Team USA junior hockey players capture hearts with patriotic singing of national anthem after winning world championship

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Team USA junior ice hockey players captured hearts and sent a little pride back to America with their emotional, patriotic singing of the national anthem after winning the world championship Friday in Europe.

Check out the smiling youngsters belting out "The Star-Spangled Banner" after beating host Sweden 6-2:

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As you can see, nobody was taking a knee.

The players' verve caught the attention of more than a few prominent folks who praised their unashamed patriotism — in stark contrast to other American athletes who made headlines by disrespecting the anthem:

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“Att’n USA women’s soccer — this is what is expected of you if you agree to wear America’s jersey,” Megyn Kelly wrote on X. “Otherwise LET SOMEONE ELSE DO IT. These boys show how it’s done. Listen up. God bless them and God bless America!”

Riley Gaines sent a direct message to outspoken women's soccer icon Megan Rapinoe, who gained attention years ago for kneeling during the anthem and then made a name for herself by espousing left-wing social views.

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Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott wore his pride on his sleeve:

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Sports media personality Sage Steele called out her former employer ESPN, saying the American sports network completely ignored Team USA's "special moment" — unlike Canada's TSN Sports, which aired the stirring video:

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Former women's soccer star Carli Lloyd loved what she saw:

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After the U.S. women's soccer team in August made their earliest-ever exit from the World Cup — which pleased quite a few observers due to the wokeness associated with the team — Rapinoe took comfort in her squad's social activism that she said "changed the world forever."

A month later Rapinoe said said she's prouder "by a mile" of her "gay rights," "trans rights," and "racial justice" activism off the field than of her on-field accomplishments.

For her part, Lloyd criticized the women's team for celebrating after a 0-0 World Cup draw against Portugal, and former U.S. Men's National Team star Alexi Lalas called the women's team "unlikeable" after their elimination from the World Cup.

Anything else?

OutKick said Team USA's junior hockey players came into the world championship tournament in Gothenburg as the favorites to win the gold medal and went undefeated.

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Whitlock: It's obvious Olympic wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock has a relationship with the Father and her father



I spent most of last night and this morning trying to figure out what's so different about Tamyra Mensah-Stock.

She's the 28-year-old black woman who won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling Tuesday and then celebrated like it was "1999." You know that faraway time The Artist Formerly Known As Prince used to sing about. Back then, Bill Clinton was president, Cher had the No. 1 song, "Believe." Ricky Martin was "Livin' La Vida Loca."

Two decades ago, it was commonplace for black American Olympians to wrap themselves in the flag and celebrate their homeland. Now we don't know what to expect. There's an expectation of some sort of anti-American protest.

American shot putter Raven Saunders won the silver medal and crossed her arms in an X above her head. She said she did it for oppressed people across the world. Saunders said that she and other athletes had been plotting ways to protest for two weeks over a group chat.

I don't think Tamyra Mensah-Stock was on that group text string. She's different. After winning her gold medal, she was overcome with joy. She honored God and celebrated her country.

"It's by the grace of God I'm able to even move my feet," she gushed. "I just leave it in his hands and I pray that all the practice, that the hell my coaches put me through pays off. And every time it does."

When a reporter asked her about the American flag draped over her body, she didn't hold back on her enthusiasm.

"It feels amazing. I love representing the U.S.," she said. "I freaking love living there. I love it, and I'm so happy I get to represent USA."

It's important you watch the entire interview. A written description does not do it justice. Her joy jumps through the television screen. You can feel her emotion and energy. Her authenticity exposes the robotic fraudulence of the protestors who plot their actions for weeks.

What makes Mensah-Stock different from Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, and so many of the other protesters?

It starts with her relationship with her father. Both of them. The one above and the one in the ground. Mensah-Stock enthusiastically professes a relationship with God. She has not chosen the secular path of her peers.

Her dad was her biggest fan. He died in a car accident driving home from one of her high school wrestling meets. She broke down when a reporter asked what her father would think of her gold medal performance.

The absence of your biological father -- or a bad relationship with him -- oftentimes creates a lifelong bitterness and cynicism. It's not true for everyone. But it is true.

Mensah-Stock's dad immigrated to America from Ghana. He came here to chase the American dream. He bought into this country and was rewarded for doing so. His children adopted his American spirit and values.

Broken families break the spirit.

LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick have and/or have no relationship with their biological fathers. We shouldn't be surprised that their view of America is ruled by cynicism and bitterness. Despite their economic riches, life has been unfair to them. There's no amount of money that can replace the love of a father and mother.

The lack of American pride is a byproduct of the breakdown of the nuclear family.

Mensah-Stock has modeled the behavior of her parents. She's created her own nuclear family. She's married to a wrestler from her college. She has an unwavering commitment to her immediate family. She said she's giving her Olympic prize money to her mom, so her mom can start a food truck business.

Mensah-Stock's parents laid an incredible foundation of support for their kids. That foundation launched a daughter all the way to the Olympics. It was awesome to see Mensah-Stock celebrate God, her dad, her mom, and her country.

That used to be commonplace for black athletes before we turned our backs on the family structure God prescribed.

US gold medal winner's unguarded, faith-filled tears of joy — and patriotic verve — might be best moment of Tokyo Olympics



It would seem that United States Olympic wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock has no time or inclination to act cool or witty or snarky or sassy.

Nope. All she has time for these days is getting ready to hit the mat — and pin her next opponent. Then when she scores her next victory, Mensah-Stock's emotions simply come flooding out.

And at no time was her unguarded, unaffected, pure joy — through tears and laughter — more apparent than when she won the women's light heavyweight (68-kilogram) gold medal Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics.

We need to protect this woman at all costs… An infectious beam of positivity, her spirit is undeniable. What an inc… https://t.co/aTCY8b7qSP

— The Wrestling Room (Pat Mineo) (@MrPatMineo) 1627995526.0

"I'm feeling very happy, and I keep trying not to cry, but it keeps happening!" she said, trying to catch her breath, at a news conference with an American flag wrapped around her shoulders following her victory.

Mensah-Stock, 28, became only the second U.S. woman — and the first black woman — to win Olympic wrestling gold, NPR said. She is from Katy, Texas.

A reporter noted to Mensah-Stock in a brief moment of composure that "you started wrestling in the 10th grade" — and BOOM! More tears.

"I knew I could do it when I first started wrestling," she explained while continuing to cry. "I felt like I could be an Olympic champ, so I kept going." With that, Mensah-Stock pounded her hand down and said, "I did it!"

The reporter then brought up her father who died when Mensah-Stock was in high school — in a car accident on the way home from one of her wrestling meets, Yahoo Sports said.

With that, harder tears from Mensah-Stock as she placed her head on top of arms on the podium as the reporter asked how her dad might be reacting to her victory.

She then stood, cried some more, and rubbed her eyes: "He would be so proud! He would be so happy!"

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MrPatMineo

Mensah-Stock then broke into a smile when she noted that her late father was from Ghana and that he was "like enemies with Nigeria," which made her final match against Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu "kind of like poetic."

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MrPatMineo

Jumping up and down

She turned things up a notch when the reporter brought up that women's wrestling has been an Olympic sport only for a couple of decades — and with that, Mensah-Stock began jumping up and down.

"Yeah!" she cried before explaining how proud she is that younger girls can look up to her and perhaps follow in her footsteps.

'By the grace of God'

Mensah-Stock added later in the interview that "it's by the grace of God I'm able to even move my feet. Like, I just leave it in His hands and I pray that all the practice ... the hell that my freaking coaches put me through pays off, and every single time it does, and I get better and better, and it's so weird that there is no cap to the limit that I can do. And I'm excited to see ... what I have next."

And when the reporter asked how it felt with the American flag around her shoulders, she had more than enough gas in her tank to give a shout out to her home country: "It feels amazing. I love representing the U.S. I freaking love living there. I love it. And I'm so happy I get to represent U-S-A!"

“I’m so happy I get to represent USA!” https://t.co/Y5CcjaPCbK

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) 1628016143.0

Oh, and a food truck for her mom

Yahoo Sports noted that when Mensah-Stock was asked what she would do with the money attached to gold medals, she had a very specific idea.

"I wanted to give my mom $30,000 so she can get a food truck, 'cause it's her dream," Mensah-Stock said, according to the outlet. "And I told her five years ago, 'Alright mommy, I'll get you your food truck, but you gotta be responsible. So my mom's gettin' her food truck!" Yahoo Sports noted, not surprisingly, that she danced from side to side, adding that her mom is "gonna have her little cooking business. She can cook really, really, really well. Barbecue!"

Fellow Americans say they rooted against 'woke' US women's soccer team, were happy about loss to Canada that eliminated US from Olympic gold medal hunt



The road to an Olympic gold medal came to end for the once-dominant U.S. women's soccer team Tuesday after a 1-0 semifinal loss to Canada that Yahoo Sports described as "listless."

The team's best hope now is winning the bronze medal game Friday, the outlet said.

Backlash against Americans — by Americans

But what may be even bigger news is the outpouring of contempt for the "woke" squad and a number of its crusading players who arguably have become better known for staging kneeling protests against America prior to games.

In fact, the Yahoo Sports story is being inundated with comments from Americans who indicated they actually were rooting against the U.S. women's team and were happy about the loss:

  • "I can't believe I'm happy a Canadian team beat our U.S. team, but that's how these woke soccer players who injected politics into the Olympics made me feel," one commenter wrote.
  • "I'm an American, but was cheering for Canada," another commenter said.
  • "Maybe if they spent more time playing soccer and less time embarrassing America they would have done better," another commenter observed. "First time I ever rooted for a U.S. team to lose."
  • "I never thought I'd live long enough to root against a U.S. team in the Olympics," another commenter said. "Then again, these protesters in shorts weren't really representing the U.S."
  • "Outstanding!" another commenter declared. "They don't deserve to represent this country, and I'm glad they lost."
  • "Looks like they shoulda practiced soccer a bit more ... than politics," another commenter noted. "As an American, I am sad to be so glad. Hope they lose the bronze, too."
  • "Glad to see this," another commenter said. "If you can't respect and represent the country that sent you there, then you don't belong on that podium."
  • "Y'all wanted to be 'woke' cause that's the hip thing to do, disrespect the flag and those who sacrificed for it, and act ugly by protesting and throwing tantrums?" another commenter asked. "Karma's got ya. I'm glad you lost, and I hope you won't get bronze, either, cause you don't deserve it."

One commenter took aim at outspoken U.S. player Megan Rapinoe, who began making a name for herself after kneeling for the national anthem a la Colin Kaepernick several years ago: "I'm so happy to see Team Rapinoe go home without Gold or Silver. They deserved what they got, and now hopefully Rapinoe loses the pedestal the media has placed her on."

'Sucks'

Yahoo Sports added that "the Americans fell short of the final because they were poor, throughout the Games and here on a sleepy, sticky-hot evening at the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. They had no rhythm. No composure. No verve."

"Sucks," Rapinoe said in response to a question about what was going through her head at final whistle, the outlet. "Really s**tty."

According to Yahoo Sports, she added: "We just — I don't know. It's not like we have a bad vibe. The group is feeling good and everything. But we just haven't been able to find that juice that we normally do. So, just, yeah, sucks."

The U.S. women's team suffered a shutout loss to Sweden in its opening-round contest at the Tokyo Olympics — and after it staged a kneeling protest. It was the U.S. women's first defeat since January 2019, and ESPN said the American players looked "confused" and "rattled" against Sweden.

ESPN added in regard to the U.S. women's team that "to say the reigning Women's World Cup champions arrived in Japan as a favorite is perhaps an understatement. The U.S. has reached the gold medal match in five of the six Olympics Games since women's soccer became an event ..."

'Nauseating smugness'

"The nauseating smugness finally smacked the team in the choppers," another commenter on the Yahoo Sports story wrote while another observer added, "This soccer team needs to read these comments. They should be ashamed how their fellow Americans feel about them."