News: Should the women’s hockey team be allowed to celebrate?

I’m sure many of you joined us at Best Health in celebrating last night’s great Canadian Olympic victories: first, a gold medal from our women’s hockey team; and second, a courageous bronze from figure skater Joannie Rochette. (Like many of my friends, I stayed up too late on a work night to watch the skating and the medal ceremony.)

But is it possible to celebrate too much? A lot of people seem to think so, as the women’s hockey team has been criticized for returning to the ice to celebrate with champagne, beer and a cigar’so much so that the IOC is apparently investigating the incident.

Wait a second’what incident? Yes, one of the players is a month shy of 19, so not of legal drinking age in BC (although she is in her home province of Quebec). And yes, smoking cigars isn’t exactly healthy, although one cigar once every four years shared amongst an entire hockey team surely does less damage than your average city’s air pollution.

I have to wonder, though. If this had been the men’s team celebrating a gold-medal win over a longtime rival team, would it have been considered an "incident" at all?

I asked some of my and Best Health’s followers on Twitter and here are some of their comments:

"Their only mistake was photographs." (@zchamu)

"It’s a non-issue. They won, they can celebrate. I don’t think this would be an issue if it were the men." (@reneeswilliams)

"I’m fine with it. It was a harmless celebration and all in good fun." (@sarahrogers)

"I think the answer is still yes. The cultural reaction would be far different, but the IOC is generally conservative." (@scrawledinwax)

"If it had been the celebration of a win over the US, yes. It is the US reporters who have made this a story." (@adam_weitner_pr)

"What about the gold medal winner walking through the streets chugging a pitcher? How come no-one complained about that?" (@davefleet)

What do you think? Issue or non-issue?

Related:
‘ Olympian to watch: Snowboarder Alexa Loo
‘ Get in shape with women’s hockey
‘ Health secrets from an Olympic medallist