If You Aint First You're Last

Losing in overtime of the gold medal game would have been devastating enough, losing in the gold medal game on a shot by Sidney Crosby made it all the worse. The euphoric feeling I had after watching last Sundays game between the US and Canadian hockey teams was replaced this week by one of misery. As the saying goes, "he who laughs last, laughs best" and as it were the Canadians have entered a state of uncontrollable laughter.

The US team exceeded all expectations during this tournament. There are not many people who predicted them to go down to the wire with the Canadians in the gold medal game. Generally, I am not a fan of winning a silver medal. Silver and bronze medals serve to sole purpose of glorifying losers. However, in this instance a silver medal is a truly remarkable accomplishment. The Americans were young and untested and they came into the tournament with very little respect from the rest of the hockey community. They leave today the second greatest hockey team in the world.

With 40 seconds left in today's game, I said to my friend, "They have to score, not only because they have to win but also because I am not ready for this tournament to end." Although the US would go on to lose, I still got my wish. This incredible tournament was capped off with the most dramatic of finishes.

These past two weeks have served as the rebirth of American hockey. There will be a bright future on the international stage for American teams. The Canadians will no longer be challenged only by countries from across the pond. The US showed that they are to seriously be considered when discussing the worlds greatest hockey playing country.

After all was said and done, watching the Canadians sing their anthem together I realized that in a more perfect world the Star Spangled Banner would be playing instead. Maybe next time and while these games we were not first, we certainly were not last. I suppose the universe is now back at equilibrium, Canada regains its supremacy in hockey, and I can go back to hating Brooks Orpik.