Swedish women; Calgary firefighters
February 17th, 2006 by Bill
Winning is nice, but winning really means something when you’re not expected to. My favourite part of the Olympics is when the people who aren’t supposed to win go ahead and win anyway.
Like the Swedish women’s hockey team. They beat the U.S. women’s team 3 to 2 in an overtime shootout.
I didn’t want the U.S. to lose. I was expecting to see a great, fiercely fought gold medal game between the Canadian and American women. From what I can gather, they’re none too fond of one another. I suppose mainly because they are the two top contending teams.
But those Swedes … They threw a wrench into everyone’s expectations by doing what they weren’t suppose to.
Then there’s this Calgary firefighter, Duff Gibson, who won the gold in skeleton, the sport where you go sliding on what looks to me like a TV tray.
He wasn’t suppose to win either – certainly not the gold. That was expected to go to the guy who took silver, another Calgarian, Jeff Pain.
I can’t say I care much for sports. I certainly don’t spend a lot of time thinking about skeleton or women’s hockey.
But I love it when people who aren’t supposed to win do. I imagine that must be one of the greatest feelings in the world. I think it’s appropriate that today, as my iPod was shuffling, it decided to play Jackson Browne’s “Anything Can Happen.”
Anything can.
Just ask those Swedish women. Ask Duff Gibson.
I just can’t help myself, it always warms the cockles of my heart when the underdog wins!!