Patriotism comes to the forefront

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© St. Petersburg Times
published February 25, 2002

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- They danced. They sang. They darn near convinced Wayne Gretzky to move back home.

On the final day of competition, a hockey game reminded the world the Olympics can be special even when the wrong guys win.

And we have Gretzky to thank for this lesson.

You see, before Gretzky went on a tirade last week, we thought this was just another NHL All-Star Game, albeit with Olympic gold at stake.

When along came Gretzky, in a moment of uncharacteristic fury, pointing out we harbor a grudge against Canada. That we, in fact, hate our neighbors to the north.

Naturally, this came as a shock to many of us. We had been so preoccupied with ignoring them, we had no idea we hated them.

Gretzky, who assembled his nation's hockey roster, stepped forward to explain this to the world after his team went through a rough stretch in the preliminary games.

"The Americans love our poor start. They love it when we're not doing well," Gretzky said last week. "I don't think we dislike those countries as much as they hate us. They don't like us, and they want to see us fail."

You had to accept Gretzky knew what he was talking about. He does, after all, live in Los Angeles with his American wife and American children.

So in the days after Gretzky's outburst, two things happened. America got very interested in hockey, and Mini-America began playing better.

"It helped bring the team together when we didn't play that great initially," forward Brendan Shanahan said. "I think some people enjoyed seeing us struggle early. Whether (Gretzky) overexaggerated or not, it was good medicine for our team. We pulled together in the dressing room."

All of which made for a combative finale to an argumentative Olympics. It gave spirit to a game that might otherwise have lacked soul.

For you see, as desperately as America wanted to recreate the glory of the 1980 Olympic gold, that was not going to be possible.

Not because the United States couldn't win, but because Olympic hockey is no longer the same. America's team is not an endearing, and undermanned, collection of college students and amateurs playing superior European teams.

Instead, this was our millionaire NHL players vs. their millionaire NHL players. And most of their millionaires pay their taxes on this side of the border. Of Canada's 23 players, 18 play for NHL teams in the United States. Look no further than the bills for the broken furniture and lackluster performance of America's first Dream Team in Nagano in 1998 to understand an Olympic gold medal is not the pinnacle of an NHL player's career.

They could say they care. They could stay in the Athlete's Village like commoners and could wear their colors proudly. Yet at the end of the Games, they undoubtedly would jump on chartered flights and return to the pampered world of a professional athlete.

No matter how badly NHL players might want to win a medal, they will not have paid the life's investment required of most other Olympians.

Which is why Gretzky's lecture turned out to be so important. He gave us back the notion of an underdog. Not of a team, but of a nation.

It had been 50 years since Canada's hockey team last won gold in the Olympics. The United States, an admittedly inferior program for most, if not all, of those 50 years, had won two golds since then.

Another gold for the United States in 2002 would have been swell, but it would not have made nearly the impact Canada's 5-2 victory had.

"As a country," Gretzky said Sunday, "we desperately needed to win this tournament."

We're at the point where you can make jokes about Canada's obsession with their gold medals in men's and women's hockey. Where you can point out curling is the only other sport in which they know how to sweep.

But before going too far, remember some of the magical moments we've seen at these Olympic Games.

Jim Shea holding aloft the photo of his Olympian grandfather. Brian Shimer leaping across the bobsled track to hug his family in celebration of a bronze medal that took five Olympics to finally win. Sarah Hughes and her coach, Robin Wagner, dropping to their knees when figure skating scores were announced.

And now remember the moment when Canada sealed Sunday's hockey game with a late goal by Joe Sakic. The moment fans at the E Center arena broke into a spontaneous chorus of O Canada.

Maybe this wasn't the most important game of the year for some of the players on the ice, but it was for many of the people watching.

And that's enough.

"It's going to be remembered for a long time," forward Steve Yzerman said. "I've got to imagine the whole country was watching.

"It's a proud moment for everyone."

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