Can-A-Da! Can-A-Da! #olympics

The Winter Olympics in Vancouver finally found it’s signature moment yesterday, with Canada beating the USA 3-2, in overtime when the world’s best player, and national hero, Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal to bring the hockey gold medal to Canada.

You didn’t have to be a hockey fan - I’m not - to appreciate one of the most exciting sporting events, not only in the Olympics, but in all of sports. A gold medal game between the country that invented the game, on it’s home ice, err, soil, against it’s biggest rival/ally. It would have been cliche if it had not been so ridiculously exciting.

The game was played with tremendous athleticism, competitiveness and passion on both sides. An arena full of people, not to mention an entire country, holding their breath on every shift, during every shot, for the better part of three hours. The game drew a 33 share, a 17.6 rating, and as many as 25 million people watching on TV...in the USA. What the hell are the numbers like in Canada? Has there ever been a 100 share? Whatever ‘more than everyone’ is, that is what the numbers in Canada must have been.

Frankly, despite the fact that I am a proud American, I was happy to see the Canadians win. It’s their game.  If the US would have won, it would have been the equivalent of a Canadian team winning the Super Bowl with a long field. While it would have been great for the USA to win, the Canadians had to win. If they lose, that place shuts down for who knows how long. What was one of the best Molson-fueled celebrations in the history of the country, would have been a night-long, drunken wake in the face of a loss to the Americans.

Not even the closing ceremonies with all of those inflatable mounties, beavers and moose would have been enough to snap the Canadians out if their funk if they had loss. Weirdest closing ever, by the way. It was so whack, so cheesy, that the final effect was fantastic. It was just so...Canada.

Congratulations on the gold medal, but you all went above and beyond on the closing. Top that Russia!

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