Who’s Playing What?

Posted by Larry Miller on February 16, 2010 under Why | Be the First to Comment

As I came out of my office this afternoon, my four year old grandson was fascinated by an Olympic hockey game. He likes guy shows like Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters and Swamp Loggers. So hockey is a guys game… this is good for him… almost as good as NASCAR. I saw it was the Team USA playing the Russians. Images of the old rivalries during the cold war era came to mind. But soon I realized the players were girls – and they were really good. Not being a serious hockey fan since the days of the Broad Street Bullies down at the Spectrum in Philly, I was not aware of the level of play in women’s hockey. I was impressed!

Another departure from the days of Bernie Parent, Bobby Clarke and Fred Shero was that the Americans were kicking the Russian team up one side of the rink and down the other to the tune of a 13-0 score. The USA jersey wearing crowd was hooting, hollaring and chanting. The were waving American flags. They were proud of their country and proud of the kids wearing their nations colors. Yes, kids… when you get to be my age, most anyone competing in the Olympics is a kid.

I noticed all the Russian players had Russian names. But then, the American players had American names. Sure, some sounded German, some sounded Russian, even French or English and whatever else the glorious mix our country has attracted. But no matter what the sound, they were American names belonging to unhyphenated American players whose ancestry was scattered around the globe, but coming together, they made a mighty team..

I have no idea whether the team will go all the way to the gold, but tonight, at least, they played like world beaters and the crowd, and the country, I believe, was with them. I’m hoping the President does not choose to apologize to the Russians for the excessive display of skill and the extravagant nationalistic fervor. In a land where families are concerned about their financial futures and their long standing values are not only ignored, but under a fearsome assault, it is great to have something to cheer about.

We need some things to cheer about. If we permit our struggle to deprive us of our joy and our humanity, we will become almost as bad as the humorless progressive grouches of the left. We are smarter than that. We are better than that. As Christians, we have even more reason to rise above the circumstances and enjoy the life we have been given. So while we fight the good fight, we really need to give ourselves permission to enjoy the wonders of God’s creation.

As I watched the game progress, the team in red was not the fearsome Russian bear of old. They were just girls… someone’s daughters… kids with dreams of Olympic glory just like our girls. They were having a bad day, a real bad day. The coach looked like he was thinking about finding an LL Bean store to get some heavy clothing before heading home for an extended Siberian visit.

I’m not one to get too involved in the Olympics, but I really appreciate the dedicated effort and skill it takes to compete and win. Tonight though, I enjoyed the skill and determination of these young American girls and sincerely hope that we don’t allow their futures to be destroyed.