ADMIT IT. THE U.S IS BETTER THAN WE ARE.
When it comes to hockey, Canadians are pretty confident that no other nation shares their love and passion for the game. Certainly not the Americans. Yet, when it comes to the World Junior Hockey Championships, it'll be the U.S. taking on Sweden for the gold medal, while Canada is relegated to a bronze medal matchup against the Russians. Why? Because in a one game showdown anything can happen. In fact, sometimes the best team DOESN'T always win. You can point your fingers all you want at the Canadian effort, the coaching, the goaltending, the lack of scoring, etc. The bottom line: The Americans were better and deserved to win. Now, had it been a best-of-seven series, maybe Canada wins, maybe not. But full marks to the Americans, who, in the 33 years since they won the gold medal at the Lake Placid Olympics, have caught up to, and in some cases surpassed their hockey playing Canadian cousins.
I was there for the Miracle On Ice. To me, it was the greatest underdog performance of all time. A bunch of U.S. college kids taking on the World Champion Soviet Union featuring Tretiak, Kharlamov, Fetisov,, Krutov and Mikhailov. Nobody, not even the relatives of the U.S. players, thought they had a chance against Russia. They were hoping, at first, to just keep it close. But a funny thing happened along the way. With the Russians leading 2-1 in the dying seconds of the first period, Tretiak allowed a soft goal with one second left in the period, allowing the Americans to tie the game 2-2. It was at that moment that U.S. fans started to believe that maybe the Russians weren't that great after all. Of course, you know the rest. Tretiak was replaced in the Soviet goal by Myshkin and the Americans eventually stormed back with two goals in the third to beat the mighty Russians. Two days later, they defeated Finland to win the Olympic gold. Were the Americans the better team against Russia? Absolutely not, but they played with confidence and passion and they had the home crowd behind them. Even ABC Television didn't think the Americans would win as they showed the game on tape-delay that evening, even though the game was played "live" at 5 p.m.
So, rather than bury Canada for not winning another WJC, let's praise the Americans. They beat Canada back in 2010 for the title. They won it all back in 2004 as well. And since Canada has now gone 4 straight years without winning a gold medal, it looks as if our dominance at the WJC is finally over. Should we be happy with a bronze medal if we can beat the Russians on Saturday? Sure. It used to be that anything less than a gold medal was considered a failure. Not anymore. I, for one, will get up early to watch Canada play Russia. The Russians want to salvage a medal in front of their home crowd. Canada wants to prove that today's loss was a fluke, and that they deserve to be among the top 3 teams in the world. Good Luck to our boys.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has announced that this will be his last season, which means it's time to rank him among the all-time great linebackers. He's the only LB to have over 40 sacks and 30 interceptions in his career, but he doesn't quite make the grade as #1. Here are my selections.
1) Lawrence Taylor. I don't care if he played MLB or OLB, L.T. was the greatest. Period.
2) Dick Butkus. He revolutionized the MLB position and instilled a fear in opponents that was palpable.
3) Ray Lewis. He has the numbers, and won a Super Bowl (He was MVP) But he only gets a bronze.
4) Jack Lambert. He had a great supporting cast, but was dominant in the middle for many years.
5) Mike Singletary. Had Otis Wilson and Willard Marshall alongside, and was scary good at MLB.
6) Bobby Bell. A terror for KC in the 70s. Next to L.T., the best OLB I've seen. Punishing hitter.
7) Jack Ham. Underrated and undersized. Perhaps the smartest OLB. Great pass defender.
8) Joe Schmidt. 4 time NFL defensive player of the year as MLB for Detroit Lions in 1950s.
9) Ted Hendricks. "The Mad Stork" was a great pass rusher and, at 6'8", tough to pass over.
10) Willie Lanier. Part of Hank Stram's KC Chiefs, he was as feared as Butkus in the middle.
And there you have it. Ray Lewis needs to have a helluva playoff run to move up in the rankings.
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