Dave Smith writes:
>I do believe that Donatelli meant to apologize in the comments he made.  He
>just chose his words poorly.  (He probably did not ace his English papers in
>school.)  I believe his point was that he was sorry that he made the comments
>publicly, but at the time, that was the way the team felt, and he was not going
 
>to apologize for his feelings....just for vocalizing them to the press and the
>poor judgement that went with that.  IMHO, this is a very honest and acceptable
 
>apology.
 
His apology, as quoted in the Globe, was specifically to any Americans he might
have offended by his comments. I have seen no indication that he has expressed
any regrets to the Swedes. I think Team USA's behaviour in this tournament
was an embarassment to this country, and personally I was more disappointed
with the team than I would have been had they failed to win a game.
 
(Incidentally it was interesting that the Swedish ref who so upset Team USA
with his third period penalty calling did the same thing in the gold medal
game, giving the Canadians two third period five on three's).
 
Tom