Girls just want to have fun.
But some people think Canada’s gold medal women’s hockey team crossed the blue line after beating Team USA on Thursday.
According to The Associated Press, nearly an hour after the Canadians won their third consecutive Olympic gold medal with a 2-0 win over the Americans, the players partied out on the ice in the near-empty arena, smoking cigars, swigging champagne and guzzling beer. (Rebecca Johnston even tried to drive the zamboni.)
are all over the web.
The Newark Star-Ledger captured 18-year-old Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored both goals in the gold-medal game, drinking Molson Canadian beer. Poulin doesn’t turn 19 —— the legal drinking age in British Columbia —— until next month. The Canadian team trains in Alberta, where the legal drinking age is 18.
Then came the official apology from Hockey Canada: “The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone. In the excitement of the moment, the celebration left the confines of our dressing room and shouldn’t have. The team regrets that its gold medal celebration may have caused the IOC or COC any embarrassment. Our players and team vow to uphold the values of the Olympics moving forward and view this situation as a learning experience.”
My gut tells me that the firestorm of criticism that has ensued is ridiculous. If the men erupted in a celebration like this, no one would utter a peep.
But this is the staid and proper Olympics! Heaven forbid that young women (many of them college-aged) should party hearty.
Give me a break. For many of these athletes, it’s their last sports joy ride. They let loose on their home ice after living out their dream.
My advice to the critics: chill out.
Trivia time
Which team won the first gold medal in Olympic women’s hockey? (Answer below)
Polling
Wednesday’s “Lunch Special” poll asked readers to predict how many games Rockies right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez will win this season. A little more than 59 percent predicted he would win 16-19 games. Nearly 36 percent predicted “The Chief” would hit the magic milestone and win 20 games.
Quotable
“I never thought I was going to hit leadoff. Can I do it? I think I can do anything in this game. I just have to remember I’m only 24 and I’m still growing. I’m pretty sure I can be a special player, but I also have to work very hard.” — Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez
Blog spot
From spring training in Tucson, about former Rockies general manager Bob Gebhard, who suffered a heart attack on Wednesday. It’s a nice tribute. Here’s a sample: “You know the waterfall that erupts at Coors Field after every Rockies home run? They call it Geb’s Geyser because it was his baby. The hand-operated scoreboard? Geb’s idea.”
In case you missed it
Do yourself a favor and read Chris Dempsey’s story on In the increasingly negative and cynical world of sports writing, the article is a breath of fresh air.
This day in sports
On this day in 1935, the New York Yankees released Babe Ruth. He then signed with the Boston Braves.
Trivia answer
Team USA captured the first gold, beating Canada 3-1 in Nagano, Japan.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
