Not a Miracle

In my effort to see as much of the Olympics as I can, while maintaining some level of sanity and not completely ignoring my obligations to my family and employer, I skip over much of the analysis.  My priorities are to see the action, learn a little more about the sports I am watching, and maybe learn a little something about the athletes.  I don't have time to hear someone tell me what they expect to happen before it happens.  Because of this, I skipped over much of the pre-game discussion before the US-Russia hockey game.  However, through the wonders of a DVR, I was able to see much of the imagery.  It is possible I missed the main point, however, they showed a lot of clips from the US-USSR game in the 1980 Olympics.  I understand this was US-Russia, but this was NOT the miracle on ice.

I understand most people reading this will probably say to themselves, "Yeah, I know that."  I still need to get this off my chest.  There is too much comparison to the 1980 game.  Even after the fact, too much comparison to the Miracle On Ice.  Even the White House got into this ridiculousness with a tweet stating, "Congrats to T.J. Oshie and the U.S. men's hockey team on a huge win! Never stop believing in miracles. #GoTeamUSA -bo."  Never stop believing in miracles?  I have not searched social media enough to know if this was a common reaction to the US win over Russia yesterday.  Again, I don't have that kind of time.  If it is, this country has gone too far even for my help.

The 1980 Olympic hockey game between the US and the Soviet Union, commonly known as the Miracle on Ice, is the greatest moment in sports history for the United States.  This is a fact, and but for the fact that it is not a random fact, would be my Random Fact of the Day.  Fans of particular teams my claim that the year they won the Super Bowl or the World Series was a great moment.  If they claim it was the greatest sports moment ever, they are wrong.  This in non-negotiable.  The greatest moment in US sports history was the moment Al Michaels yelled into a microphone, "Do you believe in miracles?...Yes!"

Calling yesterday's victory a miracle, or comparing the game, prior to or after the fact, to the 1980 US-USSR game is not only an insult to the young men who achieved that victory 34 years ago, but is also a cornucopia of idiocy not seen to often in these parts.  NBC, please?  Mr. President, really, just don't go there.  And to anyone else out there who somehow thought US v. Russia in 2014 is in any way related to US v. USSR in 1980, please, before you watch any more hockey, go learn something about the game.

Without thinking too hard, here are some of the myriad of differences between 1980 and 2014.

1.  Russia is a different country than the USSR.  Yes, the bulk of the USSR was the land mass now and previously called Russia, but they are not the same thing.  In 1980, we were playing the Soviets, a country that has now split into 15 different countries.

2.  The world is not, whether in reality or perception, split into two opposing and conflicting political ideologies led by two superpowers.

3.  For that matter, there really is no superpower in the world anymore.  And if there were any superpowers, Russia isn't one of them.

4.  In 1980, I had not spent the prior decade cheering for the biggest star on the Russian team.

5.  In 1980, I had not spent the last 5 years hating the US coach.

6.  The Russians didn't beat the US 10-3 two weeks ago.

7.  The US team is not currently made up of college kids, or recent college kids.

8.  The Russians are not the dominant hockey team in the world.  The Soviets won the Olympic gold medal in 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976.  After the fact, they won in 1984, 1988 and the Unified Team (made up of many of the former Soviet republics) won in 1992.  Coming into 2014, the "dominant" team in hockey is Canada, who won 2 of the last 3 gold medals.

9.  The US is pretty good now.  While the Soviets were winning every gold medal from 1962-1976, the US won one, a silver in 1972.  Coming into 2014, the US has won 2 silver medals in the last 3 Olympics, losing to Canada in the Gold Medal Game twice.  Russia has not won a medal since the bronze in 2002.

After the game ended, my Volleyball Insider texted me, "Huge win."  He was right, it was.  The top teams coming into this tournament were expected to be Russia, Canada, Sweden and the US.  Any one of those teams beating another is big.  The win put us in position to jump right to the quarterfinals, a position we solidified by beating Slovenia today.  But the political climate, the success of the two teams, the make-up of the two teams, the stakes, just not the same.  Please, please, please, don't get caught up in the moment.  Don't think I am an old fogy who just thinks things were better in my day.  Let the Miracle be what it was, the Greatest Moment in US sports, and let yesterday be what it was, a huge win in 2014.

Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits)

1. Both Cross Country Skiing relays were enjoyable.  The Women's was the best.  Swedish anchor Charlotte Kalla came from 25 seconds back to win.  She made an awesome inside move on the last turn to take the lead and outsprinted Finland and Germany for the win.  This event demonstrated what the Olympics should be about, great athletes performing at their best.  The Americans had a disastrous first leg that put them completely out of it in both relays.

2.  The commentator for the Women's Aerials Finals should have been Charlie Tweeder.  The competition was more America's Funniest People Falling on their Butts than world class athletic competition.  It doesn't quite have the ring of America's Funniest Shots in the Nuts, but it is the same idea.  This is now example #1 that too many X-Game events have been added to the Olympics.

3. The Heartbreaker strikes again.  Eve Muirhead scored 3 points in the 10th end to steal a win from Korea.

4.  One of the first competitors in the Women's Super G completed the course.  Perhaps that one jump was a little close to the next turn.  Anna Fenninger, in her cheetah helmet, won gold. 

5.  John Daly, no not the golfer, had the worst start I have ever seen in any sliding event ever.  (You can see it at 2:08 here.)  This demonstrates what the Olympics is sometimes about, heartbreak.  All one can ask for is to perform their best on the biggest stage.  Sometimes, it just doesn't happen.

6.  Why do we suck so bad at speedskating this year?  Short and long.  Did I already say that?

7.  I saw both the US Men and Women snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on the last stone in curling.  Perhaps, this just isn't our game.


Predictions Recap

1. US gets bronze in Men's hockey, gold in Women's. - Pending, but looks like I may have undersold us.

2. Ashley Wagner shocks the world with a bronze. - Pending

3. Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the darling of these games. - Pending, but Gracie Gold's performance in the Team competition suggest this may turn out incorrect. Not to mention Kate Hansen.  And our general lack of success on the slopes recently.

4. US beats Russia in both total medals and golds. - Pending, but not looking good Saturday night.  Of course, Russia has two medals, including one gold, because they went shopping for a short track speed skater from South Korea.

5. I will watch more biathlon than anyone else in America. - Pending, but so far, so good  And I still love Chad Salmela.

6. Putin will be on TV more during these Olympics than Kate Middleton was in 2012. And that's a bad thing, because Kate is much more fun to look at, for everyone except my Baltic States Insider. - So far, so good.  He even showed up at the Men's Cross Country relay today.

7. Yulia Lipnistkaya gets confused for a lost child and almost misses the Women's Short Program. Pending

8. Middle does not become the 5th of 5 family members to get sick this week. (Yes, that is a hope more than a prediction, but positive energy into the universe.) - Correct ,but hopefully I haven't jinxed things for this week.

9.  Ted Ligety gets silver in Super Combined.  WRONG!!!  12th

10.  US beats Russia in hockey.  Correct

11.  Pikus-Pace gets silver in skeleton, Uhlaender bronze.  Correct and WRONG!!!  After a disappointing 4th in Vancouver and a 2 year retirement, She Pikus-Pace finally won her medal.  Uhlaender missed the bronze by .04 seconds.

12.  At least 1 more medal for US in Women's Aerials.  WRONG!!!  Ashley Caldwell, from Virginia, had the highest score in the competition, but she did it in qualifying and couldn't match that result in the finals.

13.  Silver for Mancuso in the Super G.  WRONG!!!  Perhaps I should stop predicting what I want to see, Mancuso tie Bode Miller.

14.  Shani Davis continues the US drought in speedskating in 1500.  Correct And wow are we bad in speed skating this year.  Ask Mars Blackmon.  It isn't the suits.


Predictions


1.  Gold for Davis/White in ice dancing.  (Yeah, I'm hoping for a cheap correct.)

2.  927 Russian suicides were saved by former Capital Semyon Varlamov in the shootout v. Slovakia today.

3.  US Medal drought continues in Women's 1500m today.

4.  Historic US Medal in Men's 15K Biathlon.

5.  Historic US Medal in Women's 12.5K Biathlon.  (Neither of these are likely, but if it happens, I can say I predicted it.)

What to Watch For

1  Men's Bobsled.  More Biathlon.

2.  Women's Hockey semifinal:  US v. Sweden.  I believe in MIRACLES!!!  Oh wait, that wouldn't be good.

3.  Men's Aerials.  Can they stay on their feet?

4.  Snowboard Cross.  The best addition to the Winter Games in my memory.

Random Fact of the Day

Belarus competed as an independent country for the first time in the 1994 Winter Olympics.  From 1994 through 2010, they won 1 gold medal.  On February 14, 2014, they won 2.