Oh, Canada?

Lots of countries take their national sports seriously. Just ask Columbian soccer player Andrés Escobar. Sorry. You can’t. Someone shot him for scoring a goal on his own net. You play bad you get shot. Now that’s taking it seriously. Spain has their soccer. India has hockey, field hockey that is. The Netherlands has speed skating. The U.S. has baseball, football, basketball, pie eating contests and all you can eat buffets. If you can name the sport chances are they are good at it. But when it comes to ice hockey, well that’s Canada’s game.

Right now the Vancouver Canucks are in the Stanley Cup final against the big bad boys from Beantown, the Boston Bruins. Incidentally, no fewer than 18 players on the Bruins happen to hail from Canada. Peter Mansbridge, anchor of The National CBC nightly news broadcast delivered the evening’s news live from Vancouver headquarters in honour of the Stanley Cup opener. Seriously who does this? Bin Laden is killed you headquarter in Pakistan. Hurricanes hit New Orleans; you set-up shop in the Superdome. The Berlin Wall comes down and this event is indeed anchor worthy. But I do believe Canada is the only country to move its national news broadcast headquarters to another major city to cover a sporting event; one which in Canada anyway, is probably equal to or surpasses the Olympics.

Yes, hockey is Canada’s own National drama. Hockey Night in Canada is not only a seasonal weekly broadcast but typically a year round sporting event. It doesn`t stop at hockey either. A fisherman in PEI made the NBC National news this evening because he pulled up his trap and it held a million to one shot blue lobster inside. Only in Canada you say. Just last night an international buyer paid 28 million dollars for a 9000 square foot condominium in Toronto. This makes the National News?
The most expensive condo in Canada An extravagant price tag indeed but really, who among us wouldn`t rather trade the nuisance of lawn upkeep and private gardens for the additional payment of substantial monthly fees on a piece of property we already own.

But I digress. It`s the playoffs and Canadians everywhere are hoping Lord Stanley returns to the great white way. So what if Boston should win. (and God help us if they do). That`s simple. Those oh so polite Canadians need merely take great pride and comfort in the fact that the majority of those winning players are simply home grown talent