A World of Arrogance
The Olympics. A wondrous competition of sport, camaraderie and achievement, that temporarily unites the planet as one under the guise of athletics. The Olympics are a celebration of triumph, achievement, harmony and sportsmanship.
But someone forgot to tell the United State that.
In the last week of competition the American team has managed to embarrass itself with a series of selfish and arrogant acts that have resulted in disappointing finishes. And no one seems to really care.
Bode Miller was a favorite in downhill skiing, but apparently he was too busy doing interviews and commercials to actually concern himself with skiing. First Miller raised eyebrows on “60 Minutes” when he spoke about skiing intoxicated, then in the same month did a cover for “Time” entitled “American Rebel” and told “Rolling Stone” that athletes like Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds “knowingly” cheat. What a month for Bode – one wonders where he found the time to train for the Olympics (perhaps in between takes of shooting his “Are you a Bodeist?” commercial).
Then came the downhill, and Miller squandered an opening leg lead by finishing fifth. In the Combined event, Miller was disqualified after carelessly missing a gate. Most recently in the Super G, Miller spent a mere 20 minutes (according to NBC) scouting a difficult course and on his first run inexplicably crashed right into a gate preparing for a sharp turn. Apparently, “American Rebels” are too cool to do their homework.
Then there’s the now infamous Lindsay Jacobellis, who perhaps more than any other winter athlete typifies the American attitude. Jacobellis had her gold medal wrapped up, until she had a glimpse of a bland “Sports Illustrated” photo tucked in the back of the magazine, and so she went for that show-stopping cover shot by attempting a freestyle trick – the “backside method grab” – on the race’s penultimate jump. Unfortunately, Jacobellis forgot to land the “backside method” and instead landed the slightly lesser know “fall on your backside and give away your gold medal, method.”
Following the race, Jacobellis shamelessly lied about her fall, claiming she was trying to prevent herself from falling by stabilizing her board. Then in an NBC exclusive with Bob Costas, she admitted the board grab was unnecessary, but seemed somewhat indifferent regarding her silver, and maintained she was “happy” about the results. After all, Jacobellis did have her cover shot.
There have been others in Torino partaking in the American-way, valuing arrogance over humility and air-time over success. Speed skater Shani Davis elected not to compete in a team pursuit event earlier in the week, in order to rest for his 1,000 meter individual event. According to teammate Chad Hedrick, Davis’ presence would have meant “a pretty sure gold” for the Americans. Regarding the decision, Davis said “I know what’s best for me. And if I feel that not skating the pursuit will do me better for the 1,000 meters, then I’m going to do it. I worked to get here. None of my teammates helped me get to where I am. I worked hard, and I got myself here.”
And who says there is no “I” team?
Davis went on to win gold in the 1,000 but in his interview with Michelle Stark following the race he seemed about as excited as George W. Bush was reading “My Pet Goat.” Someone should have reminded him he was the first black athlete in Winter Olympics history to win an individual gold medal. Maybe he would have at least cracked a smile.
Last night Apolo Anton Ohno, the face on the billboard down the street, was the latest over-hyped American athlete to ungracefully flop. Earlier in the games, Ohno failed to qualify for the 1,500 meter short-track final when hubris overtook him and he went for an unnecessary pass to win a heat and crashed. All Ohno needed was to stay in second for the final turn and he would have advanced.
Ohno had another chance in the 1,000 meters - a compelling final pitting Apollo against his rival from Korea Ahn Hyun-Soo. The race featured two Koreans and two Americans, but after Korea finished 1-2 (Ohno took the bronze), Ohno repeatedly answered questions about the Koreans working together with dubious remarks such as “it’s difficult to tell,” and “we’ll never know.” NBC then provided Ohno some complimentary cheese with his whine.
Jacobellis aside, the nascent American-based sport of snowboarding has saved the United States from complete embarrassment in Torino. In 2002, the U.S finished second in the medal count with 34. After more than half of the Torino games, without snowboarding, the US would have all of seven medals, and would be tied for 7th in the medal count. Some so-called superpower.
Fortunately, the second week in Torino will provide opportunity for success and selflessness from team USA.
But then again, so did the first week.
But someone forgot to tell the United State that.
In the last week of competition the American team has managed to embarrass itself with a series of selfish and arrogant acts that have resulted in disappointing finishes. And no one seems to really care.
Bode Miller was a favorite in downhill skiing, but apparently he was too busy doing interviews and commercials to actually concern himself with skiing. First Miller raised eyebrows on “60 Minutes” when he spoke about skiing intoxicated, then in the same month did a cover for “Time” entitled “American Rebel” and told “Rolling Stone” that athletes like Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds “knowingly” cheat. What a month for Bode – one wonders where he found the time to train for the Olympics (perhaps in between takes of shooting his “Are you a Bodeist?” commercial).
Then came the downhill, and Miller squandered an opening leg lead by finishing fifth. In the Combined event, Miller was disqualified after carelessly missing a gate. Most recently in the Super G, Miller spent a mere 20 minutes (according to NBC) scouting a difficult course and on his first run inexplicably crashed right into a gate preparing for a sharp turn. Apparently, “American Rebels” are too cool to do their homework.
Then there’s the now infamous Lindsay Jacobellis, who perhaps more than any other winter athlete typifies the American attitude. Jacobellis had her gold medal wrapped up, until she had a glimpse of a bland “Sports Illustrated” photo tucked in the back of the magazine, and so she went for that show-stopping cover shot by attempting a freestyle trick – the “backside method grab” – on the race’s penultimate jump. Unfortunately, Jacobellis forgot to land the “backside method” and instead landed the slightly lesser know “fall on your backside and give away your gold medal, method.”
Following the race, Jacobellis shamelessly lied about her fall, claiming she was trying to prevent herself from falling by stabilizing her board. Then in an NBC exclusive with Bob Costas, she admitted the board grab was unnecessary, but seemed somewhat indifferent regarding her silver, and maintained she was “happy” about the results. After all, Jacobellis did have her cover shot.
There have been others in Torino partaking in the American-way, valuing arrogance over humility and air-time over success. Speed skater Shani Davis elected not to compete in a team pursuit event earlier in the week, in order to rest for his 1,000 meter individual event. According to teammate Chad Hedrick, Davis’ presence would have meant “a pretty sure gold” for the Americans. Regarding the decision, Davis said “I know what’s best for me. And if I feel that not skating the pursuit will do me better for the 1,000 meters, then I’m going to do it. I worked to get here. None of my teammates helped me get to where I am. I worked hard, and I got myself here.”
And who says there is no “I” team?
Davis went on to win gold in the 1,000 but in his interview with Michelle Stark following the race he seemed about as excited as George W. Bush was reading “My Pet Goat.” Someone should have reminded him he was the first black athlete in Winter Olympics history to win an individual gold medal. Maybe he would have at least cracked a smile.
Last night Apolo Anton Ohno, the face on the billboard down the street, was the latest over-hyped American athlete to ungracefully flop. Earlier in the games, Ohno failed to qualify for the 1,500 meter short-track final when hubris overtook him and he went for an unnecessary pass to win a heat and crashed. All Ohno needed was to stay in second for the final turn and he would have advanced.
Ohno had another chance in the 1,000 meters - a compelling final pitting Apollo against his rival from Korea Ahn Hyun-Soo. The race featured two Koreans and two Americans, but after Korea finished 1-2 (Ohno took the bronze), Ohno repeatedly answered questions about the Koreans working together with dubious remarks such as “it’s difficult to tell,” and “we’ll never know.” NBC then provided Ohno some complimentary cheese with his whine.
Jacobellis aside, the nascent American-based sport of snowboarding has saved the United States from complete embarrassment in Torino. In 2002, the U.S finished second in the medal count with 34. After more than half of the Torino games, without snowboarding, the US would have all of seven medals, and would be tied for 7th in the medal count. Some so-called superpower.
Fortunately, the second week in Torino will provide opportunity for success and selflessness from team USA.
But then again, so did the first week.
posted by Ben Taylor | 5:46 PM
2 Comments:
Ah yes, another sordid tale of over-hyped persons of a sporting nature splendidly representing the U.S.A. Which I can only assume stands for Under Supreme Arrogance or Ultimately Sinks Alone. Well said mon ami, well said indeed.
PS. I would have referred to them as atheletes, but I find that to be unworthy praise.
PPS. Why hasn't anybody forced Bob Costas to run for an office of some sort? A poet he is I tells ya, a poet.
The real question is why doesn't Bob Costas age? Isn't he about 60 by now?
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