jefferiah

You have just inferred two things here. 1) You have inferred which group of athletes answered a certain way. 2) You have made an inference as to the honesty of those players who have no chance of making the team. If the medal is more coveted, are these players are answering dishonestly because they have no chance? To use your metaphor of lottery ticket, I know I have less of a chance winning the lottery than I do getting a regular paycheck. But if you ask me which I would prefer I would have no trouble telling you the million even though I have no chance.

The fact that people want to play in the O's for two weeks is not an argument for the gold medal being more coveted than the Cup. And once again it is inference. 89% of players say they would prefer a cup. You infer why. Saying that the cup is more coveted is not the same as saying the O's mean very little or that the players do not want to play there. 89 percent say they would rather win a cup. I take that stat over your logic.

For many of these players who responded...(it was actually 89 percent, not 90) winning the cup is a hypothetical too. I think you are really reaching here in an argument you have lost. I don't know how many NHL players you talk to, but 89 percent is a pretty overwhelming response. That 89 percent is a fact. Your reasoning as to why they respond in this manner is inference.

I would think the hypothetical question as to whether or not you would rather win the Cup or a medal includes the hypothetical situation that you are on the team that wins it.

Speaking of Ovechkin again, this guy is not just finesse. He hits hard and plays with unparalleled intensity. To Canadien, I think the last two games Canada played in were pretty good. But I see better games in the NHL all the time. Especially in the playoffs. Funny you should mention Carolina. I think the Hurricanes upset of the Bruins in the second round last year was far more exciting than any Olympic hockey I saw.

For me, as a guy who watches hockey all the time, I was kinda of panicking about how life was going to suck for two weeks without the NHL. But I did enjoy it alot so all's well. To Alta, who said he hasn't watched this game for a while, I recommend giving it a shot again. There's a really great cast of players out there now. And it's a shame if that Canada - Russia game is your only chance to see Ovechkin play. That guy is one highly-competitive, skilled player.

Because in North America the Stanley Cup is the dream. Fans and players alike grow up watching the NHL. I think either The Hockey News or Hockey Digest polled NHL players on this and it was something like 90 percent of players chose the Cup. I have always heard people say that North Americans want the cup, Euros want the gold. This is also one of the many criticism people have against certain Euro NHL players. Not all of course. But people often complain of the lack of passion among certain high skilled euros in the NHL who seem to find more grit when it comes to playing for their home country.

I agree with you. The only people who would care are hockey fans and those players. And they would not feel any worse than Canadian fans would. As for being Number 2, I don`t think anyone can really claim Number one status after that game. Miller probably does feel bad, but he was flawless. The Crosby goal just happened really quick. Someone either has to score in overtime or in the shootout. It`s always a toss up then. No one knows what will happen.

May have been more upsetting for us, to be honest. Hockey is pretty intense, and the players are very competitive. It`s hard for anyone to lose. I felt bad for Zach Parise. You could see how tough it was on him to lose this one, after he had tied it up.

I haven`t asked the majority of hockey players how they feel, but I think the Stanley Cup is a much higher priority for North American players for sure. And personally I think NHL hockey down the last 20 game stretch and the playoff hockey that follows is much better than the O`s.

You are probably right. They will win. Money issue aside, though, I still would not want my top players getting injured. Insurance can`t put them on the ice for me when the regular NHL schedule resumes. We can`t win without Bush Cheney on the back end.

Why? USA has awesome pro players. But that just might happen. I don't think the NHLPA would want it, but I think the league might make a move to stop allowing players to compete at the Olympics. And they make a good case. If I own a team, and I pay my D-man Bush Cheney 5 million a season and you bugger off to the Olympics and get injured....I still have to pay you.

American hockey continues to get better and better though. Along with other nations. They put out a very good team that could just as easily have won that game. And USA's squad was pretty young too. Guys like Kane and Parise are going to be even better in a few years.

Norway wins this contest alot. Pretty incredible.

I am glad we got to win that at home. That said, Olympic Hockey comes down to one game. One game that went into overtime where everyone knows its pretty much anyone's game. On a different day, with a few different bounces, or in a 7 game series, the Gold could have gone to USA. 5 straight wins for US without trailing another team. One loss in the tournament. To us. We had one loss to USA. That's pretty much evenly matched.

Yeah, I suppose it exists. I am a conservative Canadian who agrees with a conservative Americans on many issues, not all. But I would still prefer to be Canadian. And I think most American liberals I know would still rather be American when you get down to it. Home is home, right. It's funny though. I find some of those comparisons are limited. It's true that perhaps politically Northern Americans are more like Canada. I live in the Maritimes, which are quite Liberal politically. Yet in some ways I think people here and our attitudes gel well with Southerners.

Good post. I never pay attention to the Summer Olympics at all. But tennis is kinda growing on me so I might pay attention to London 2012.

Agreed. The thing about Trudeau's quote which strikes me is not that I think it is insulting, but that it acknowledges America only as something large, while ignoring the fact that it is a large best friend.

I don't understand why you are so upset. I am not at all. Someone said Winter Olympics are better. I agreed that I liked them better as well. I pointed out for the sake of discussion, however, that the Summer Olympics are a much bigger event and that it is truly more international (which I think has a lot to do with the Olympic idea). Alta said that was irrelevant, and I rebutted. How does that add up to me expecting people to apologize for enjoying the Winter Olympics? I enjoy the Winter Olympics and prefer them.

Beijing had close to 5B viewers. Most Americans prefer Summer Olympics as well. I doubt that is just because of the Euro football.

I never said the world's best do not compete at other events. I just assumed that was also a central theme to the Olympics. Call me crazy. I just thought that international competition had something to do with it. I prefer the Winter Olympics as well. But the fact remains that events in the Summer Olympics are more relevant to more people the world over. It is a much bigger deal.

Boring to you and I perhaps, but I would think "global" is quite relevant when it comes to the Olympics. Isn't that the point of the Olympics? Best athletes in the world?

I prefer NHL.

Speaking of which curling is on right now. I prefer them too, but really the Summer Olympics are better. Winter sports are pretty much limited to certain nations. Summer Olympics is a truly global event.

Huh? I have never heard of such a creature.