U.S. women conquer the Olympics
Thoughts on the Winter Olympics, coming to you live from my living room couch ...
The U.S. women’s hockey team won the gold medal in South Korea. Heck, they won the whole darn Olympics, if you ask me.
Wednesday night’s gold-medal victory over Canada was an absolute classic, rife with bad blood, courageous play, dramatic turns and a fantastic finish.
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson’s goal in the sixth round of the shootout may have been the slickest hockey move I’ve ever seen. She deked middle, deked left, then reversed course and wristed in a forehand winner past a helpless Canadian goalie. It was one part Gretzky, two parts Houdini.
Lamoureux-Davidson called it her “Oops, I did it again” move, named after everyone’s favorite Britney Spears tune ... and a drill she and her twin sister, Monique, worked on for years. Here’s hoping she oops, and does it
again someday.
Whether you like the shootout as a deciding premise, you can’t deny the drama and integrity of that game. The U.S. came out hot, outskating its rivals, who countered with a punch to the mouth. As things got super physical in the second period, the Americans seemed intimidated.
Not sure what was said in the locker room, but the U.S. played a remarkable third period, dominating puck possession and tying things up with six minutes to go. The two teams battled to a draw for the duration of regulation and overtime, setting up the dramatic finish.
If Lamoureux-Davidson played the role of Mike Eruzione, then U.S. goalie Maddie Rooney would definitely be cast as “Miracle on Ice” goaltender Jim Craig. The 20-yearold backstop was terrific throughout, matching saves with her Canadian counterpart, Shannon Szabados, who was playing in her third Olympics. In this case, youth trumped experience
Rooney’s final two saves in the shootout clinched the gold for the red, white and blue.
A friend asked me what the prospects were for a legitimate women’s pro hockey league after this amazing game and I didn’t really have an answer.
Currently, there are two in North America — the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the National Women’s Hockey League in the U.S. — but neither is well established.
The Canadian league just started paying players recently, while the U.S. league has only four teams and not much of a following.
The two leagues should merge and capitalize on that golden moment in South Korea. Women’s hockey is a fast-moving, exciting sport that’s great to watch. Played in the international style, I’d argue it’s a purer form of hockey than what we see in the NHL. These national team athletes in both countries train full time, so why don’t we find a way to pay them for it?
Mikaela Shiffrin won a gold and a silver medal at these Olympics, but you can’t help feeling it was a bit of a letdown.
That’s because she’s been so dominant on the World Cup circuit the past few years, winning race after race even while expanding her repertoire of races.
We saw Shiffrin’s greatness up close and personal last year when she came to Squaw Valley and won both World Cup races held on those historic slopes. She appeared unbeatable at the time, leading to speculation that she could win as many as five gold medals in Pyeongchang.
But something was a bit off for the 22-year-old superstar in South Korea. She admitted to a bad case of nerves, even throwing up before one of her races. Shiffrin didn’t even medal in the slalom, her signature event.
Perhaps the ubiquitous presence of her mother, Eileen, is wearing thin on the four-time World Cup champion. Mom acts as year-round coach, manager and travel partner for Shiffrin. It’s been that way for years, and that can’t be enjoyable for a successful young adult looking to grow her independence.
As one unnamed racer on the circuit told Sports Illustrated before the Games began, “That relationship is not built to last.”
Feels like it’s time for Mikaela to reconsider this arrangement. Maybe Mom should step back just a little. Or maybe neither scenario comes to pass and Shiffrin the Younger will simply continue being America’s best skier.
Final thoughts: Figure skating commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski were the clear stars of NBC broadcasts over the past two weeks. Weir’s flamboyant wardrobes and expertise combined with Lipinski’s dry wit and championship pedigree made for great chemistry. Hopefully, these two will stay together for an extended run of Olympics coverage in years to come . ... I’ve long been an advocate of snow sports, but I still can’t embrace the ski cross concept, where a group of racers bomb down the hill at the same time, jostling for position. It’s certainly fun to watch, but it’s basically what me and my friends used to do on the mountain when we were 12. It’s like a snow version of “kill the guy with the ball.” Give me the traditional downhill and slalom alpine events any day. Klammer, Stenmark, Tomba and the Mahres. Leave the banzai racing to Daron Rahlves (who’s damned good at it). Besides, how can you improve on “Hot Dog: The Movie”? ... Curling: Sport or not a sport? It’s a raging debate every four years. My wife has the best definition I’ve heard on this subject. If you can smoke while competing, it’s not a sport. I guess that rules out bowling, too . ... That’s it for the 2018 Winter Olympics. See you on the couch in four years.