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The Weekend in Sports: Hockey is an American Sport

by: RT Young02/23/26

Most Americans consume a lot of sports on television. Daily, hourly, minute by minute. But how many of those games go into our minds only to evaporate as if they never happened at all? Making it rare when you watch a game and think to yourself: “I’m going to remember this forever.” That was the feeling after USA Hockey’s gold medal win in the Milan Olympics over Canada. It was the Americans first gold at the Winter Olympics in 46 years.

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It might not have been “do you believe in miracles? Yes!” of 1980, but now the name Jack Hughes and his teammates stands beside greats like Mike Eruzione. It was “do you believe in grit? Yes!” Underscored by Hughes losing several teeth via a stick only to go onto score the golden goal in overtime and goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s litany of saves which help the Americans survive a Canuck onslaught. Poor Canada, enjoy those Beanie Babies!

I thought about three things a lot after the victory. One, an entire generation of kids is going to be very fired up about hockey. And they don’t even have Gordon Bombay like us millennials. Then I read the below tweet from this morning.

Second, what needs to happen to get Austin, Texas an NHL team? It would absolutely crush it here. I’ll drive everyone associated with Austin FC to the airport today if that’s what it takes.

Third, I’ll never forget that moment of celebration with the late Johnny Gaudreau’s kids and the rest of the team. I choked up and blubbered like a baby. It was a moment where you remember why you love sports in the first place.

Quick Hitters

-Texas Baseball completed it’s three game series sweep of Michigan State on Sunday, improving Jim Schlossnagle’s squad to 7-0. The Horns allowed just two runs all weekend. Concerns about power hitting are moot if the Longhorns just mow everyone down.

-On an emotional Senior Day Vic Schaefer’s Lady Longhorns obliterated Miss St 92-42, improving Texas WBB to 26-3. We covered the Men’s Basketball loss to Georgia on Inside Texas, and stay locked in as we preview their tough upcoming games against Florida (2/23) and at Texas A&M (2/28).

-On Saturday, the Spurs won their second game at the Moody Center in Austin, and saw some more Hook ‘Em signs from Victor Wembanyama after an impressive cradle rock dunk. Sorry Aggies, no NBA teams at Reed Arena, but I bet you’ll have something Dude Perfect related to look forward to.

[THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOUR LITTLE LONGHORNS! Get them ready for Kickoff in the Fall with The Longhorn Alphabet: Texas Football A to Z]

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