ... I mean, football?
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Darko, you have to tell me: does it get like that with soccer ... I mean, football?
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