Apathy Turns to Patriotism this Winter

As the winter Olympics began this year I found myself fairly apathetic to the experience. I felt like I had less patience for games that were judged subjectively or that I didn't fully understand. I figured I'd watch Shaun White make his run on the Super Pipe, but I would switch back to the food network when the French guy was ready to board.

Some sports make as much sense as having McDonald's as the leading sponsor of Olympic athletes. Have you seen those commercials? "Today we eat like Olympians!" Yeah, every finely tuned, world class athlete is sitting in the drive thru waiting for a double quarter pounder with cheese, a McChicken, super-sized fries, and a 64 oz. coke. Sports like ski jumping are weird. I watched ten guys land on the same distance, yet they all are scored differently.

Then there are the "sports" that make no sense at all. Why does the biathlon exist? Why would you ever pair skiing and shooting? The ski portion lasts half the day with competitors achieving speeds up to four miles an hour. Wouldn't the combination work better during the summer games? Water skiing and shooting, that would be cool. One hand on the rope the other blasting moving targets at 35 mph. What could go wrong?

What's up with ice dancing? It's not really figure skating, it's actually ice dancing. Can't you see NBC capitalizing on the popularity of the games by rolling out a new reality show, Celebrity Ice Dancing. I'm sure you could get people to tune in if you paired Serena Williams and Mini Me (Verne Troyer) in frilly, skin tight, silver outfits. Can you imagine how high Serena could throw Mini Me? Now that's American entertainment. That idea would be worth it just to see the Japanese rip offs.

Despite these preconceived notions, I once again found myself invested in the Olympics before I realized what was going on. When you slap a flag on the competitors, suddenly games that you wouldn't spend two minutes watching become intense and serious sporting experiences. I really didn't see myself getting excited about speed skating, but watching Apolo Anton Ohno breaking Olympic history was incredible. I watched everything from women's giant slalom to bobsledding.

One game I watched quite a bit was curling. For some reason, every time I tuned into MSNBC they had coverage. I can't say the "sport" interests me terribly, but it is worth watching just to listen to the commentary. Former Canadian curling champion Doug Duguid provided endless entertainment with his scathing criticism of almost every competitor. American men's and women's curling teams both finished dead last, but that didn't stop me from enjoying at least six full matches. My favorite moment came when Duguid denigrated the Americans by sarcastically remarking, "At least they're having fun, I guess that's all that matters to them..." after an errant throw led one of the competitors to smile sheepishly. At one point he remarked the entire American team should be replaced before the next competition. Ouch.

But the real story of the Olympics came from Men's hockey. Going into the games most analysts thought the young U.S. team had a chance to compete for a bronze medal and not much more. Today the men's team competes for gold against the home team and favored Canadians. The U.S. is undefeated going into this match having beaten Canada once already, but Canada is supremely talented and has much more on the line. Namely the pride of the entire country. If you told the Canadians they could win one gold medal during the games they would unanimously select men's hockey. You cannot underestimate the importance of this medal for Canada. Can you imagine the finest U.S. football players losing to Canada? It's a fair comparison.

Not only has the U.S. dominated the pre-medal rounds thanks largely in part to goaltender Ryan Miller, but the games have been extremely entertaining. I spent some time following the NHL, but I never got hooked (no pun intended). Professional hockey is the worst marketed "major" sport in this country. The NHL format alienates would be casual fans with the amount of player shuffling and lack of marketable American stars.

Just when I thought I didn't care about hockey, the Olympics came around and resurrected my interest. Comparing any hockey team to the 1980 miracle on ice group would be overblown and unfair, but this group has a similar flair. After being stagnant the last winter Olympics, the Americans decided to retool the lineup with younger, hungrier NHL players backed with only three Olympic veterans. The combination has worked, and this group exudes passion while they are skating. The Americans enter the gold medal game as the number one seed.

The NHL is not involved in any marketing efforts during the Olympics which means once the match is over, and players return to their professional teams, it will be business as usual. The reason why the Olympics is successful is the same reason the NHL is not. Watching the joy of a successful, unified hockey team is contagious, and something you don't see often in the NHL. Fans are created when you have a unit to believe in. A group that plays for something bigger than themselves. There is no trade deadline that will break up the team at the end of the Olympics.

Hockey is such a great sport, and one that hits on all the components Americans enjoy. It's fast, physical, skillful, and strategic. Once you learn the basics of the game, it's not hard to follow. I think some of the popularity issues in the U.S. can be attributed to accessibility. Not many kids grow up playing hockey, so many have trouble identifying how impressive these athletes actually are. Just the skating skill alone is unbelievable. But there is a marked difference in Olympic competition from the NHL. The players that compete in these games grew up dreaming of winning a gold for their country, not winning the Stanley Cup. It translates to the ice and the difference is staggering to the viewer.

I don't anticipate being a renewed hockey fan after these games are over. It has given me a greater appreciation of the American born players in the game since before the Olympics I could name more players on Russia's team than the U.S., but it will still be the NHL. A gold medal for the Americans might provide a boost in ratings, but the game will not be fully enjoyed until some serious changes are made in the professional ranks.

Right now none of my problems with NHL hockey matter. Whenever you introduce patriotism to any sport it instantly becomes exciting. Even when the sport is curling. When you take a great sport like hockey, add patriotism, throw in some overachieving Americans, match arch rivals in a gold medal game with the U.S. as underdogs, you got something sweeter than Yoohoo. I can honestly say I've never been so excited for a hockey game in my life.

The whole Olympic experience this year was pleasantly surprising. I really didn't expect to be swept up in the dramatics, but before I knew it I was completely consumed. I once argued that the Olympics were enjoyed by generations before mine and the youth of today would not grow up with any Olympic enthusiasm. After watching the coverage I realized I had underestimated the power of patriotism. No matter how silly the sport, we all love our country, and the human stories that pour out of these games is captivating. I couldn't be more proud of our competitors this year, and hope our boys have one more trick up their sleeve as they prepare to face the Canadians for the Olympic finale. Go USA!