For the past two weeks, I’ve been kind of in love. You’d think that this was some sort of “me trying to be cute and funny” line, but it’s true. With sports, it’s a different love than personal love, but for me, it’s still love. I fall in love with players because of how they play (Barry Sanders, Alexander Ovechkin, Barry Bonds), their attitude towards playing, i.e. their “fire” (Kevin Garnett, Tim Tebow), and I fall in love with teams because of a collective being that captivates me (2008 Boston Celtics, 2005 West Virginia Men’s basketball).

I’m sad right now because we’re at the end of a two week love affair that is over and is never going to come back. From the first game they played against Switzerland, I was in love with the U.S. Men’s hockey team in the 2010 Winter Olympics. I fell in love with players and I fell in love with the collective team.

For players, at the top of my list is Dustin Brown. Brown’s impact is not seen in stat sheets, but he’s the kind of player who rarely makes a poor decision and always plays hard. I would give up nearly anything for him to be on the Caps so I could watch him 82 times a season. I fell in love with the grit of David Backes and Jack Johnson. I fell in love with the elite defense of Erik Johnson. I fell in love with the never-give-in attitude of Ryan Kesler, who was never the best player on the ice, but was always in on important plays. And of course, like the rest of the U.S. hockey world, I fell in love with Ryan Miller, who might not be a top 5 goalie in the NHL, but played like it for two weeks in February 2010.

But really, I fell in love with the team. I love underdogs and no matter what the old timers who remember 1980 will tell you, this was my generation’s underdog U.S. hockey team. Was this Olympics as important as 1980? I don’t care. It was important to me and to a load of American hockey fans who longed for success and progress and frankly, that’s all that matters. For two weeks we got to bear witness to a scrappy group of American hockey players, most under 27 years of age, battling for the gold medal at the Olympics. 12 years ago, we watched an over-the-hill group of privilege NHL stars trash hotel rooms in Nagano and embarrass our nation. 8 years ago, a boring group of Americans with no identity, but a fair amount of star power, won the silver medal in Salt Lake City and no one noticed. And 4 years ago in Turin, we finished 8th with an inferior team with limited skill. What happened in the last four years was that we were able to develop and then blend great, young talents. There is, in my opinion, no future Hockey Hall of Famer on this team. Maybe Erik Johnson if he can keep away from the injury bug. Perhaps Patrick Kane, if he matures more quickly than he has so far, both as a person and a player. But really, compared to our Northern rivals, on paper, we couldn’t compare. They had sure-fire future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Martin Brodeur, Scott Niedemeyer, and Chris Pronger. And not to mention a group of other elite talents (Eric Staal, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton). And then we beat them in the preliminary round. And the hockey world took notice.

Today’s overtime loss left me feeling, obviously, disappointed. But not necessarily because of the loss to Canada. Or that Sidney Crosby (who I prefer to call Crosbaby) scored the game-winning goal. No, as I said to Jim, who you’ll remember as the 2009 Mid Atlantic Bias Football Picks Champion, after the game, never before have I really been this drawn to an all-star team or a national team. Rarely do I find myself cheering on the Americans in basketball or soccer like I did with this men’s hockey team. Watching the scrappy Americans left me with a genuine feeling of national pride as they beat the Swiss, Norwegians, Canadians, Swiss again, and the Fins. And you know, as Crosbaby’s overtime goal shot through the legs of Ryan Miller, none of the pride disappeared. Not to sound like a parent, but I was proud of our guys. And I was disappointed when I realized that I would never again get to see this group play hockey together again.

Time will tell if American hockey will remain a powerhouse on the world stage. The Russians, Fins, Czechs, Swedes, and Slovaks have long been better at the sport than the U.S. because our youth focus more on basketball and football, which we excel at, at an unparalleled world level. However, after watching our Men’s team these past two weeks, I truly believe that hockey can very well be a third notch in our belt on the world stage. With such a young roster and the continued development of home grown talent, we will be expected to, at the very least, medal in Sochi, Russia in four years. If not win the gold.

Four years is a very long time to wait to savor the fruits of one’s labor. But in my opinion, American hockey fans don’t have to wait that long. Now is the perfect time. Yes, we came up a goal short of the Canadians, a roster full of future hall-of-fame players. But we proved that we’re here and here to stay, not like in 1980 or 2002, when we, frankly, got lucky. Our silver medal was more than deserved in Vancouver. We earned it. And I’ll always cherish my two week love affair with the 2010 U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey squad.