Savour The White Pill
…In Golden Form
Good triumphed over evil in the Ice Hockey at the conclusion of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina the other day. By this point I’m sure everyone knows about the result and a euphoric NYPost is saturated with coverage of a game that is quickly being mythologized.
It’s a rare moment when you see a sports event take on a significance well beyond the game itself, and the men’s ice hockey final was one of those moments.
I’m still a bit of a sportsnut at heart, and i’ll defend sportsballism - the act of devoting too much of ones time to sports as a distraction, to the point of being numb to the tougher questions about society’s direction.
Sport is where we find a way to compete other than in war or bloody battle. Sport and war have a relationship. War and politics have a relationship.
Carl Von Clausewitz said war is just politics by other means.
So Sports and politics have a relationship.
They say the Olympics started in ancient greece as an alternative to the city-states fighting each other in battle all the time.
The early MesoAmerican civilizations don’t even bother to be so distinct: Sport was an extension of war. Losers getting sacrificed (or was it winners?), heads being kicked around as footballs. The Roman gladiator fights could be said to be the same, and European warfare has on occassion demonstrated such a superfluous orderliness that you wonder how serious they were about their main objectives. I’m talking about duels between leading fighters or generals of opposing armies, neat rows and columns, limits on the number of fighters etc (the latter was more due to logistical necessity, risk aversion and food supply than being “sporting”).
These fashions come and go. And I’d never assume anything other than war being mainly about killing.
But still, it seemed as though the gold medal game between the US and Canadian Ice Hockey Teams was an extension of an ongoing real-life political dispute that’s gotten nasty.
The Canadian people have lately been disgracing themselves in sportsmanship it seems, namely booing the American national anthem, all the while their government has clearly shown more favouritism to the citizens of China and India than their own heartland Canadians in the interior provinces, the latter of whom provide all the best hockey players, strongest community leagues and most enthusiastic fanbase.
That brings to mind one of the lessons in Sun Tzu’s Art Of War:
Before waging war, the general must ensure that the war has just cause and the support of the people (AKA the mandate of Heaven).
If you are going to take a sport contest above mere sport and into the realms of political subtext, maybe you shouldn’t have pissed off your own countrymen so much first, never mind trolling your opponent.
The Americans by contrast fought with full spirit, patriotism and pride, whilst maintaining the highest standards of character and good sportmanship. They were led well from the top (the very top) and their players (or soldiers if you will) were inspired to give their best to the cause. I’ve never seen such heartfelt humble pride in a win (an oxymoronic statement but entirely true). Then added to that their tributes to a fallen player and his brother (who died in a car accident). I’ve never seen so many of the best ideals of sportsmanship condensed into one moment by one side. It was a rare thing and pretty amazing.
In a world of doom and gloom, I thought it worthy to publish a few words honouring that.
They say its not just whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. Well they won and they played the game well, and I mean through their spirit and conduct right throughout: before, during and after. I say all this even though I haven’t even been able to see the game as its paywalled and was at a particularly anti-social hour down here. I can just tell all this through the post-game coverage.
Much like the 1980 miracle on Ice was a victory of one ideology over another, this recent result was much the same. Patriotism, national pride and standing up for the future of your young people defeated empty leftist globalism and selling out your young people to hostile foreign interests. If only Australia took a similar path to the US a decade ago rather than doubling down on its own arrogant stupidity out of spite and TDS.
However, I’ll throw a consolation crumb out there too. As I try to demonstrate with my articles on Poland, no defeat is ever permanent, and a culture can survive through force of will. But it needs you to contribute, in whatever way you can. Go and do it. Do something. Even if it’s like what I do: painting, drawing and rambling online. But find your own thing whatever that is, and do it well.
Postscript: Can Australia ever win an ice-hockey Olynmpic Gold Medal? It’s a long road to the top, but I laid out some plans to get started in an earlier article here.
Postscript II: Brazil won it’s first ever Winter Olympic Gold Medal. Howzat for an underdog story? Well done to Lucas Pinheiro Braathen for claiming top spot in his Giant Slalom event. AP reports that it is an even greater milestone still: South America’s first ever medal at the Winter Olympics, period! From some-other rag:
“I just hope that Brazilians look at this and truly understand that your difference is your superpower,” he said, still sobbing away. “It may show up in your skin or in the way you dress. But I hope this inspires every kid out there who feels a bit different to trust who you are.”
On the back of his helmet, Pinheiro Braathen has in big letters “Vamos Dancar” – “Let’s Dance.” And he certainly did that on his first run, establishing a stunning 0.95sec lead over the Swiss legend Marco Odermatt.”
And it happened during carnival season too! (According to AI). Arriba! (or whatever they say…)