Word: whaed
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This feeling among WHA All-Stars that they can top the Russians without really extending themselves is not unusual among Westerners. Bob Goodenow, last year's Harvard hockey captain, told me that when he went with the U.S. National Team to compete in a European tournament, the players only practiced together twice before they departed...
...issue is that Americans and Canadians tend to rationalize losses to what they consider inferior peoples. Either the players are not in shape or the country's best players did not show up--or, as in Bobby Hull's case, were not allowed to play because of NHL-WHA politics. We collectively have to face up to the fact that if a foreign country emphasizes a sport, either by subsidizing the construction of facilities or by exalting its participants in the press and public rallies, we cannot expect to remain superior forever...
With the appearance of the WHA, the pro-hockey scene has been transformed into the paradigm of a bipolar model. Along with that second bloc of teams come all the crises and machinations of the typical dichotomous set-up. Deterrance--the art of producing in the mind of a player the fear to jump the league--dominates the hockey scene. Bobby Hull fell victim to this threat when he was denied a chance to play in last year's Canada-Russia series...
...Chicago Blackhawk Bobby Hull is a perfect example of this changing attitude among athletes. I remember how he scored two goals in a Stanley Cup game against Detroit despite a badly broken nose. Yet when he went to the WHA, he bowed to the reality of financial exigencies. Athletes cannot make mythical tax paymenns. Thus, perhaps, it was only a matter of time before the shattering of the fans' illusion of men playing only because they love the game. Certainly pro players love their jobs, certainly more than the average professional, but they are still workers with wives and families...
...What is the traditional term in use to describe the WHA...