Actually, this is what is wrong about the Olympics...moreso now than ever.
The Olympics is NOT a nation-vs.-nation "competition"...it's a celebration of athletes...and it is meant to reward the best of the best...not for "national medal counts" but for the athletes who win them.
The U.S. fielded a team....we should be proud of them for their accomplishments and grateful for those who tried and failed.
Shizuka Arakawa will be honored for decades to come for her gold medal (Japan's ONLY medal of the games, thus far).
Our gold medalists will be on Wheaties boxes for a few months and then forgotten...their names will be trotted out in four years IF they return to compete...otherwise, they're yesterday's news.
Our media places unrealistic expectations on our athletes...none of whom is unbeatable or inhuman...all have weaknesses.
Someone posted here the other day that he is sick and tired of Bode Miller.
Well...don't blame Bode Miller. He didn't do the commentary or write the words...in fact, he'd rather folks left him alone. Blame the media and only the media for that...and also for the conceit that our national pride is somehow wounded if Sasha Cohen has to "settle for Silver" or that Johnny Weir's "wierdness" somehow kept him for winning a medal and, therefore, dishonored the USA.
It is NOT ABOUT US...it's about THEM...they are the ones who have trained all their lives -- at their own expense, not from government endowments in government facilities -- and we have no right to demand anything from them.
I have the utmost respect for the athletes...from all the nations...and I'm truly tired of the media trying to make us believe it's a country vs. country affair.
DOWN WITH MEDAL COUNTS -- the Cold War is OVER!
DR RLP, I agree with many of your points and I agree with you strongly on the fact that it IS the athletes and that IS who should be honored. I, myself, love to watch some of the athletes from other countries. In the last Olympics I found myself cheering for Sale and Pelletier... Other Olympics I have found myself cheering for Russians, Brits, Irish, and many other countries. In the last summer Olympics I even found myself cheering for an Aussie!
I love it when an athlete over comes the odds and wins.. I am often turned off of the ones that hyped to death in the media and have never performed well in the long run. Yes, there are exceptions to this reasoning but I prefer the athletes that are there to compete not the social butterflies...
It is one of several reasons to this day I cannot stand Kerrigan or Harding... In the 1992 Olympics I actually found myself cheering for Kwan, Baiul and Bonaly...
IMHO, that whole mess was an insult to people who love the sport...
::: I will now get off the soapbox for the next individual :::
