Tell that to New York Rangers fans!
I'll be the first to complain about the quality of umpires in baseball, but this year, I've got to give them credit. From the games I've watched, mostly braves games, the overall quality of the umpiring seems to have improved, especially the calling of balls and strikes.
Not that it's perfect, which it shouldn't be. Strikezones will differ some from ump to ump. Umps will give breaks to pitchers consistantly around the plate. That's the human factor, and it's a part of the game.
As long as they call it the same for both sides, that's all you can ask for.
Now NFL officials pi$$ me off to no end with the flagfest of judgemental holding calls and pass interference calls each week. They detract from the game.
"6. The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team won the Cold War"
Who ever claimed THAT? Even your accurate run-down doesn't state this:
"This is how the story goes: Under the malaise of the Carter administration, America was beginning to lose faith when a plucky band of underdogs showed what we were made of and restored pride in the U.S. of A."
THAT was true. But no1 ever claimed they won the CW!
"(Never mind that Herb Brooks' dictate of sacrificing individual glory for the good of the team is a decidedly Communist philosophy.)"
This is common team-sport belief, and actually quite true, despite being a Commie view. It's also true that a good family unit is actually quite the Communist microcosm! It's just that the further you get from a family unit, the more people you encompass, the more republican it should be. It's a different dynamic.