It's in the Blood -- Wear the Heart on the Sleeve

As I sit here and watch USA vs. Canada at the Under 18 World Championships, I am proud of the USA team and the accomplishments they have done since the inception of the National Development Program (6 medals since 1999 - 3 Golds, 2 Silvers, 1 bronze - AND - 1 Gold and 1 Bronze in World Jr.'s). I also like the fact that USA hockey on the international scene is on the upswing. I see a new tradition and culture developing around the teams.

However...

This is about Canada.

I honestly have to admit there is something special about watching a Canadian hockey team. I mean a team that wears the Maple Leaf for it's nation. I have had the fortunate opportunity to see three Canadian teams up-front-and-close:

1. 2005 World Jr. Team (Sidney Crosby, Dion Phaneuf, Ryan Getzlaff, etc.)
2. 2007 World University Team
3. 2009 U18 Team

There was a tangible aspect to (A) how hard they work, (B) their pride in their job, and (C) how they sacrifice for the team. I have read a few articles that sum up this mindset the best. I found one here from 1999.

Here's a snipet:

There is no analogue in the U.S. for the almost chromosomal role hockey plays in Canada's national life. It is omnipresent--everywhere and in everyone--at such a molecular level that even Canadians who hate the game (and there are a few) understand its nuances. In a nation with so much winter and so much ice, hockey is an inevitability; it is as inexorable as the weather. In Canada hockey is the manufacturer of good character. It is myth and science. It is a kind of national dream state. Baseball, the only fitting point of comparison in America, has always been optional, no matter what George Will says. Hockey is to Canada what capitalism is to America: a functioning ideology.

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UltimateOfficials.com is going after that mindset. I am proud to say our SWAT Team is starting that pride, honor, and tradition that hockey officiating deserves.

If you haven't signed up yet for the SWAT Team, your missing out on a truly elite and special group of officials. If you really want more, want to be something special, play/work with the pride that Canada displays whenever they pull over the Maple Leaf Sweater, then get ahold of me ASAP.

I've posted this before, but I think it is so impressive that it warrants watching over and over again: