The Weight of Expectations
Congratulations to Teams Canada, Switzerland and Sweden for winning bronze, silver and gold respectively in women's curling today.
Team Canada was very impressive today in beating Norway 11-5 in 8 ends. I knew after hearing Shannon Kleibrink interviewed Wednesday they would be tough. To them a bronze medal meant a lot after losing a chance at gold. Shannon was very composed in her interview, which I took as a good sign.
Switzerland and Sweden certainly showed why they were in the gold medal game. Both teams made very nice shots. When it goes to the 11th end, that says a lot. Sweden won in spite of a couple of questionable strategy decisions. There was no question they deserved it on execution alone.
All the best to Team Gushue Friday against Finland. Canada will be the favourite, but watch out, because Finland has been hot and has nothing to lose.
Which brings up the question of expectations. Canada is going to win at least a bronze Friday to go with a silver in curling. No other country will win 2 medals in curling. All Canadians should take this to mean Canada's #1, right? Wrong. To many the curling has already not met the expectation of 2 golds. If Gushue loses, Canada will be 0-3 in men's Olympic curling gold medal pursuit, and 1-5 overall. They will also be 6-0 in getting a medal. Is this a glass-half-full-half-empty situation?
No matter what, both curling teams fared better than Canada's men's hockey team, which had even more pressure. Is bronze better than the 7th or 8th place Canada will finish in hockey? Of course.
What we have to realize is Canada's expertise is spreading across the globe. No better example exists than freestyle aerials, where the Chinese have two Canadians coaching them. China is now medaling in a sport Canada used to dominate.
What has happened is the world is improving in "our" sports, but we're looking at them with eyes locked in the past. It's time to wake up and realize we're no longer the dominate country in curling and hockey, and take action to regain that title.
Let's celebrate our teams' accomplishments, regardless of the medals (or lack thereof) they achieve. Gushue's medal will give Canada 20 for the Games, a new record, with other medals a possibility. That means an all-time record. That should also mean celebration. Let's enjoy these last 3 days, then think about how to make things even better for 2010.
Regards,
Steve
Team Canada was very impressive today in beating Norway 11-5 in 8 ends. I knew after hearing Shannon Kleibrink interviewed Wednesday they would be tough. To them a bronze medal meant a lot after losing a chance at gold. Shannon was very composed in her interview, which I took as a good sign.
Switzerland and Sweden certainly showed why they were in the gold medal game. Both teams made very nice shots. When it goes to the 11th end, that says a lot. Sweden won in spite of a couple of questionable strategy decisions. There was no question they deserved it on execution alone.
All the best to Team Gushue Friday against Finland. Canada will be the favourite, but watch out, because Finland has been hot and has nothing to lose.
Which brings up the question of expectations. Canada is going to win at least a bronze Friday to go with a silver in curling. No other country will win 2 medals in curling. All Canadians should take this to mean Canada's #1, right? Wrong. To many the curling has already not met the expectation of 2 golds. If Gushue loses, Canada will be 0-3 in men's Olympic curling gold medal pursuit, and 1-5 overall. They will also be 6-0 in getting a medal. Is this a glass-half-full-half-empty situation?
No matter what, both curling teams fared better than Canada's men's hockey team, which had even more pressure. Is bronze better than the 7th or 8th place Canada will finish in hockey? Of course.
What we have to realize is Canada's expertise is spreading across the globe. No better example exists than freestyle aerials, where the Chinese have two Canadians coaching them. China is now medaling in a sport Canada used to dominate.
What has happened is the world is improving in "our" sports, but we're looking at them with eyes locked in the past. It's time to wake up and realize we're no longer the dominate country in curling and hockey, and take action to regain that title.
Let's celebrate our teams' accomplishments, regardless of the medals (or lack thereof) they achieve. Gushue's medal will give Canada 20 for the Games, a new record, with other medals a possibility. That means an all-time record. That should also mean celebration. Let's enjoy these last 3 days, then think about how to make things even better for 2010.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 5:16 PM
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