Two Sides

I'm not into hockey. It's probably because I'm American. But when it's the gold-medal game of the Olympics and the two teams fighting it out are USA and Canada, you bet I'm watching. Or recording, as the game started at the exact same time as church. When I got home and turned it on, I couldn't believe that it was the Canadians who were celebrating. So I rewound. I only really watched the last few minutes, when USA made that awesome goal with just twenty-four seconds left, and then the overtime. I was struck by the two men who were at the center of everything.

Ryan Miller, the MVP goalie with the awesome helmet, looked like this after he failed to stop the medal- and bragging-winning puck:



Sidney Crosby, the player who single-handedly saved and inspired a nation with his over-time goal, looked like this:


For some reason the display of both ends of the emotional gamut, so close to each other, was fascinating to me. In a second, both men had drastic changes in what they were feeling on the ice. Both had hope that the outcome would be in their favor, and just like that the hope for one was turned into disbelief and despair, while for the other it turned into celebration and craziness.

Then the medals were awarded, and again the two teams' demeanors were so different. The USA team looked like they wanted to leave as soon as possible, not even noticing the silver medals being placed around their necks. The Canadians, as expected, were exuberant and couldn't stop smiling, and immediately grabbed their gold medals after they were placed around their necks to get a closer look. During a post-game interview, Ryan Miller could barely hold it together; there was a point when I thought he was going to cry. Sydney Crosby, of course, was ecstatic during his interview.

I'm just glad that by the time the Closing Ceremony rolled around, Ryan Miller seemed to be in a much better mood.