Some things, v1.19:
Anytime Nash is town there is a lot of things, but on this occassion I'm going to go with one big thing: my take on the Nash patriot/traitor debate, such as it is. I kind of got rambling, so you might want to get a coffee first, or something.
Gretzky did it. Lemieux did it. Yzerman too.
They played for Team Canada at stages of their careers when some time off or some more time on the trainer's table might have served them and their organizations well.
But they suited up, skated out and will always be able to hold their heads high among those who think national colours are the most important uniform an athlete can wear.
Yesterday, in places where the debate is always waiting to rear its head, Steve Nash was getting the business, on the Internet on sports radio. Even here at From Deep, judging from some of the comments the last few days.
‘Why didn’t Canada’s basketball ambassador play last summer with a chance to earn a spot in the Olympics on the line?’ ‘Why won’t he play this summer when Leo Rautins's men’s team plays in a last-chance qualifying tournament for a spot in Beijing?’
Not that Nash noticed. Having played Tuesday night in Indianapolis with the Phoenix Suns, Nash got to Toronto late and got to sleep even later, as is his habit after games, his metabolism all revved up from another all-out assault on basketball physics.
Talk? He’d rather nap, which he does most afternoons on the road the day after finding new and creative ways to thread the ball to running mate Amare Stoudemire for some more high-wire acrobatics.
Should Nash play for Canada? Is he a bad person because he’s not? Is he good because he did?
I’m probably not a great person to make much of a judgment on this issue, such as it is. I love sports. I love the Olympics. But I’m not a big flag waver. There are lots of reasons to be a proud Canadian, but it’s always struck me a bit odd that a bunch of people who’ve never been in a boat without a motor can get all excited when rowers who have been grinding their bodies to dust before dawn for years – often in spite of tax payer support, rather than because of it – win silver at the Olympics. Or get similarly get all bent out of shape because they ‘lost’ gold.
How that makes you more or less proud to be Canadian, I’m not sure. When I hear or write those kinds of stories – about underappreciated athletes putting everything on the line only a few times in their career - it makes me more proud to be human, not Canadian.
But clearly there is large contingent of people who feel strongly about Nash’s decision not to play for Canada. There are roughly two camps: the first are those who look at the 10 or so summers he did play and figure he’s earned the right to say no. The second, and smaller group, figure he’s shirking his duty to his country and the sport in this country and he should be there, end of story, often citing the examples of Gretzky, Yzerman and Lemieux doing just that on the hockey side, late in their careers, possibly to their detriment.
I’ll tackle the second one first. I believe Nash when he says he’d like to play for Canada again, but that he can’t physically. He often says he wishes the year was 15 months long so he could do it all – play the 110 games or so he does for the Suns, give six weeks or so to the national team and still have three months or so to rest and prepare for the long grind ahead.
The difference between the situation Nash and the hockey greybeards found themselves in was that the hockey events – certainly the Olympics – took place in the course of the regular season. They didn’t have to make a choice between their holiday and playing for their country.
