Canadian women deserve better than this
Where does it end?
Seriously, when does the era of political correctness get corrected?
Or have we forever lost our collective sense of humor and perspective?
People go see a movie they know is filled with sex and violence, and then they protest what they've witnessed.
They listen to something they know is filled with satire and absurdity, and are angered by what they hear.
Others read something they know is likely to drip with sarcasm, and react with shock.
And a group of women celebrate a great triumph, just as you suspect they might, and are called names you wouldn't use to describe your worst enemy.
I speak of Canada's gold-medal winning women's hockey team, which enjoyed a great moment Thursday night, defeating Team USA.
After the arena emptied of fans, they came back out onto the ice a half-hour later for some celebratory photos, which isn't at all uncommon in hockey.
But they brought with them cigars, beer and champagne, and have been brutalized for doing so.
There are pictures of one girl who doesn't turn 19 until next month, when she'll be of legal drinking age in British Columbia. The drinking age in Alberta, where the Canadian team trains, is 18.
So she might be in trouble at home, but as far as we know not one of them drove anywhere or did anything stupid after they returned to their dressing room.
You just wonder if the reaction would have been the same had it been a men's team, and you wonder if anyone would have said a word.
But the International Olympic Committee is investigating, the Canadian Olympic Committee has apologized, Hockey Canada has said it's sorry for the embarrassment, and the team itself has fallen on its sword and is expressing regret.
"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," said Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee. "We condone celebrations. We don't condone actions of irresponsibility.
"I think Canadians understand it's quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols."
These young women should feel better today than they ever have, and instead a few pictures with their gold medals will haunt them forever.
It's being compared to the U.S. men acting like idiots and tearing apart some rooms in Nagano in 1998.
It just doesn't seem at all in proportion or in any way fair.
But this is the world we live in today, where we've lost track in the last week of how many Olympic athletes have been forced to apologize for having fun at night after winning a medal.
Such is life in the era of omnipresent cameras.
It was also in Vancouver that the Blackhawks went on a bender after a game with no contest the next day.
Pictures showed up and they were skewered for it, when in reality they hadn't done anything wrong.
Maybe you completely disagree with my opinion on this, and you know what, that's OK.
See, it's an opinion and we all have them. You are entitled to yours as I am to mine.
It just seems as though we've become less tolerant of that idea, that we somehow have to agree on everything.
It seems as though we try more and more to peer into the lives of others and insist on how they should live them.
And I think of these Canadian women being called these awful names, being ridiculed, and I wonder truly what they've done to deserve it.
But on some days I profess to be certain of absolutely nothing, and as I see the treatment given Team Canada's women, this is one of those days.
brozner@dailyherald.com
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<li><a href="/story/?id=362174&src=152">After hockey gold for Canada, joy and champagne overflowed <span class="date">[02/26/10]</span></a></li>
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