The Buzz Around the United States

Sunday night, one night shy of the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, anyone who was able to find the United States take on Canada in Olympic hockey wondered two things. First of all, why was the game broadcast on CSNBC? And secondly, how much would the Canadians win by?

By the end of the match the youngest team in the tournament from the United States not only upset their northern foes, but created a buzz around a sport that did not have one since 1980.

Sure, every spring there may be a NHL team or two to captivate an adopted "hockeytown," but on Sunday the United States squad lured a national audience into falling in love with a sports often pushed to the side. By Tuesday morning on my way to work listeners were still listening to Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN Radio discuss the impact of the upset.

In the short term, the game has brought positive attention to a sport that needs it more than any other of the major four professional sport leagues. In reality, though, the excitement will soon fade with the arrival of March Madness and the beginning of the Major League Baseball season. Names like Ryan Miller and Chris Drury will soon be replaced by Derek Jeter, Roy Halladay, and Albert Pujols. In fact, I just googled Miller's and Drury's names to ensure that I spelled them correctly.

Even with the previous thought in mind, the bottom line remains, that for the next week, the young Americans will at least draw interest as they aim for only the second gold medal in U.S. hockey history. It would be the first one since the Miracle victory against the strong Soviets in '80. It would take a miracle for it to raise NHL ratings over the NBA this spring.

Elsewhere around sports...

-It was a bit shocking to see the Eagles let Brian Westbrook go today. He has been a staple to that Eagles offense for the last eight seasons, filled with great performances against my New York Giants. That's one guy I will not miss seeing twice a season.

-Not quite as shocking is the continued slide of Virginia's basketball program. Not only can the Hoos get a stop when they need one defensively, the Cavs can't knock down a bucket even after the game gets away from them.

-As I write this and watch the Tennessee and Florida game, I continue to hear how disappointing the Florida crowd has been all season. It's shocking that a school with the enrollment number of Florida and success in sports over the last couple of years can struggle to draw strong crowds. Based on the 14 point lead with just over five minutes to play, it does not look like tonight's crowd is having any problems staying involved.