>
> Clark Donatelli said the following after the loss to Czechoslovakia.  It
> dealt with the comments he and other Team USA people made about the
 officiating
> Friday.
>
> "If I offended anyone in America, I'm sorry.  I feel that I said something
> I shouldn't have.  I don't regret it...that's how the hockey team felt.  But
> I didn't want to offend anyone, either."
>
> After printing this, Boston Globe writer Kevin Dupont (who also poses as a
> knowledgeable hockey person for The Hockey News) went on to rake Donatelli
> over the coals again and rehash all of his comments, as if we didn't already
> know.
>
> Give the guy a break, he realized he made a mistake and he owned up to it.  I
> was happy to see CBS ignored this clearly emotional outburst in its recap of
> the team's performance tonight and focused on the positive aspects. But
> Dupont loves controversy and wasn't about to pass this up.  (Mike Emrick's
> piece on the 1992 Olympic hockey tourney was absolutely superb, BTW.)
 
That is about as weak an "apology" as you'll ever hear.  He did not "own
up to it."  He specifically said that he didn't regret it.  This is akin
to a child saying that he isn't sorry that he did it but he is sorry
that he got caught.
 
As much as I hate to admit it....the USA got beaten by a superior team.
Only Ray Leblanc prevented the game from being a rout.  And the truth
is, when you are being outskated you will invariably end up taking more
penalties.  Some may have been embellished with a little acting, but
probably no worse than what Donatelli himself did to ensure that the
penalty was called which got the US its' second goal.
 
Jon Greene
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