The Olympics are over. I have mixed feelings about the whole Olympicorporation, though I do admire the athletes and their dedication. Today, I am happy to have my city return to some kind of normal.
Yesterday though, my ambivalence was on vacation. Gone so far it could not even text me a little reminder. No matter how I feel about the Olympics, I AM a hockey fan. Multiply fan by a thousand and you have the level of passion for the sport felt by my beloved and his father. So yesterday, we went en famille (me, husband, son, father-in-law and mother-in-law) to the packed local pub to watch the game on the big screen.
The game was a nail biter, though when only 24 seconds were left and we were a goal ahead it seemed time to start celebrating gold. Then; "OH NO!!!", and people across our puck-crazed Dominion groaned when the U.S. scored. I swear I heard a guy in Corner Brook scream "SON OF A BITCH! Lads, pass the screech, quick!" In the pub we shook our heads, disbelieving that the game was tied and would go into sudden death overtime.
In the interval, I commiserated by phone with my sister, who was watching from New Zealand. (She is a bigger hockey fan than I am, once mortifying me at a Canucks game by standing and screaming "I love you Trevor", after Linden was sent to the penalty box.) The pub patrons wondered how they could bear the tension. Many more pitchers of Molson Canadian seemed the answer at most tables. (I saw one young woman at a nearby table drinking a Corona. She must be foreign.)
The puck dropped for the overtime period. The din in the pub made the lampposts outside tremble. A rowdy woman kept shrieking at the T.V., "GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!GET IT OUT!" It was my 80 year old mother-in-law. I looked nervously at my 89 year old father-in-law, who was half out of his chair, fists clenched. I mentally reviewed my CPR training. After five minutes , the tension and the beer forced me to take a very speedy trip to the ladies'. Too bad medals are not given for fastest trip to the loo. The score was still zip all when I breathlessly returned. Then the beer caught up with my son and he jogged off to the Gents'. Just as Son was out of sight, Crosby scored for Canada, and the Country let out its collective breath. My son came running back. "I missed it," he wailed. Many of you have seen the ensuing decorus pleasure shown by us reserved, shy Canadians. We went ape shit.
...
My mother claims that my father had a talent for being in the bathroom whenever something important happened. It looks like that gift has skipped a generation.
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13 comments:
I neither know nor care nothing about hockey (or any sport, for that matter) and didn't watch any of the Olympics, so I'll just say here that I officially move you out of the "probably defunct" category in my Google Reader.
Indeed it was a beautiful goal. Hockey as it should be played all the time, fast and furious. :o)
S.A.W. I became a hockey fan only when I started playing the game at age 46. Becoming a player makes it interesting.
Thank you for making me not defunct! I feel much livlier now that I know that.
V.
B.B. And hockey as it should be watched: In a pub with a big screen, with family and friends (we did not bring any friends, but made lots of new ones,) pitchers of Canadian, and waving Maple Leafs.
V.
That was some game wasn't it. I saw the goal before my stepson because NBC has a time delay and he was watching in California. Of course my stepson was cheering for the wrong side anyway...ciao
Mr. Jazz watched it. Me? meh...
I didn't manage to get excited over any of the olympics.
Maybe cause the Norwegian men's curling team's pants traumatized me.
Rositta, I totally understand that you left your dinner companions waiting so you could watch the overtime period. (Got that from your blog.)I had a volunteer shift at the hospital booked after the game. If the game had gone on longer, the patients may have had to wait. Priorities, you know.
V.
Jazz, those Joker pants were terrible. But on the other hand, there were the skintight suits of the male speed skaters, showing off their big glutes. Oh baby!
V.
LOL... I've missed the crucial bits of so many films having to take the kids to the toilet... and well done Canada! Way to go!
Gah - has my comment disappeared!?? Way to go Canada!
I actually liked the pants the Norwegians were wearing, they were kind of cool. I sure liked their skip Thomas, now he was reallly coool...ciao
Even I watched that hockey game and I don't watch hockey very often. My hometown in NC, U.S. has the Carolina Hurricanes so I do watch their games sometimes. I'll admit that I was rooting for the U.S. but I also couldn't help be happy for Canada too since you were hosting the Olympics. I had a feeling all of Canada was on the edge of their seats for the end of that game. Congratulations!
Pretty damn exciting at the OT end of it, I must agree. Worth the price of admission. Yay for our boys.
Lady Fi,
Rositta, I missed seeing that skip. Eye candy, was he?
Carver, how nice of you to be happy the Canadians won. I wish I could say I would have the same generousity of spirit if the situation was reversed, but I'm not so sure. Canadians' red blood cells are in the shape of hockey pucks you know.
Mr Writeon, yes, it was exciting. But now that it's over we can turn our hearts to something even more exciting: SPRING!
V.
Lady Fi, Blogger cut off my reply to you, how rude. It was something pithy and profound about how much time mothers spend in nasty public toilets holding little ones above the seat.
V.
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