Turin, Italy
1:37 PM
I just ate lunch and watched the end of the Olympic semifinal women’s hockey game between Sweden and the USA. The US was the heavy favorite, and from what they said, may have beaten Sweden 24 times in a row. Well, the streak ended a few minutes ago. The intensity of the overtime and shootout is what the Olympics are all about. So much passion in every swoosh of the skate, every shot on goal, every ohhh of the crowd. I was enthralled. My interest was spurred on by the Rochester newspaper who updates the local girls on the team. My cousin grew up a few houses down from one the girls, Kim Insalaco. We had a power play with a little over 2 minutes to go in the OT and had some shots on net, but couldn’t push it through. The Swedish goalie was a wall in the OT and we didn’t score once.
The end of close games are always hard. I feel for the USA team, but I also smile at the though of the Swedish team celebrating the victory over the favored USA team. As an athlete, I am not sure what I think about the outcome of an important game like that decided by a shootout, I would think the players would rather have it decided on the ice, full strength. But I don’t make the rules and it was exciting.
The USA will have to suck it up and get the effort back for the bronze. It will be hard to have the same itensity since the expectations were a match up for the gold against Canada. Expectations can make you play in ways you normally don’t. Back to the book.