Hi, Americans. Did you hear about the tremendously important Olympic hockey game that gripped my country on Sunday night?
It’s Tuesday today and it strikes me that Americans still, for some reason, have not picked up on the fact that they are at hockey war with Canada—at least, that’s how it seems here.
I watched the game at a sports bar. I normally might have felt out of place (I don’t typically frequent sports bars), but it was a really exciting game and I was engaged as the next guy (even though he may have had a red-painted face).
Everyone was so riled up. The final minutes of the game. Crosby scores a needed third goal. It looks like we might actually take them. There’s a frenzy around the Americans’ net and it looks like we’re going to get another, fourth goal to match theirs, and the game can be saved—
But meanwhile no one in America could give a shit. On Twitter my American friend is posting about watching Independence Day on TV. I find out from someone else in Tweetsburg that NBC isn’t even showing the game live. What? They’re showing another event in prime time: ice dancing or figure skating or ice jazz dance or something like that. How could this be? Don’t Americans know that Canadians are putting their national pride on the line for this game? Don’t they know that the guy in the Canadian jersey next to me is suffering from a complete, emotional breakdown, angrily yelling at some Swiss referee on this lame sports bar’s sixty-second wide screen TV?
The promos for this game on CTV were epic. There was a lot of really dramatic talk about about the history of two warring empires. They glossed over some past engagements in the feud, like: the Olympics in 2002, when Canada won the championship gold medal game against the Americans; and that time in 1996 when something else happened. There was a recurring idea of the U.S. taking on Canada in Canadian territory—our game and, this time, on our property. A lot was at stake.
But, again, Americans didn’t really notice that much, which is weird because they were involved in a high stakes battle for the heart and soul of their country. Don’t they get that?
CTV and the Globe and Mail are now reporting that the game—the one that, if you’re American, you most likely didn’t catch on Sunday night—was the “most watched sports program in Canadian history.” Two million more people watched in Canada then in the States. That’s a pretty big figure.
So, fine. Whatever. I guess it’s not really such a scoop. We like hockey and we care a lot more about it than Americans do. And I’m okay with that. It was a really exciting game and it’s always a cool thing to come together and watch something like that. But, isn’t it a little weird that we care so much and they don’t? That we’re so fixated on this historic rivalry that doesn’t really exist on the other side of the border?
I did read that the game was huge for MSNBC (where it was broadcast). It was their second biggest night ever. So I guess this game is of some importance in the U.S. and some people in the States do care—even if two million more people in Canada care.
So, again, it’s not breaking news. We like hockey more. And it’s a fun time getting into the experience of a big game and I understand that. I get riled up too. But let’s just be aware that, for the most part, the country we’re fighting with doesn’t really give a shit about us or our game—which is at least a little strange.
Also—and this is tangential—Sarah Palin tweeted the following on Sunday evening:
Faceoff, skate & USA scores! Sweet start in Olympic hockey game vs Canada – could be epic! Tune in to a great contest that matters today.
Does this mean that she watched the game on MSNBC? Additionally: a game “that matters today”? What does that even mean? She somehow has the amazing ability to give tweets her trademark air of stupidity.
Here was my response:
@SarahPalinUSA shut up
