Comments on: Just wondering…

By: padraig

padraig — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:56:37 +0000

Zamboni. There IS no substitute.

By: mkilby

mkilby — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:24:41 +0000

P.S. The ice resurfacer I mentioned was an “Olympia”, and as it turns out, they actually did replace it with a Zamboni. See: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/vancouver/speedskating/2010-02-16-oly-bad-ice_N.htm

By: Freezer

Freezer — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:10:34 +0000

Piggybacking on what Kate C (#4) said: Would this have gone beyond a mere “story” if they hadn’t included the historically “masculine” beer and cigars? I’m of the firm belief that it’s the “unfeminine” behavior that’s given some the vapors, other than any “unsportsmanlike” conduct. . [/conspiracy]

By: Tom T.

Tom T. — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:52:53 +0000

There’s a backstory here. There is talk in Olympic circles about eliminating women’s hockey, because the US and Canada are so dominant, like the Summer Games did with women’s softball. So Canada is worried that bad publicity about the women’s team will worsen that situation.

Notably, no one ever talks about getting rid of sports where other countries dominate and the US is not competitive, but that’s the way of the world, I guess.

By: Powers

Powers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:56:10 +0000

To me, the real issue is twofold: 1) The legal drinking age in BC (as in much of Canada) is 19, and not all of the players are 19. 2) The celebration was done in “public”. Yes, the crowd had left, but as noted, there were photographers still there. If the men’s hockey team had done the above two things, I think there would be just as much controversy, even with the stogies. =)

By: chuckers

chuckers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:35:16 +0000

@mkilby,

Yeah, I had I think about it for a while and realised that Zamboni was probably a trademark name much like Kleenex for tissues. At least I capitalised it.

By: mkilby

mkilby — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:25 +0000

@ chuckers (17) - It appears that some of the wire service reports use “Zamboni” as a generic term for “ice resurfacer”, but it is only one particular brand name for that type of machine. I know that in a report on the ice problems in the speed skating rink, a different brand name was mentioned as being used (at least for that rink).

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:52:06 +0000

>I didn’t know Larry Bird had a twin sister

Ha! I thought the same thing (more or less).

The story I read said a “cigar” was passed around, singular. Let them be happy, I say. Too much raw emotion and enthusiasm is dampened in sports in an attempt to enforce someone’s mores, or sportsmanship (football’s celebration rule comes to mind, which is too often called for the offense of just being joyful about accomplishing what you’ve been dedicating yourself to).

Pretty solid goaltending by Szabados, eh?

By: chuckers

chuckers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:31:54 +0000

Oh, and another thing. Was it really “out in public” if the crowd had already left? The Mrs. just mentioned this story to me after seeing it on the news here and (being third hand) I got the impression that after they stepped off the podium, the brought out the stogies and booze. THAT would have been unacceptable.

The article says everyone else had long since left the stadium. They apparently didn’t party with any Chippendale dancers and if the area was empty, so what? Also assuming they didn’t damage the rink through rowdiness as well, of course. Wanton destruction of public property would have put it into no-no area for me.

By: chuckers

chuckers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:25:39 +0000

I am wondering what the story says “ice-resurfacing machine” INSTEAD of using the word Zamboni. Who doesn’t know what a Zamboni is? Any fan of Charlie Brown should know it.