when greed is good

completely off blog content topic:

maybe the best part about the US upset over Canada in hockey on Sunday night is all the extra press Ryan Miller is getting. Too often Buffalo sports icons remain icons only in the eyes of the local fans, but not so much perhaps in the national spotlight.

So the victory Sunday did a bunch of good things. First off America is almost never cast as the underdog. The US loves it's underdogs, but we are seldom in that position as a nation. It almost feels a little dirty though. It's not exactly like we put a team of amateurs out there. But that is a topic for another day. The point is that the national attention was definitely more affixed to a sporting event that wouldn't usually garner that much interest. Prodded of course by the fact that we could root for the little guy. Exposure for hockey +1.

Second, Millsy as my friend at work put it "stood on his head" during the game. For anyone who caught the affair they probably came away pretty much amazed by his performance. For us Sabres fans, this was a sight we've been lucky enough to witness on more than a few occasions. It was great to see him rise to the occasion on the largest stage of his career, and come away the hero. As far as what I know about him, he seems pretty great, and deserves all the attention he's getting. After seeing all the press headlines the next day it seems like Miller's name was part of all of them. He went from icon in hockey circles, and icon in buffalo to nationally prominent sports hero.

If the US wins the gold medal Miller might stand to be the biggest name to come out of the Olympics. And with that he stands to make a shit ton of endorsement money. And with that a shit ton of extra exposure for the city of Buffalo and the Sabres organization. At least for as long as the fleeting US attention span can muster. Beggars can't be choosers though ... here's hoping on a buffalo wing and a prayer.