Will this spoil the party in Canada ?
February 24, 2002 2:35 PM   Subscribe

Will this spoil the party in Canada ? (NYT reg req) Great victories by the men and the women. Sure. But then one is reminded again in the NYT today about last week's controversy - "The judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne, said the pressure she felt was unlike any in her 14 years of judging, that it intensified as the Olympics drew near and that it came from one country, Canada" You cant help but wonder.
posted by Voyageman (26 comments total)
 
Will this spoil the party in Canada?

Answer: Nope. Sounds like sour grapes.


posted by Electric Jesus at 2:44 PM on February 24, 2002


I will be interested in seeing if there is any investigation now that they wimped out and gave 2 sets of gold medals. Typically the IOC plays the three monkeys after their duct tape solutions.
posted by srboisvert at 2:47 PM on February 24, 2002


I don't know about the judging thing but maybe Wayne Gretsky will stop whining like a pussy now.

He sure lost a lot of respect from Americans in the last couple of weeks by crying about "American propaganda", "everybody wants us to lose" and all that crap.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 2:49 PM on February 24, 2002


Quote from the French judge: "I was so mixed up in my mind, I had trouble thinking properly."

Does the ISOC test judges for doping?
posted by rcade at 2:51 PM on February 24, 2002


That was a GREAT game of Hockey! Both teams played really well. An awesome way to end the Olympics!
posted by Stuart_R at 2:52 PM on February 24, 2002


Yet another story change and dodge from that pathetic excuse for an adult.
posted by NortonDC at 3:04 PM on February 24, 2002


Absolutely not. If you were to be on ANY street in Canada after the game, you'd know that nothing could spoil this win right now.

As rcade pointed out: "I was so mixed up in my mind, I had trouble thinking properly."

That to me is proof enough of an incompetent judge. No matter who pressured her into what, the fact that she gave in to it proves that she shouldn't have been judging in the first place.
posted by mkn at 3:09 PM on February 24, 2002


Is this the same French judge who previously claimed that her bosses in France pressured her, then claimed no, it was actually the English judge who threatened her with bodily violence (the English judge being a rather small older woman)? I think this story has changed a few too many times to be taken seriously.
posted by Orkboi at 3:20 PM on February 24, 2002


Hockey isn't subjective, unless the refs are cheating, which would be pretty obvious to everyone. Canada won both hockey games fair and square.

I hoist my Labatt's Blue glass in their honor. (It's filled with Diet Dr. Pepper, but it's the thought that counts.)
posted by aaron at 3:22 PM on February 24, 2002


Geez. Speaking of respect. Maybe if you Americans could spell his name right...

Gretzky. No S.

Anyway, what the heck. Great to see the best teams won, and Canada has gold in both men's and women's hockey!

And yes, the streets here in Toronto are absolutely nuts - I live downtown :-)
posted by spnx at 4:05 PM on February 24, 2002


hey spnx, isn't this a great opportunity for a MeFi Toronto gathering? (I'm at Bloor and Spadina myself)
posted by nprigoda at 4:09 PM on February 24, 2002


If we could pick each other out. I'm the one jumping up and down, waving a Canadian flag :-)
posted by spnx at 4:13 PM on February 24, 2002


Gretzey's not a pussy, he was taking off the pressure from the TEAM. By saying what he did, the Canadian pressed turned some heads towards him, which he said was his entire point in interviews.
posted by jmd82 at 4:46 PM on February 24, 2002


Crap, Gretzky. Need to learn to proofread...
posted by jmd82 at 4:47 PM on February 24, 2002


So is Gretzky going blame the American media when the team that he is part owner of does shitty as usual?

Which is amusing since it was the Canadian media that was really on their ass after the loss to Sweden.
posted by tj at 7:13 PM on February 24, 2002


U.S. propaganda before the game by their team's coach.

It's all just head games and if you saw any of the interviews of the players, they could really have cared less about what anyone was saying. They seemed pretty focused on the game.

Anyway, after both teams owned their U.S. counterparts so nicely, I doubt there's anything that can bring us down at the moment.
posted by yupislyr at 7:28 PM on February 24, 2002


Herb Brooks engaged in a little trash talk before a big game, it was far from propaganda. He did not hold a press conference declaring that the world is against him and his team (which wasn't propaganda either, it was whiny).

He (Brooks) also has a sense of humor (see the bit about the bobblehead further down in yupislyr's link).
posted by tj at 8:16 PM on February 24, 2002


*sigh* While I wasn't happy with what Gretzky said, this whole incident has been blown out of proportion.

Gretzky did *not* hold a special press conference to complain: he said his piece to the press in the middle of a press conference they were holding after that game anyway. Whether he deliberately tried to deflect media attention from his players to him, or whether this was an attempt to rally the troops, or whether he was simply pissed off with the media, it wasn't a big deal in the end.
posted by maudlin at 9:23 PM on February 24, 2002


Gretzky did what needed to be done. He shifted the focus off his team when the team needed a little less pressure before the game. Good on him. The fact that Canada won is all the more to his credit.

Ms. Le Gougne, on the other hand, has changed her story every 4 hours since the night of the free skate, and I wouldn't even believe her under oath at this point.
posted by chicobangs at 10:11 PM on February 24, 2002


Heh. Talk about a buncha sore losers. The Canadian team stomped the American team, more than doubling their score.

Yet whaddya hear? "Oooh, Gretzsky is such a crybaby, who else is he going to blame, what about the whining about the Swedes, ooh, whinge, whine, whimper, how else can we take everyone's attention off the fact that the Canadians owned us?"

At least the actual American players had the balls and good grace to do the post-game congratulatory handshake.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:54 AM on February 25, 2002


That game nearly moved me to tears.

I have never been so homesick in my life.
posted by Frasermoo at 9:03 AM on February 25, 2002


ok five resh fish, as is the case many times w/ hockey, the final score doesn't classify how close the game was. Yes, the canadian team outplayed the American team in Men's hockey.. but they were by no means "owned". That was one of the best games I've ever seen. (with the 2 last goals coming in at the end of the game.)

And I am glad that Canada won. It's 50 years and it's their national sport for chrissakes. All I'm saying is that #99's post game comments could have been handled better.

Besides, real hockey starts back up tomorrow. And my homeboys got 2 silver, 2 gold, 3 bronze and our goalie got a rest so I'm cool with it.
posted by tj at 1:32 PM on February 25, 2002


I thought lacrosse was our national sport?
posted by Firefly at 2:41 PM on February 25, 2002


Yeah, lacrosse is, but hockey is too.

Besides, if the Rock (or another lacrosse team) had won a major championship, I don't think you would have seen the vivid partying in every street in the country like we did yesterday.

BTW, the horn-honking, singing and flag waving didn't stop until about 6 hours after the game finished (where I live, anyway).

Wow :-)
posted by spnx at 4:56 PM on February 25, 2002


hmmm.... i wonder why in the original stories they said la gougne was pressured... but not specified by whom ..... now I understand. Giving Canadians the gold medal because the judge was inappropriately influenced..... by Canadians doesn't sound too good.... that's why they conveniently chose to omit that detail in the original coverage... if the investigation proves that in fact canadians exerted pressure, that golden metal will come down in history as shameful extortion.....
posted by gregb1007 at 9:03 PM on February 25, 2002


gregb1007 - Go back and read my earlier post. Earlier coverage does specifically identify where the pressure came from--her own French organisation. The earlier coverage clearly indicates that the pressure came from the French as part of a deal the French had with the Russians to inflate scores for the French ice dancers.

No Canadians until a few cycles of the French judge's apparently infinitely malleable story.
posted by NortonDC at 4:09 AM on February 26, 2002


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