The Swedish Ethos
Kristian Urstad
April 12 2010 11:02AM
I went to school in Scandinavia for seven years. I learned a little bit about the psyche of this social democratic culture. They are taught from early on not to talk too much about themselves – it is rude to do so. Salary is rarely mentioned. In fact, there is a general leveling of wage diferential – the bottom is pulled up and the top, pulled down. For the most part, they see themselves as belonging to a collective, and take a dim view of the (often) bullying, individualist ethos which dominates our culture.
Even in a sport dominated by absurd salaries and (apparent) individual accomplishment, I can’t help but to see this Scandinavian ethos reflected in the Sedins. They play the game in an understated sort of way. They never complain and see themselves as part of a larger whole. They avoid talking too much about their accomplishments, preferring instead to give credit to those around them and to other players in the league. They have taken less money to stay in this city and on this team. They have given to charity one of the largest chunks of money seen in a long time around this league.
If we don't have the opportunity to learn from some of these Nordic countries, we needn't worry - we can simply take some time to appreciate what the Sedins bring to this game and to this organization, night in and night out.
The Athletic Saint
Kristian Urstad
April 08 2010 12:46PM
It is too often said that athletes who are ethically suspect run the risk of morally corrupting their fans and audience. We judge and condemn the athlete – from Shane O’Brien’s late nights at the Roxy or Kyle Wellwood’s weight gain, to Tiger Wood’s sexual infidelities – for not being moral saints. They have a particular responsibility, we say, to provide a higher standard for all of us to follow and admire. But I’d like to turn the tables and ask us all the following:
Does the athlete who is a moral saint serve as a compelling personal ideal? Does it really help us to hold up as an exemplar, as a type of person to strive to become, the perfectly righteous athlete?Captain Luongo
Kristian Urstad
April 02 2010 05:09PM
Luongo after the Kings' game:
"As a team, we should be embarrassed by the way we played. From the first guy, which is me, all the way out to the last guy, it's unacceptable to play this way."
I’ve been saying it ever since it happened, but Luongo shouldn’t have been anointed captain.
Getting To The Hart Of The Matter
Kristian Urstad
March 29 2010 05:05PM
Typically the Hart Trophy goes to the flashier player and to the candidate with the most goals. But what is flashy and why is the flashy player often equated with being the league’s most valuable player? Ditto for goal-scoring. Why is scoring goals almost always taken to be more valuable than setting them up?
I have no doubt that Ovechkin will yet again be afforded the title of the league’s most valuable player. But should he? Isn’t there a better candidate here in Vancouver?
Learning to Forget
Kristian Urstad
March 20 2010 02:21PM
It is a difficult thing to get over discouragement and anger. Seneca, the Roman statesman, spent his life trying to find ways to avoid becoming too angry and bitter. He noticed that our anger invariably lasts longer than the damage done to us. He thought we were fools to allow our tranquility and composure to be disrupted by minor set-backs. It is important, he said, to realize that many of the things we think are important short-term in fact are not, at least not in the grand scheme of things. So anytime we feel ourselves getting too angry or bitter about something, we should pause to consider its overall insignificance – something which helps us to nip our discouragement in the bud.
The Canucks have mastered this ability – an ability all elite teams, whatever sport they belong to, have.
