Why Women’s Hockey Should Stay: There's a growing movement that says women's hockey doesn't belong in the Olympics. Amateur’s not one of them.
Spot on. Too soon to condemn, especially when there's no reason to. I mean, there are the same number of skeleton sliders in the United States as there are competitive hockey players in Italy (between 200–400—source is a SI exclusive article from a few weeks back, I'll look it up). Overall, it seems like an easy topic for writers to resort to while they're waiting for the men's tournament to begin.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:52 AM on February 16, 2006
And there is little, if any, pressure to "contract" the winter Olympics. Damn straight. It's not like there's a global shortage of medals. Other than that everyone already knows my opinions about this subject. But then again, I love hockey over all other sports.
posted by njsk8r20 at 01:16 PM on February 16, 2006
nice job Amateur. couldn't agree more.
posted by goddam at 01:36 PM on February 16, 2006
Great article Amateur. I agree that given time this could grow into quite a competition. I am anxious to see the next round of games and see how Finland and Sweden do against the USA and Canada. I don't think they will win yet but I think they will be better games than what we have seen.
posted by skydivemom at 01:46 PM on February 16, 2006
Amateur Fantastic column! I've really enjoyed watching the Women play Olympic Hockey, those writers don't have a clue about the fanastic potential of this sport on the International scene. Your call for patience is right on the money.
posted by skydivedad at 01:46 PM on February 16, 2006
It's gotta be tough for a sports hack with no imagination to look at all these other sports and make sense of them when all you really want to do is sit at home and watch ESPN Classic until pitchers & catchers report in a week or two. (And Damien Cox of all people should know better than to spout that crap.) Solid piece, Amateur.
posted by chicobangs at 01:50 PM on February 16, 2006
Again, let's just admit that women's hockey was rushed into the winter Olympics. Exactly. Now that it's in, let it stay. It seems that the publicity of the olympics will speed up the quality of play.
posted by justgary at 03:33 PM on February 16, 2006
Hey, as fun as this is for me, we need some mouthbreathers in here to manufacture some disagreement. Anyone? Hello?
posted by Amateur at 07:07 PM on February 16, 2006
Women should not be allowed to play hockey. They are bad and not as good as men. They also should not be allowed to drive cars. Or bikes. They should make me cupcakes.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:13 AM on February 17, 2006
You suck, Amateur. Mmmmm, cupcakes.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 08:34 AM on February 17, 2006
Thanks. Now it feels like it was all worth it.
posted by Amateur at 08:52 AM on February 17, 2006
I have to disagree with all of you: after a lot of thought, review, and analysis, I've come to the conclusion that the officiating was bad and that the Seahawks should've won the Super Bowl.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:53 AM on February 17, 2006
Seriously Amateur - there's no debate here, because you pretty much sewed that one right up. Great column.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:56 AM on February 17, 2006
And would you believe it, we're nearing the end of the second period, and it's still 2-2 between USA and Sweden. Of course, Sweden are basically outclassed and owe it all to their goaltender, but still, we've got a game, and it's in the semis.
posted by qbert72 at 11:18 AM on February 17, 2006
And now its over. Unbelievable. That's got to be one of the biggest upsets in recent Olympic history. Wow. What a performance by the Swedish goalie. Wow. I have no words.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:42 PM on February 17, 2006
Hey, listen, everybody just ignore all that stuff above, 'K?
posted by Amateur at 01:09 PM on February 17, 2006
Hey, listen, everybody just ignore all that stuff above, 'K? Aw man.... I read your post just as I was about to respond to DrJohnEvans on how the entire NFL season was a conspiricy and the Lions should have gone undefeated.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:10 PM on February 17, 2006
Get rid of women's hockey?!! You've got to be kidding me. If I'd have been blessed with stronger ankles when I was younger, I'd have been screaming for the chance to play hockey alot sooner than it was brought in...and I'm 42 now :) And if I wasn't in grad school now, I would have found a way to get over to Torino to cheer for hockey personally! These writers...what do they know...athlete wanna-be's that they are.
posted by smedsportsnut at 01:34 PM on February 18, 2006
I would watch women's hockey any day of the week. But, then again, I love hockey. It might be dominated by two or three teams right now, but that will not be the case in the long run. Case in point, Men's Basketball. On another personal note, baseball and softball are sports and should be in the Olympics. Who's the dumbass who accidentally hit the delete button when they were checking the list of sports for the Summer Olympics?
posted by wingnut4life at 11:51 AM on February 16, 2006