Sunday, January 02, 2005 8:52:56 PM
RYAN'S WORLD: U.S. fans pick it up a notch
Herald photo by Eric Hylden
USA fan Richard Schaffer of Grand Forks shows some patriotism during Saturday's
World Junior Hockey Chapionships in Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks.
Posted on Sun, Jan. 02, 2005
GrandForksHerald
Someone has to challenge those Canucks
When handing out the credit for Team USA's 8-2 Swedish smorgasbord feast Saturday night, don't forget Allen Orwick.
Allen who?
Allen Orwick of Michigan, N.D., that's who.
From attending other Team USA games, Orwick thought the Ralph Engelstad Arena crowd needed some prodding. So he plucked the American flag from outside his home. Other fans had the same thinking, as the red, white and blue was evident in larger numbers Saturday night at the REA.
But Orwick did more than add another visual aid to the atmosphere.
He produced karma. Karma straight from his garage.
You see, the U.S. flag was attached to a Christian Brothers hockey stick. The Christian clan includes Billy, who won Olympic hockey gold in 1960, and David, who won Olympic hockey gold in 1980.
For more karma, Orwick wore Zach Parise's No. 11 World Juniors jersey from last year. It was adorned by Parise's autograph. Parise, a UND player, was the MVP as the USA won the gold medal over Canada.
It was Canada's seventh straight silver, meaning the only place that has more weight in Silver is the Lone Ranger's barn.
Canadians are quite confident this streak will end. And their team hasn't given anybody any reason to think otherwise, either. But if the other teams seem humbled by the Canadian team's skill, it's nothing like the humbling the USA fans are taking at the hands of the Labatt Blue-swigging, Players chain-smoking hosers.
"They're schooling us," Orwick said. "They're educated fans and they're full of enthusiasm.
"We need to pick it up a notch to help the team pick it up a notch."
The fans picked it up, but certainly not as many notches as the team did. Their eight-goal outburst avoided another potential international incident between the United States and Russia.
You see, Russian referee Vyacheslav Bulanov didn't allow an apparent U.S. goal. In fact, he stubbornly refused to look at the instant replay, resulting in cascading blues. A few minutes later, while breaking up a scuffle, a linesman accidentally elbowed Drew Stafford in the head.
At least the officials got the crowd riled up. The only other time they got agitated was when the big screen showed Canadian fans cheering for Sweden. That image was met by loud boos.
Then, the camera panned to a USA flag waving and the words to "Born in the USA" blared over the PA system, eliciting even louder cheers.
But the Canadian fans once again got the last laugh, chanting "Bel-a-rus, Bel-a-rus," the otherwise winless team that upset Team USA.
It's unclear whether these pockets of Canadian fans really don't like the USA or they're just having fun with them. Or perhaps they're as yellow as the Swedish uniforms. Maybe they're rooting for USA opponents because they're scared of a repeat of last year's title game. Eh?
Whatever the motivation, it's clear that they are irritating the USA fans by taking USA Hockey's red, white and blue pom pons and plucking the blue streamers out of them.
Blue streamers cover the granite floor of the REA, meaning USA Hockey has supplied Canadians with red-and-white pom pons.
But Orwick's flag-on-a-(hockey)-stick invention also included one of those pom pons. And the Canadians hadn't gotten to its blue streamers ... yet.
I'm sure they stayed up all last night trying to figure out how to alter the USA Hockey towels handed out to fans before the game.
To recap, at least some Americans are putting up a patriotic fight. Scott MacMillan of Manvel, N.D., Donovan Larson of Fargo and Terri Moser of Devils Lake were sporting large flags. They all said they're trying to emulate the Maple Leaf-waving hosers.
"I think our crowd enthusiasm is picking up," MacMillan said. "But I don't think we'll catch up to them. They're awesome."
Herald photo by Eric Hylden
USA fan Richard Schaffer of Grand Forks shows some patriotism during Saturday's
World Junior Hockey Chapionships in Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks.
Posted on Sun, Jan. 02, 2005
GrandForksHerald
Someone has to challenge those Canucks
When handing out the credit for Team USA's 8-2 Swedish smorgasbord feast Saturday night, don't forget Allen Orwick.
Allen who?
Allen Orwick of Michigan, N.D., that's who.
From attending other Team USA games, Orwick thought the Ralph Engelstad Arena crowd needed some prodding. So he plucked the American flag from outside his home. Other fans had the same thinking, as the red, white and blue was evident in larger numbers Saturday night at the REA.
But Orwick did more than add another visual aid to the atmosphere.
He produced karma. Karma straight from his garage.
You see, the U.S. flag was attached to a Christian Brothers hockey stick. The Christian clan includes Billy, who won Olympic hockey gold in 1960, and David, who won Olympic hockey gold in 1980.
For more karma, Orwick wore Zach Parise's No. 11 World Juniors jersey from last year. It was adorned by Parise's autograph. Parise, a UND player, was the MVP as the USA won the gold medal over Canada.
It was Canada's seventh straight silver, meaning the only place that has more weight in Silver is the Lone Ranger's barn.
Canadians are quite confident this streak will end. And their team hasn't given anybody any reason to think otherwise, either. But if the other teams seem humbled by the Canadian team's skill, it's nothing like the humbling the USA fans are taking at the hands of the Labatt Blue-swigging, Players chain-smoking hosers.
"They're schooling us," Orwick said. "They're educated fans and they're full of enthusiasm.
"We need to pick it up a notch to help the team pick it up a notch."
The fans picked it up, but certainly not as many notches as the team did. Their eight-goal outburst avoided another potential international incident between the United States and Russia.
You see, Russian referee Vyacheslav Bulanov didn't allow an apparent U.S. goal. In fact, he stubbornly refused to look at the instant replay, resulting in cascading blues. A few minutes later, while breaking up a scuffle, a linesman accidentally elbowed Drew Stafford in the head.
At least the officials got the crowd riled up. The only other time they got agitated was when the big screen showed Canadian fans cheering for Sweden. That image was met by loud boos.
Then, the camera panned to a USA flag waving and the words to "Born in the USA" blared over the PA system, eliciting even louder cheers.
But the Canadian fans once again got the last laugh, chanting "Bel-a-rus, Bel-a-rus," the otherwise winless team that upset Team USA.
It's unclear whether these pockets of Canadian fans really don't like the USA or they're just having fun with them. Or perhaps they're as yellow as the Swedish uniforms. Maybe they're rooting for USA opponents because they're scared of a repeat of last year's title game. Eh?
Whatever the motivation, it's clear that they are irritating the USA fans by taking USA Hockey's red, white and blue pom pons and plucking the blue streamers out of them.
Blue streamers cover the granite floor of the REA, meaning USA Hockey has supplied Canadians with red-and-white pom pons.
But Orwick's flag-on-a-(hockey)-stick invention also included one of those pom pons. And the Canadians hadn't gotten to its blue streamers ... yet.
I'm sure they stayed up all last night trying to figure out how to alter the USA Hockey towels handed out to fans before the game.
To recap, at least some Americans are putting up a patriotic fight. Scott MacMillan of Manvel, N.D., Donovan Larson of Fargo and Terri Moser of Devils Lake were sporting large flags. They all said they're trying to emulate the Maple Leaf-waving hosers.
"I think our crowd enthusiasm is picking up," MacMillan said. "But I don't think we'll catch up to them. They're awesome."
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