SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: Winter Olympics come to a close, but there's still medals to be won. And turmoil for Major League Baseball's Players Association at just the wrong time. But it's always a good time to talk to our friend Howard Bryant about sports. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine. Thanks, my friend. Listen, hockey. U.S. women won gold earlier in the week, took down Canada in overtime. Now, for the men, gold-medal match tomorrow, USA versus Canada once again, this time with NHL players. U.S. men haven't won an Olympic gold since the Miracle on Ice, Lake Placid in 1980. How do you rate their chances tomorrow?
BRYANT: Well, it's going to be tough, but you've got the - you know, you got the pros back. The Canadians are a great team. They've always been a great team, and this is the first time that they've gone at it since the NHL players were there. And I was at that match - at that great gold-medal game won by Sidney Crosby in overtime in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Phenomenal, phenomenal moment. But once again, when you've got the pros playing, they all know each other, and it's not a best-player-wins sport, but the Canadians do have Connor McDavid, and that changes...
SIMON: Yep.
BRYANT: That changes everything, but I think it's going to be a phenomenal match. I think that, you know, these two teams, you know, they - once again, they know each other so well. I'm expecting just a great, great battle.
SIMON: So many memorable moments in these Olympics - Mikaela Shiffrin's golden redemption, Alysa Liu's artistry, cheating scandal in curling, Johannes Klaebo, the great Norwegian cross-country skier, becoming the all-time leader in gold medals. You have a favorite moment?
BRYANT: Well, I think that, for me - once again, I got to cover the Winter Olympics once, and I would love to do it again. And I get to go in 2010. And when I was there in 2010, I was at the gold-medal game between the U.S. and Canada in women's hockey. And that was such a phenomenal...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: It was such a phenomenal, phenomenal game. And they were battling. And it was - they're - they are the two best teams in the world. And for the Americans to lose that the way they lost, and then to lose again in 2014, and then to win in 2018, only to lose again in 2022, this was so huge for them to prove that they that - you know, obviously, they're one of the two best. But Canada has always sort of had their number. And so for them to win the way they won, they were so close to losing.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: And to score the game-tier (ph) with the empty net, for Hilary Knight to do that. And then, of course, the great goal Megan Keller to win in overtime. That, to me, is my favorite. But I love all the other things. I love the stories.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: I really do love the - obviously, Jordan Stolz with the - with speedskating because that's a sport that's just dominated by the Dutch. Erin Jackson, as well. I think that, you know, me, personally, I just love moguls and snow cross, and that was really fun to watch. And so - and let's not forget the other stories about what the Olympics is really all about. The Haitian skiers...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...And the Italian hockey players who aren't supposed to be there and aren't expected to medal. And, you know, the medal isn't the whole game. The game is the competition. It's the being there. It's the joy of watching all of these countries together. And if you ever get a chance to cover the Olympics or even go to the Olympics or just to visit it...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...The fun thing about it is being able to see all of these countries together, and they party pretty well too. The parties are great.
SIMON: Yeah. Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, have - had to resign after an investigation after what was called an inappropriate office relationship with his sister-in-law, who works for the union. Not good timing for the union, is it?
BRYANT: Terrible timing. Terrible scandal. And really the biggest thing, aside from all of the sort of salacious personal issues, the real big issue there is that this is the big negotiation. The Major League Baseball owners are going for a salary cap. After this season, the gloom and doom of this season is going to be even more complicated by the instability of the Players Association. But this could not have come at a worse time because the union is facing something they've never faced before, which is to - you know, they're going to shut the game down again, and...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: These guys better be ready because the owners are not going to stop this time.
SIMON: Howard Bryant. Thanks so much.
BRYANT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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