Even in '92, after the amazing collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians came in as the gold medal favorites. A new cast of characters maybe, but the story was the same.
The U.S. met them in the quarter-finals, going into the contest with an undefeated record. This was at last my chance to see a victory. Once again, however, my hopes were shattered. The enemy prevailed again.
Now it's 1994, and the rivalry has faded more and more with with every McDonalds that has been constructed in Moscow. Even more amazing, the Russians are no longer the clear-cut gold medal favorites, and some experts are saying the U.S. has as good a shot as anyone.
Maybe it is time to find a new enemy, a new nation to hate two weeks of the year, every four years.
The candidates are few, but I think I have our country: Canada.
After all, while Canadians might not be citizens of a military superpower, or even a power, for that matter, they stole the World Series from us.
And although they stole it with American players, it never really was about the players anyway.