Friday was a big day for Hockey Canada in more ways than one. The men held off a late-game push by the Slovaks and the women were criticized for an “inappropriate” celebration after their 2-0 win over the USA to secure the gold medal.
Oh yeah, and the IOC once again confirmed that they’re slightly sexist, hypocritical and definitely out of touch.
To begin with, the IOC’s executive director of the Olympics, Gilbert Felli, stated “I don’t think it’s a good promotion of sports values.” That’s funny, did he make this statement from Heineken House or Molson Canadian Hockey House? Both are official Olympic venues.
Did I mention that Molson-Coors is an official sponsor of the Vancouver Olympics. Does having a beer sponsor promote sports values?
Felli continued his statement with “If they celebrate in the changing room, that’s one thing, but not in public.”
The women drew all this attention, yet Canada’s John Montgomery was fine to drink straight from a jug of beer as he walked down the streets in Whistler, directly after he won the gold in Men’s Skeleton.
The video was all over national TV in Canada, where the women’s hockey team was only captured by a few photographers that had hung around after the game. If the public element of the celebration was the concern, then Montgomery should have received some sort of scolding from the IOC as well. He didn’t.
Why should it be different for the women when it was OK for a man? Maybe the IOC has a different set of standards for how women should behave than men. We know some members asked for sexual favors from Melbourne brothels, so maybe that’s how they think women should behave.
Regardless, we have an organization that accepted bribery to award the games to Nagano and Salt Lake City criticizing a group of athletes for celebrating after becoming world champions.
I don’t think anyone should have made a big deal out of either celebration. Olympic athletes slave for 4 years for the shot at a moment like this. If they want to celebrate with beer pong, body-shots, cigars, tattoos or at the frickin Catalina Wine Mixer, I still support them.
If they’re not doing something illegal, leave them alone. The women weren’t being obscene or destructive, they were enjoying the moment.
”In terms of the actual celebration, it’s not exactly something uncommon in Canada,” COC spokesman Steve Keough told the AP. “I think Canadians understand it’s quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols.”
Most of us Canadians enjoy a beer after the game, so let’s support the women’s hockey team when they clearly deserved a few cold ones of their own.
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