i don't know how everyone else here feels, but i for one am glad we don't have to sit thru 2 more weeks of this for another few years.
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Im happy because the NHL starts back up on Tuesday.Comment -
This winter olympics was a debacle for the US team. In so many ways our team was exposed for doing all the wrong things and Bode Miller was the leader of that pack. I used to handle the data for the US Ski and Snowboard Team's donation efforts and I know how much work those people put in to provide the best training environment for US athletes. I also know just how much money is donated and the number is huge. The athletes didn't even come close to keeping up their end of the bargain, and people who donated for this olympics will be thinking twice about putting up big money to see similar results next time around.Comment -
Well written!! Great Post!!Originally posted by isetcapComment -
It's amazing that winning the most medals we ever have on foreign soil is considered a failure. For some reason, I don't necessarily disagree with that assessment.Comment -
I don't know too m uch about the Olympics but my g/f really liked them so I watched them with her...and to be honest, it wasn't that bad (except for figure skating). Particularly I liked speed skating and skiing...i really like that Apollo Anton Ono guy...that's one tough dude.
I think watching and betting on games like most of do we lose sight of the fact that these are amateurs who give their all for their sport and country. To be honest, I could care less how many medals the U.S. wins...if they win 0 or a 100 it doesn't matter much to me...I am happy for all the athletes who compete, happy for their families who get to see them play at such a high level, and happy in which the spirit of the games is played at.
Think of those athletes you saw the past two weeks who gave it their all...and then think of the millionaire club athlete you see in the NBA....see any differences between the two
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US shame should not be about how many medals were won. It should be about how they competed. It's a microcosm of why international attitude towards us is the way it is.
Having said that, Apollo Ohno should be commended and emulated for his ability and attitude. He is the exact opposite of Bode Miller. Unfortunately I think the international community will associate Americans with Miller more than Ohno.Comment -
US shame should not be about how many medals were won. It should be about how they competed. It's a microcosm of why international attitude towards us is the way it is.
Ah, there, you put the words to my 'unknown reason.'Comment -
Atleast the Bode Miller talk is over now.Comment -
Grace eludes U.S. Olympians
Too many athletes at Torino Games live up to 'ugly American' image
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Tim Warsinskey
Plain Dealer Reporter
Sauze D'Oulx, Italy -- Sasha Cohen got it. Mike Modano did not. Jaret "Speedy" Peterson seemed to get it, then lost it.
Lindsey Jacobellis didn't have a clue. Bode Miller? If he did get it, he didn't seem to care enough to do anything about it. Joey Cheek knew it in his heart, then shared it with the world.
The Olympics are not always just about winning, and even when they are, there's a brief, rare opportunity to do something more grand than stand atop a podium, wave and wonder if it will lead to bigger endorsement deals. More often for the 2,500 athletes at the XX Winter Games, including 211 Americans, the Olympics are about the experience, how they deal with each other and, in most cases, how they cope with not winning.
The U.S. Olympic team has had its most successful Winter Games on foreign soil, winning 25 medals, second only to its 34-medal performance at Salt Lake City four years ago.
U.S. athletes had plenty of opportunities on and off the podium to do something right before the world at-large and a nationwide, albeit shrinking, television audience back home. It offers one of the few times Americans can say to the rest of the world we're not such a whiny, self-indulgent culture after all.
The Americans too often missed the boat.
And it's not as if the Americans didn't see it coming.
Most of those who fell from grace the hardest were high-profile, prepackaged U.S. stars who were given a golden opportunity, but with their bad behavior wound up tarnishing themselves and a team that had its share of inspirational performances and performers.
Modano, a millionaire player on the U.S. hockey team that went 1-4-1, blasted USA Hockey after a lackluster loss to Finland because he had to make travel arrangements for his own family, just like nearly every other U.S. athlete.
After attempting and just missing the most difficult jump in aerial freestyle, Peterson said he came to the Olympics not to win a medal, but to have fun. We almost believed him until he got in a fight in the athletes village the next day and was kicked out of Italy.
The indifferent Miller said he'd rather stay in his comfy motor home than in the athletes village. He did visit long enough to sprain his ankle playing basketball, a perfect ending to his 0-for-Turin performance.
The Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis speedskating soap opera was another black eye for the U.S. team. It's one thing when athletes can't get along with others or the media in a competitive environment, but when each fails to understand what the other is trying to accomplish, they both look ridiculous.
Jacobellis' hot dogging, then falling and losing a gold medal in the process, was a silly mistake she compounded by not realizing how important an Olympic gold medal really is. "It's just a race," she said afterward.
Following the biggest upset in women's hockey history last week, U.S. goalie Chanda Gunn stormed off the ice and refused to shake hands with the victorious Swiss players. So much for Gunn inspiring everyone with her story of overcoming epilepsy. Such bad sportsmanship wiped away a lot of good will, just as good sportsmanship and magnanimity could have built bridges and created legacies.
Cohen figured that out. She fell twice during the figure-skating finals but understood that moment was about character and being unable to change the past. She finished strong and claimed the silver medal, of which she was proud.
Cheek's dominating, gold-medal performance in the 500-meter speedskating was a major highlight for the U.S. team. However, it paled in comparison to donating all his USOC medal bonus money - $40,000, which includes winnings from a silver medal - to a charity aiding refugee children in Chad. With matching donations from sponsors and other individual gifts, his gesture has raised more than $330,000.
Inspirational moments like that are difficult to match and, for the record, no other U.S. athlete made a similar donation of his winnings.
Two of the most disappointing performances on the U.S. team, and there were several, were turned in by figure skater Johnny Weir and bobsled driver Todd Hays. They were legitimate medal contenders and, in a word, they choked.
Weir said he lost his "inner aura" and skated an easier program because he missed an early bus to the venue. Weir is a very likable young man, but might be better off pursuing his dream of being a fashion designer than competing on the Olympics stage.
Hays, on the other hand, didn't whine about starting first or about the heavy snowfall, or being haunted by a bloody mishap he had on the bobsled track here last year. He drove poorly, he knew it, and he said it.
"I'm not afraid of failure," he said. "If I were, I would have taken my silver medal [won in 2002] and gone home."
What bothered Hays more than anything was that he had wasted the time and efforts of push athletes Pavle Jovanovic, Steve Mesler and Akron's Brock Kreitzburg.
They wanted that Olympic gold medal more than anything and worked incredibly hard to get it. When he blew it, Hays accepted the blame and stood tall.
He got it.Comment -
May be the worst endorsement decision Nike has ever made.Originally posted by IllusionComment -
the big corporations hate the fact that the olympics are over. **** reported that they they expect to make somewhere around 35 million dollars just from this.Comment -
bode miller didn't seem like he cared to be there....other than that I found most of the American athletes to be very sharp and respectful of their role as athletes.Comment -
I think if you take a closer look you will feel differently, and I also think you are underestimating the severity of Miller's apathy.Originally posted by BuddyBearComment
