It’s my Parting Shot for my Monday Musings…..
You win some, you lose some! Canada didn’t win the gold medal in the highlight event of the Milan Winter Olympics yesterday. For the first time since 1980, the United States won the men’s hockey event – which was the first best-on-best tournament at the Winter Games since 2014. Connor Hellebuyck “goalied” Canada’s best in the final and all the analysis and excuses don’t mean a hill of beans because, in the end, the Americans executed and the Canadians didn’t! That’s that!!
What is more concerning is the fact that Canada’s Winter Games athletes only managed 21 total medals, just five of which were gold. The facts say that the total medal haul is the fewest since 2002 in Salt Lake City and that most of our medals were won by older athletes. That has let to the Canadian Olympic Committee and Sport Canada saying that today’s athlete needs more government funding! That may be true, but in today’s day of age of inflation, homelessness and a lunatic running the show down south, is there really more money for athletes to do better at the Olympic games?! I think not!!
The Fearless Predictor had too much confidence in Canadian athletes in Italy, as it turned out. When I check back to my February 6th commentary, I had Canada winning 24 total medals, eight of them gold – three more than they actually got in each category. I had the Canadian men’s hockey team and Rachel Homan’s women’s curling foursome taking top spot on the podium – both wrong. I did say that the Canadian women’s hockey team would be the runners-up to the United States and collect a silver. As for the Mixed Doubles curling, they didn’t even make the playoffs – let alone win a silver medal! And, I didn’t give Brad Jacobs’ quartet enough love when it came to them winning gold in men’s four-person curling. I said bronze. In short, Canada didn’t live up to expectations in Milan – mine or the experts!!
Lastly, there shouldn’t be any belly-aching about who did the announcing of various sports and games at the Olympics. I’m, especially, looking at those who didn’t like Bruce Rainie doing play-by-play, along with Mike Harris and Jennifer Jones alongside, for curling! And, Kenzie Lalonde and Cheryl Pounder doing the men’s bronze medal game was just fine – get over your dislike of women talking about a men’s game, especially when men have been commentating on women’s games for a much longer time before now!!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
