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Olympic notebook: Not bad on a 64-cent dollar!


Passion, pride, greed, fear, corruption, grace, intrigue, shock, honour, heartbreak, and brotherhood. Quite a fortnight.

If I had written this column after the Swedish game with Canada it would have been about how the whole country had been let down by a bunch of pampered pam·per  
tr.v. pam·pered, pam·per·ing, pam·pers
1. To treat with excessive indulgence: pampered their child.

2.
 millionaires in short pants who had no pride and less discipline.

If I had written this column after the Swedes lost their game with Belarus I would have been thinking 1917 Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox are a member and currently champions of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball’s American League. From to the present, the Red Sox have played in Fenway Park.  until I saw the video of that poor Tommy Salo Thomas "Tommy" Mikael Salo (born February 1, 1971 in Surahammar) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender from Sweden. His parents are both Finnish, which explains his non-Swedish last name.  missing a puck from centre ice hitting him in the head and dropping off his back into the net. I mean does it get any worse than that?

I still remember like yesterday dropping a touchdown pass in the end zone at Mallow mallow, common name for members of the Malvaceae, a family of herbs and shrubs distributed over most of the world and especially abundant in the American tropics. Tropical species sometimes grow as small trees.  Road public school in Toronto at the age of 11 or 12. I can still see that ball coming and for the life of me do not know how I dropped it. Tommy will not likely ever be the same. Nothing will fix his angst, but future gold. He must have redemption or be sentenced to a life of replays, highlights and condolences.

If I had written this column the night Wayne Gretzky Noun 1. Wayne Gretzky - high-scoring Canadian ice-hockey player (born in 1961)
Gretzky
 whined about how everyone hated the Canadians, it would have been about embarrassment. Embarrassment that we could stoop so low as to blame everyone, but ourselves, for our troubles. Embarrassment that in the middle of this ode to sportsmanship the most famous hockey player in the land would threaten goon retaliation for some hapless German defenseman's check.

If I had written this column 24 hours after the Pelletier-Sale fiasco it would have been about corruption. If I had written this column after the International Skating Association got mugged by the American media it would be about Cinderella. If I had written a day later it would be about the transfer of power from old cronies to new cronies (sponsors). The Sale-Pelletier story was about damage control and ratings. It was about the raw power of the media with a great story that fitted their needs. Do you think if the U.S. had won the gold medal gold medal

traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.]

See : Prize
 for women's hockey, on the back of officiating, that was just as corrupt as the figure skating figure skating

Sport in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform various jumps, spins, and footwork. The figure skate blade has a special serrated toe pick, or toe rake, at the front.
 that Jay Leno Jay Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, writer who is best known as the current host of NBC television's long-running variety and talk program The Tonight Show. Biography
Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York.
 would be calling? Exactly. Sometimes it is just better to be lucky.

If I had written this column after Veronica Brenner and Deidra Dionne Deidra Dionne (born on February 5, 1982 in Battleford, Saskatchewan[1][2]) is a Canadian freestyle skier. She won bronze in the 2002 Winter Olympics in freestyle aerial ski[3]  had won their freestyle aerialist ski jump it would have been about simple awe. Just where do these poster-girl kids get off throwing themselves upside down into the air like inverted inverted

reverse in position, direction or order.


inverted L block
a pattern of local filtration anesthesia commonly used in laparotomy in the ox.
 rockets at God knows what speed hoping to land on two skis and live to tell the tale.

If I had written this column after the win and the loss of Catriona Lemay Doan it would simply be about grace under fire.

If I had written this column after the Russians threatened to boycott their hockey game with the U.S. over various disappointments, it would be with sadness.

If I had written this column the day we beat Belarus I would have forgiven the sins of our millionaires in short pants and been satisfied with a strong effort against the Americans.

More importantly, Canadians rose up.

As it happens I am writing after we beat them. I am happy. It was a great hockey game. There were no fights. Nobody crossed-checked another player into a coma. The game moved quickly. It was real hockey. Smart hockey. Fabulous hockey. It was Wayne Gretzky's team not Bobby Clarke's. And that is what made the difference. We can actually still play with the best in the world when it is played the way it should be.

We were excited. We were appreciative. It struck a cord. We are in need of cords.

It may be bread and circuses bread and circuses
pl.n.
Offerings, such as benefits or entertainments, intended to placate discontent or distract attention from a policy or situation.
, but it was good bread and circus and just made for TV.

The nice thing about a winner-take-all final against the Americans on an ice rink is that they cannot threaten trade sanctions.

If you are in the lumber business, here is one for your strong-arm lumber politics Uncle Sam. If you are in Afghanistan, here is one for the guys who cannot afford desert uniforms or the planes to get there.

If you follow politics here is one for you George for forgetting whom your friends are.

I know. I know. Pretty pathetic really. But oh sooooooooo sweet.

Michael Atkins is the president of Laurentian Publishing. To read more of his columns visit. www.northernontariobusiness.com
COPYRIGHT 2002 Laurentian Business Publishing, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2002, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Author:Atkins, Michael
Publication:Northern Ontario Business
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Mar 1, 2002
Words:760
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