Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 23, 2002
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- Now, this is going to tick them off in Omsk.
Perestroika, my eye. They will blow blood vessels in Novosibirsk. There will be riots in Gorky Park. Over in Kazan, they will toss their government-issued remote controls toward the wall.
Russia is gonna be irked, people. That's the message here. Who knows? Tom Clancy may enjoy a career resurgence. And where did we leave the Red October, anyway?
Yep, there is going to be some volume along the Volga today, considering the U.S. hockey team held on for a 3-2 victory Friday night over the Russians. No one is saying the Cold War is coming back, but didn't you think someone turned the thermometer down a few degrees during the game?
The Russians came in talking about a boycott, and they left talking about a fix. In between, they talked a lot about the officiating.
'"There's not much you can do about it right now," charged Russian coach Slava Fetisov. "An agreement has been designed to have a final between Canada and the United States. You have this final. You have NHL referees."
Welcome to turn-back-the-clock night at the Olympics. On the 22nd anniversary of the 1980 Miracle on Ice, all the old hostilities resurfaced. You could have sworn that Gary Francis Powers was there, sitting next to Nikita Khrushchev and talking about the Missiles of October. There was a rumor that, sometime during the second period, as the Americans sped to a 3-0 lead, the Berlin Wall went back up.
Oh, it wasn't that way on the ice, of course. Anyone who would suggest that it was wasn't paying attention. That was a Miracle on Ice. This was Millionaires on Ice. This was NHL stars from over here against NHL stars from over there. Russia isn't going to send any of its players to Siberia over this one; it already has sent them to Detroit and Dallas and Phoenix. Everyone here gets paid in dollars.
The Russians, however, came in with a chip on their shoulders, and minute by minute it grew into something you could ski down. This time, the distrust was toward the referees.
"They are professional people," Fetisov said. "But they live here. They know the players, Americans and Canadians. I know, in crucial situations, it's human reaction, they are not going to call a penalty."
Sour grapes? Maybe. The best argument the Russians seem to have came halfway through the third period, when Sergei Samsonov blasted two quick shots at Mike Richter. No goal was called. The Russians leaned over the rail, banging their sticks against the boards, yelling for a replay. They didn't get it.
Expect that to get major play on Russian sports talk radio today.
That, and Chris Chelios' ancestry.
The Russians had begun to complain a day earlier when Russian Olympic Committee president Leonid Tyagachev threatened to pull his team out of the Olympics and boycott the Athens Games as well.
"We will not let our athletes be used as toys," Tyagachev said.
Tyagachev spoke sternly, passionately, like a villain in a Bond film. If he had been any angrier, he would have banged his shoe on the table. He talked of 24-hour deadlines and boycotts, and the lower house of Russia's parliament voted 417-0 in favor of boycotting the Closing Ceremony.
Around Salt Lake City, however, no one really took the talk of boycotting the U.S.-Russia game seriously. This was more like a federation playing head games, as Steve Spurrier once did by accusing FSU of late hits. Quick. Does anyone know the Russian word for "Spurrier?"
Come on. This wasn't exactly the '72 basketball game. This was over a hockey game against the Czechs that the Russians won. And a skating competition Irina Slutskaya clearly lost. As for the disputed cross-country event involving a disqualified Russian, it's tough to call, because no one in Salt Lake City admits to ever seeing one live. But as they say in Transylvania, an abundance of hemoglobin is an abundance of hemoglobin.
Look, most of us will accept outrage. Near as anyone can tell, the South Koreans had a point in defending the medal stripped from short-track speed skater Kim Dhong-Sung. But, frankly, it's hard to see the Russians' point.
Hey, the Russians are our buds now. We love the Russians. Heck, most of us haven't built a fallout shelter in years. We have great respect for the achievements of Russian athletes, despite the career of Anna Kournikova. In particular, we love Russian hockey players.
Around Tampa Bay, for instance, Nikolai Khabibulin is the most respected player the Lightning has, and he's on his way to being the most respected it has ever had. And give Khabibulin credit for this: He tried to dodge the issue. He was asked about the referees.
"I think it was pretty fair.," he said. Then the interviewer, with an edge in his voice, interrupted.
"If you are Russian," he said, "why don't you try answering in Russian."
In other words, there was an attitude. Tempers flared. Flags waved. Temperatures grew colder
Look, Leonid. No one wants to go back to the old days. Iron is a poor fabric for curtains. No one wants the friction, the mistrust, the distance. Well, maybe Clancy's editors, but no one else.
On the other hand, you could look at it this way. A lot of millionaire athletes were angry. They whined. They blamed officials. They made threats. Somehow, it sounded familiar.
Gee. Russians are more and more like us every day, aren't they?