Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mid Term Break

As you may know, I’m a member of the Varsity Hockey team. We’re on campus over break again, preparing for our first playoff game this Saturday, February 27. The women’s hockey team is still here, so are a number of international students and students who wanted to work on campus. Other than that, it’s pretty deserted.

To keep everyone updated on what’s happening here, I’ll have you know that the campus centre floor has just been refinished with a glossy coat, and the dinning hall will be out of deli meats for the next week and a half. And that pretty much sums up the exciting news thus far. I’ll keep you updated, so no one loses any sleep.

Without classes, one thing that passes the time extremely well is following the Olympics. Watching the various Olympic competitions has restarted the friendly competition and rivalry that made our Christmas break on campus enjoyable (The World Junior Hockey Championships was over Christmas break). The Elmira men’s hockey team is about half Canadian and half American, with one Swede. Whether it’s speed skating or ski-jumping, watching the events is that much more exciting, and unnerving, knowing that you’ll have to answer to the haughtiness and arrogance of the supporters of the winning team. For example, I had someone say to me “why does Canada even have a team? Canada’s not even a country.” This was over a curling match, which is arguably the least intense Olympic sport. So you can see how things get heated.

Nothing ignites excitement more, however, than Olympic hockey. As it stands now, team USA beat team Canada once – much to the chagrin of myself and my Canadian teammates- but both teams still moved on. The US just defeated Switzerland in a nail-biter to advance to the semi-finals. Team Canada also advanced to the semi-finals with a win over Russia. With a win later tonight, Sweden will advance to the semis to play Canada. Everyone on the team is watching with bated breath; no one wants their country to be eliminated, and everyone wants the bragging rights associated with a gold medal.

Despite the rivalry between all the different nationalities, everyone knows that it’s all in good fun. The Olympics are a great way for people to come together and appreciate the talent of the world’s greatest athletes.