Sports Perspectives

By Alex

Soon after Team Canada defeated the United States 2-0 in the gold medal game in women’s hockey, the IOC openly opined about the future of the sport at the Olympics.

What a shame. It also goes to show how women tend to get the short end of the stick – don’t excuse the pun – when it comes to sports.

The number one concern for everyone is the level of competition – or competitive balance – among the participating nations. There’s Canada and the United States on one level and everyone else with Finland and Sweden wedged in between; not quite as bad as Russia and China but not on par with the Canadians and Americans.

It seems to me, rather than pull the plug on the sport at the Olympics, work towards getting Finland and Sweden to the next stage. Finland has already go on record saying they want to challenge for gold in 2014. I say give them a chance.

Here’s something to consider. In hockey’s formative years, Canada ramrodded through its opponents on the male side of the equation. Didn’t Canada once beat Denmark 47-0? Sweden, Russia, Czechoslovakia and Finland were way behind North America at one point. In the 1950s, the Soviets burst onto the scene and no one could touch them. Hockey was, for the most part, a two country affair between 1950 and 1990 with sprinkles of successes for everyone else.

Today, any country can beat any country on any given day. Eight to ten countries have reached an equilibrium point where they can each ice competitive squads. The days of Canada and Russia winning with certainty are long gone.

And I could extend this to soccer.In its early years, soccer wasn’t nearly as competitive as it is today. Anyone who watches the World Cup and Euro knows how close the line between winning and losing really is.

If they were given a chance, why shouldn’t the women who have been at it for barely 15 years!

Support the game, let it evolve and watch it blossom.