The screens in the cafeteria and hallways may not be showing slalom and chants of
U-S-A are not bellowing from dorm rooms, but that does not mean students are ignoring the
Olympics.
I had made sure to ask members of our men’s and women’s teams at Neumann and the
answers were shocking. Connor Hurley, a member of the Men’s Lacrosse team had said “I will
watch the Olympics whenever it is turned on and in major medal games.”
I then asked Connor a follow up about what his favorite sport is in the Winter Olympics and he responded with “curling
is my go to because it is a sport we typically don’t get to watch.”.
Unexpectedly, many Neumann athletes said curling was their favorite sport to watch, with bobsledding being another popular option.
Many student athletes mention that they watch the United States Men’s and
Women’s Hockey teams because of their skill and ability to win the Gold medal.
Kaila Booth,women’s hockey team member, mentioned “I love watching curling and bobsledding because of
how odd these events can be but USA women’s hockey is the most exciting thing at the olympic
games.”
Then Booth added “Curling has also been on non stop in my house. My roommates and
I love it”
From my sample of athletes asked, only one has been watching intently. “I have had each
event on with multiple screens at a time flipping through events.” said Jordan Tocci, a junior on
the Baseball team.
“I wasn’t really expecting myself to get into it this year but my roommates and I have been texting back and forth about events especially if we know someone isn’t watching.”
As a lover of sports myself, I have also been enjoying the Olympics. Watching all the events and finding myself to be a real patriot. I’ve been cheering on the United States is like clockwork
I recently found myself sitting in the living room of my house and texting my dad back home over ski jump, bobsleeding, curling and even figure skating.
Earlier, I mentioned how many of the athletes love watching the United States hockey
teams. All of them had a similar response to this question “What are you most excited for with
US hockey as a whole?”.
In summary, they all said their goal is to beat Canada and blast Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd after each goal.
The United States and Canada have a heated and historic rivalry. Both teams compete to be the best in the world and Neumann’s student athletes are going to be watching this rivalry all the way.
The United States hockey team has a great history, particularly in the events of the 1980 olympics in Lake Placid New York. They went on to play the Soviet Union, who were at the time the greatest hockey team ever assembled.
The United States ended up winning which created the “Miracle On Ice”. That event brought the people of America together. Is this year’s hockey team going to bring Neumann students together?
I’m sure we’ll find the answer to that soon, as Neumann athletes have not only been watching.
But rather, they have been watching intensely.
