Just hours before the Olympic torch was extinguished on Sunday night, the United States felt the fire go out a little early.
All it took was a flick from Sidney Crosby’s wrists and a gap too wide between Ryan Miller’s legs. Then, just like that, the best player in the NHL had beaten the best goalie in the Olympics. Just like that, Canada was on top. And just like that, the United States watched in agony as their Cinderella story was doused. But that’s exactly how it was supposed to be.
While it was a bitter end to the 21st Winter Olympics, the U.S. has nothing to be ashamed of. The 37 medals were not only the most by any U.S. Winter Olympic team, but the most by any country in the history of the games. It also was the first time since the 1932 games that the U.S. has topped the medal count in the Winter Olympics.
Our northern border friends, on the other hand, poured $118 million into its “Own the Podium” campaign, in hopes of finishing with the most medals. Instead, Canada watched the U.S. settle into British Columbia like it was Beaver Creek. By the end of the first week, Canada’s Prime Minister publicly stated that his country had no chance of catching the U.S. medal count. Halfway through the games, Canada was ready to wave the white flag.
If Canada was going down, they always knew it wouldn’t be in their own sport. That changed, though, when the young and relatively inexperienced U.S. team shocked them 5-3 in the preliminary round. Suddenly, we weren’t camping in Canada’s backyard; we were practically living in it.
But the story line was too great: the U.S. and Canada would have to meet again for the gold, and the Canucks would finally get their revenge. You could even see that it would only be appropriate for the face of Canada’s sport to have the game-winning goal. Not even Disney can come up with this stuff.
The beauty of sports is the unscripted drama—the idea that, no matter how sure you are of an outcome, anything can happen. In this story, though, there was no surprise ending; no plot twist. The U.S. was not supposed to win that game, and they didn’t.
But with that said, they didn’t lose without dignity. Dubbed as a “dark horse” at best entering the Olympics, U.S. men’s hockey went from a group of misfit professionals to a team that nearly pulled off the greatest upset since the Miracle on Ice. They finished as the second-best hockey team on the planet. Keep that in mind come Sochi, Russia 2014.
Looking back, we’ll remember how the best overall team won the most medals, and how the best overall hockey team won the tournament. No, it wasn’t the happiest ending for the United States, but considering all the damage Team U.S.A. did in Vancouver, the least we can do is pull one out of Canada’s book.
Smile, tip your cap, and say congrats, eh?
