The Sequel

The gold medal hockey game produced a couple of rare instances. Special games do that.

Rare are the moments in a college dorm when everyone is rooting for the same team. When the exuberant cheers, the frustrated groans are in unison.

Sometimes there’s a majority, a large group of one team's fans. But there’s always someone on the other side, even if it’s just the neutral fan playing the role of antagonist.

But today, everyone (besides the kid I saw at the library with a Canada jersey on) wanted the same result. The Yankees and Red Sox, Steelers and Browns, Cavs and Celtics fans formed an almost unanimous alliance.

We were all in this one together.

Rare are the moments in sport when we are left speechless at a contest’s result. When the game ends and there are no words. You just sit and stare. Watch the moment unfold. Appreciate what you just saw.

Rare are the moments when you don’t want a game to end, even if you have a rooting interest. When the action is so spellbinding that you want to milk it to its fullest potential. Like when Syracuse played UConn for six overtimes but you couldn’t help but want seven or eight.

USA vs. Canada had all of these rarities wrapped up in one. And it had the extreme meaning, the star power, rematch and national pride factors all at play. Not to mention the game between the North American hockey foes being played in Canada.

The first contest a week ago was a classic. If it were the movie business, it would have been a surefire best picture candidate. Usually the sequel has a hard time living up to its predecessor. This one won the Oscar.

It had all the pre-release hype. And it lived up to it; the U.S. comeback from 2-0 down, Parise’s desperation score, then the home country winning gold on a sudden death goal. It had the enigmatic figures. Ryan Miller, the empathetic loser. Sidney Crosby, the hero.

And isn’t it fitting that the Games begin with Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky lighting the torch and end with a passing of the torch, Crosby securing the gold for his country.

Seven minutes, 40 seconds into overtime, Canada Place exploded. My dorm was silenced. It was a collective silence.

That’s what this game was about; the unanimity in the good and bad. The collective screams and shouts of U-S-A after Parise’s goal. That moment of dejection after Crosby’s winner. The deflated feeling you can’t seem to shake. Today we had those feelings in common. It was a rare occurrence in a game not to forget.