Is it better we lost?

[Sam]

With the announcement of the Canada-US game this summer I started thinking back to the incredible mainstream media attention this team after the Olympics. Despite winning the bronze most of the coverage focused on the US game, Sinclair's heroics and our favourite refereeing decision of all time.

I think the injustice of the whole game with Canada putting in such a quality performance only to be denied at the death after some incredibly poor refereeing decisions earlier in the game sort of galvanized the country behind this team like they deserved something morally in the Bronze medal game against France. Now with the US friendly at BMO we are seeing this billed as the rematch, the chance for revenge etc. I wonder if this would have been the same if we'd lost.

Obviously from a purely support basis winning the Gold or Silver Medal would have be awesome, especially if we had beaten the States. But imagine if Canada had got by the US in the semis without any great injustice then lost to Japan or even beat Japan, would this same sort of support have developed around this team all leading towards the World Cup in 2015?

[Admin]

I was wondering that today.

[Trillium]

With the announcement of the Canada-US game this summer I started thinking back to the incredible mainstream media attention this team after the Olympics. Despite winning the bronze most of the coverage focused on the US game, Sinclair's heroics and our favourite refereeing decision of all time.

I think the injustice of the whole game with Canada putting in such a quality performance only to be denied at the death after some incredibly poor refereeing decisions earlier in the game sort of galvanized the country behind this team like they deserved something morally in the Bronze medal game against France. Now with the US friendly at BMO we are seeing this billed as the rematch, the chance for revenge etc. I wonder if this would have been the same if we'd lost.

Obviously from a purely support basis winning the Gold or Silver Medal would have be awesome, especially if we had beaten the States. But imagine if Canada had got by the US in the semis without any great injustice then lost to Japan or even beat Japan, would this same sort of support have developed around this team all leading towards the World Cup in 2015?

An Olympic Gold medal would have garnered much much more support, indeed as would a silver, corporate support from Canadian Controlled companys would have been very significant for a group of women winning an Olympic Gold.

No comparison in my opinion.

[Admin]

An Olympic Gold medal would have garnered much much more support, indeed as would a silver, corporate support from Canadian Controlled companys would have been very significant for a group of women winning an Olympic Gold.

No comparison in my opinion.

Of course. I totally agree.

I was thinking more about the controversy surrounding how we lost has been beneficial in way

[squizz1402635577]

Bronze > silver, in this context. Going out on a high note (especially a last-second winning goal against the run of play) so much more impactful than losing in your last game, even if the subsequent medal is supposedly "better".

The tournament rolled out in a perfect way to ensure ongoing support. The injustice (especially against the Americans, of all people), and the fact that we didn't get to the gold-medal game (even if we felt we deserved it), has ensured a lingering sense of a need for redemption. The team still has something to strive for, something yet to achieve, and because of that sense of injustice, Canadians (who love rooting for the underdog) really want to see it happen. (And I'm speaking about the broader Canadian public here, not us, who'll support them anyway.)

On the other hand, had we made it onto the podium with gold or silver, it would have been "mission accomplished" in the public's minds. That's it, Canada's the best in the world. That's all there is to it. The thrill of the chase is largely gone -- and the shock of losing Sinclair and some of the other vets in a few years' time would be even more calamitous (though it's still going to be a pretty steep drop-off).

So, while you always want to win, and of course for the ladies, you'd have wanted them to fulfill the dream of winning gold if at all possible... yes, in some ways, it is better we lost.

(Funnily enough, I clicked on this thread from the CSN main page, without knowing which sub-forum it was in, and I assumed it was going to be about 8-1.)

[squizz1402635577]

Though of course Trillium's point about corporate and governmental support for a gold-medal winning team is 100% accurate. But like Sam, I also can't shake the feeling that, in some ways, that loss actually had its benefits.

[mtlfan]

I believe the events of the USA match followed by the bronze medal had the biggest impact on the Canadian public. The injustice suffered by the team did more to get people involved than a win would have.

[Joe MacCarthy]

The tournament rolled out in a perfect way to ensure ongoing support. The injustice (especially against the Americans, of all people), and the fact that we didn't get to the gold-medal game (even if we felt we deserved it), has ensured a lingering sense of a need for redemption. The team still has something to strive for, something yet to achieve, and because of that sense of injustice, Canadians (who love rooting for the underdog) really want to see it happen.

The story hasn't played out yet. Redemption and revenge will come in 2015 and like Vancouver 2010, it will be mental.

[Sam]

Bronze > silver, in this context. Going out on a high note (especially a last-second winning goal against the run of play) so much more impactful than losing in your last game, even if the subsequent medal is supposedly "better".

The tournament rolled out in a perfect way to ensure ongoing support. The injustice (especially against the Americans, of all people), and the fact that we didn't get to the gold-medal game (even if we felt we deserved it), has ensured a lingering sense of a need for redemption. The team still has something to strive for, something yet to achieve, and because of that sense of injustice, Canadians (who love rooting for the underdog) really want to see it happen. (And I'm speaking about the broader Canadian public here, not us, who'll support them anyway.)

On the other hand, had we made it onto the podium with gold or silver, it would have been "mission accomplished" in the public's minds. That's it, Canada's the best in the world. That's all there is to it. The thrill of the chase is largely gone -- and the shock of losing Sinclair and some of the other vets in a few years' time would be even more calamitous (though it's still going to be a pretty steep drop-off).

So, while you always want to win, and of course for the ladies, you'd have wanted them to fulfill the dream of winning gold if at all possible... yes, in some ways, it is better we lost.

This is a much better articulated version of what I was trying to say. I think that going into 2015 off the Bronze medal and injustice gives the media much more of a story that really might do something special for the team and the Canadian support at the World Cup.

[Jcm144]

the whole injustice in that game with the U.S was a blessing in disguise.....But if we were to win gold, hands down would have been a bigger story. The way I see it: Gold>Bronze, but Bronze>Silver

[NSSoccer]

I think both arguments are true. Better results, (ie Gold, maybe even silver) would have garnered more corporate and government support for the future of the program. The way things unfolded, however, garnered much more public support than a silver medal would have, maybe even a gold medal. The reason: canadians love any reason to hate americans (especially in sport) AND referees. While even the non-following hockey-crazed male couch potato was captivated by the semi loss to the americans, then bronze win, the same guy would have probably responded with a «good on ya», followed by «but its only soccer, women's soccer at that» if they would have won gold. I think the loss ensured longer-lasting public awareness than any gold medal would have.

[Lord Bob]

If we had won gold or silver, it would have been better because we would have won gold or silver, which is the entire ****ing point, innit?

[AvroArrow]

I think the bronze vs. silver argument would depend on how the gold medal was lost. Let's say, for example, the women had got to the gold medal game and then lost 8-1. Would the country be celebrating the silver? Probably not.

[Califax]

Injustice versus arrogant Americans > Gold Medal

Injustice versus arrogant Americans > Women's soccer

From an outside perspective, it's not even close, Though I like the way squizz said it.

[ThruBall]

You can bet the american movie will pit the struggling, world against their ladies, success story drapped around the Canadian Women's experience at these Olympics...... Should I say "Argo"..........

The only thing stopping them is that we won BRONZE............

We'd all be up a creek if we won GOLD........

Not!