Todd Bertuzzi, sucker-puncher par excellence, was named to Canada's Olympic hockey roster. I'm not terribly pleased by this; I was disappointed he was playing already this season--if it were up to me, I'd have let him sit 41 games this season (and maybe train with the team, but not see game action, for the last ten of that.) That would have felt right to me. Anything starting with 20 would have been acceptable.
But implicit in all of that would be that wasn't welcome on the Olympic team. True, he's already missed 2 world championships, the 2004 World Cup and was prohibited from going to Europe during the lockout. But, as much as the spirit of friendly (if intense) competition that I understood the Games to be about is mostly gone, I think Bertuzzi's actions were just too chickenshit to allow him on the stage. True, it's not my country he's representing, but he's a walking embarrassment to hockey and its community. I would be rooting for Team USA anyway--my jingoism only comes out for international sporting competitions--but I can say I'll be disappointed if Bertuzzi gets to wear a medal around his neck. It will just remind me of the brace Steve Moore had to wear around his.
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