Sometimes we forget that people -- living, breathing, thinking and feeling people -- play this game. We see the bigger than life images on our TV screens and forget that the ones chasing the ball pay mortgages, worry about their kids and miss their grandmother's peanut butter cookies.
We view the players more like characters on our Playstation 3 -- they have fixed attributes that never change and they always show up to play, even when they are less than a week removed from the most devastating loss of their career.
And so it is today, with the Canadian women's team set to take on Nigeria. The Africans are also 0-2 in the tournament, but have likely played better than the Canucks. Going into the tournament, the Nigeria game was always pointed to as the "obvious win." It fit nicely with the pre-tournament narrative of "beat France and we're set."
Of course beating France proved to be a tougher ask than most here thought. In hindsight it seemed like a ridiculous ask, actually. As such, that narrative has changed.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Now, it's about playing for pride -- a cliché as tired as the one about "Canadian spirit" somehow being superior to those other lazy, carefree countries we play.
Asking them to truly care about wining today is a bit much. Actually, we should want the players to be a little irritated by playing today. If they win, they should act like they've done it before, keep their head down and thank their fans for their support.
And if they lose? Well, whatever. As stated, they are human and they are affected by the way they lost. Going a step further, it's a problem if they can recover and play to the best of their abilities today. That would indicate to me that they are a little too comfortable with losing.
What they need to focus on today is playing with respect -- respect for the game, their teammates, fans and for the money that was spent on preparing them.
But, pride? There is nothing for an elite athlete to be proud about when they fail as badly as the Canadian women did in this tournament. Your average Canadian will be put off by that attitude, but the average Canadian is accepting of mediocrity.
Maybe it's time Canadians found that equally as troublesome.