As you are all probably well aware, its Olympic-time and I love watching them on TV. I remember being a kid and watching in awe as the all-powerful Soviets were beaten by a bunch of college kids from the USA in 1980. Four years later I remember watching an athlete hobbling across the finish line in agony and having tremendous respect for a man who had to complete the race even though he had ruptured a tendon while sprinting down the track. I am awe-struck with the physical accomplishments that many amateur athletes can accomplish even though many of them have no prospects of being a professional. They do it for the love of the sport and spirit of the games.
I used to think that Americans were satisfied with giving it our all and never giving up in any competition. As long as we gave it our best, that was good enough. A lot of times our best was better than what others could ever hope to accomplish, enough to win medals and break records. But I feel something different from certain athletes and members of the press this Olympics. Getting a medal isn't good enough - the only place on the podium is the top and not getting there is a "disappointment".
Here are some examples - Chad Hedrick was hoping to break/tie Eric Heiden's record of 5 gold medals in speedskating in one Olympics. Chad took the bronze in the 1500m (after winning gold in the 5000m) and proclaimed, "I didn't come here to finish third. I'm not happy with what I did. This is not what I sacrificed my whole life to do." Chad was also a bit peeved with teammate Shani Davis for not being on the team pursuit squad in an effort to help him attempt for more medals. Instead, Shani did an admirable thing and let others who had not had a chance to skate as much in the Olympics take to the ice and skate for their country. Chad - way too focused on himself and not understanding what it truly means to be at the Olympics.
Yi-Wyn Yen of Sports Illustrated is calling for the resignation of women's hockey coach Ben Smith because of the team's failure to win the gold medal - the team lost to Sweden after a 3-2 shootout loss in the semi-finals (the women would go on to win the bronze). She claims that Ben is responsible for USA Women's hockey going downhill because he chose to cut a player (Cammi Granato) who may have had an influence on the team's loss; if she had been there she would have saved the day. What total BS! She claims that since Ben has coached the team for 10 years that they have gone downhill. Hmmm, I distinctly remember them winning 3 medals (gold, silver, and bronze) winning a World Championship, and appearing in ALL of the championship games (except this Olympics) during his tenure. The only team that they've lost to in a big game is Canada - notably the best team in women's hockey. What the heck?! The team has a bad game, doesn't go on to the gold medal match, and now the media (Yi-Wyn isn't the only one) is calling for his resignation? I thought it was the players on the ice who decided the game, not the coach behind the bench. Yi-Wyn is calling for a man to lose his job because of a bad performance by his team. How about she loses her job if she writes ONE cruddy article?
And there are other examples but I don't want to be too long-winded; there's a bunch that I could say about Apolo Anton Ohno, Bode Miller, and the list goes on and on. My point is this - since when did we put such pressure on people to be the best or nothing at all? Yes, Americans donate a TON of money to train Olympic athletes (I know, I am one of them) and expect them to do well, but "gold or bust"? We've even gone so far as to make sure we have the best out there by allowing professional athletes to participate. So much for being a showcase for amateurs to strut their stuff...
As an American who is tired of the trash-talking, chest-pounding, showboating antics of what sports has become in America today, I thank Jay Hakkinen, Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, and Jeremy Teela of the 4x7.5km biathlon relay for doing their best and coming in 9th; Eric Camerota, who placed 40th in the nordic combined; Katie Uhlaender, placing 6th in skeleton. You're not the best in the world but you're doing your best, and that's all anyone could ever ask for.
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13 comments:
Hi, Expat.
Since I don't have a TV, I haven't been able to follow the Olympics here in Asia, so thanks for the synopsis.
I often wonder what the ancient Greeks would say to the controversy over drug testing and to the competition over where The Games are to be held. And what of the commercialism of The Games: the brand names and the instant advertising contracts that winners of the gold receive?
I imagine the ancient games were more about honor and the sport, and less about money and status. If I remember correctly, didn't the winners get laurel leaves as a prize?
well I am another person calling for his resignation.. He unceremoniously cut granato, and created not only a PR nightmare, it had an effect on the mental state of the team. Cammi Granato is the face of US women's hockey, much like mia hamm is the face of women's soccer. Only hockey isn't as popular a sport. If hamm had been cut in the same way.. there would be outrage, but there wasn't..
Granato isn't that old, and she has been a driving force behind the game. Yes the Us has won medals, but as the years have gone on under his coaching, we went from gold to bronze.. not really an accomplishment in my opinion. If you heard any of the womens hockey players speak today, notablly tricia dunn-louma, she pretty much said that the coaches got what they deserved. At the very least team USA could have given granato an assistant coaches position out of respect But for someone who has done so much for the game, she was shown the door, an pretty much told not to let it hit her in the behind on the way out. Not the way a world class athlete who has pretty much created the winning team should be treated.. just my opinion though.
peace,
biscuit
"This is not what I sacrificed my whole life to do"
Chad, if you sacrificed your life to skate, you need a mental checkup.
Shamash, while you are right in part, don't think that the ancient Greeks were 'nobler creatures' and their games were somehow more 'pure', after all, they were just as human as us. I enjoyed this site with some background:
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/olympics/olympicintro.shtml
You'd think that after some 10 years on the web I'd know how to post a link.
Again: interesting site on ancient olympics
biscuit - thanks for the comment! Its great to see that I've attracted someone else to the blog. Google does bring in the readers! :)
To respond to your entry, I must say that I totally agree with the fact that Cammi Granato should have been on the team. As you said, she has been the 'face of American women's hockey' for years. I still have her hockey cards - my favorite is Cammi with long hair in her Providence uni and spraying the ice as she comes to a stop. Not only is she an amazing hockey player, but she's a looker too! ;)
As a hockey player myself, I understand the role a captain is on the team. Wearing a "C" carries with it a lot of responsibility and players who wear it can mean a great deal to their team. With that in mind, Cammi being cut from the team and not being the captain probably did have some effect on the team chemistry. However, what is to be said about the woman who took her place? Having inherited the role, did she live up to her responsibility to her team?
Krissy Wendell had a responsibility to herself and her teammates to be the leader of this talented group of ladies and to bring out their best when it was needed most. She and the other players of the US team didn't perform when they needed to - it was their responsibility to win the game (since that was their goal) and they didn't do it. Ben Smith did make a mistake by not putting Cammi Granato on the team but the US failing to make the final can't be solely placed on that decision. As we all know, you win as a team and you lose as a team, no one player can do more than a team working together. Granato was cut over 6 months ago (August, correct?), shouldn't the team be accustomed to playing without her by now? I mean was Cammi the only reason that they won the World Championships back in April 2005? While an HUGE influence on the game, she never scored (please don't underestimate what she did bring to the game - defensive actions aren't put on the scorecard). The players that won it were Natalie Darwitz, Angela Ruggiero and Krissy Wendell who scored the goals in the shootout.
What I guess I'm saying is this - Granato being left off the team isn't the only reason that the US lost to Sweden and Ben Smith's decision to not place her on the team shouldn't be the only reason for his dismissal. If the results are the only thing worthwhile - look to those who didn't produce, the athletes on the ice.
Perhaps all members of the US Women's team has learned something valuable from this loss: don't overlook competition. Or maybe it was just a bad day for the ladies...?
Michiel: great link above, and very informative. But, somehow this quote from this very site at University of Pennsylvania:
"As early as the 5th and 4th centuries BC the victories won by the athletes were widely celebrated. Poets were often commissioned to celebrate these victories with odes, and sculptors were employed to render an image of the victorious athlete"
describes the exact difference to which I am referring. The Homeric code was a set of guidelines that defined heroism, honor, and right action. Fame (as in living on after death) was apart of this. Those who functioned outside of this were shamed. This herioc code governed the Greek heroes:
"The aim of every [Greek]hero is to achieve honor, that is, the esteem received from one's peers. Honor is essential to the Homeric heroes, so much so that life would be meaningless without it. Thus, honor is more important than life itself...when a hero is advised to be careful to avoid a life-threatening situation in battle, his only choice is to ignore this warning. A hero's honor is determined primarily by his courage and physical abilities and to a lesser degree by his social status and possessions." (link found here.)
Of course the ancient Greeks were just as "human" as the rest of us; I'm not saying that they were more "pure." My point is that modern society places much more value on money and material aquisition than the honor described in the Homeric Code.
Expat..
by no means am I blaming the entire debacle on smith..
I merely think the treatment of Cammi Granato was shitty.. and yes, even though it happened in august, I'm sure that it had some effect on the team. ( you know.. you think you are over something. . but then you get to turino.. to the opening ceremonies, and you are missing someone who has been such a key part of your team)
However, the girls on the ice were the ones playing the game.. They lost.. bottom line..
And I don' think her dismissal is the only reason to get rid of smith.. while he may have some young players on the team, their performance has declined at the olympics every time since winning the gold in nagano.
And you are right.. they shouldn't overlook the competition.. but on the plus side, the US/CANADA reign may be over.. there might actually be a couple of other teams that will offer up some competition in years to come.
thanks for stopping by the blog!
biscuit
Are we STILL talkin' sports? b-o-r-i-n-g ;)
On a completely unrelated note, I've been collecting online courseware from universities recently, I thought you might be interested being a teacher and all ;)
I just posted the same to Shamash's site and I shamelessly copied-and-pasted here. What can I say, I'm lazy.
Check this out:
http://del.icio.us/acidzebra/learning?setcount=100
All the free MIT, harvard, princeton, BBC and other courses, lectures, videos, interviews and god knows what else. Lots of interesting stuff. Have fun :)
well Michiel Expat asked me to respond to his comments and I did.. I'm finished now.. back to the collegiate discussion..
peace out.
biscuit
biscuit - pay no mind to Michiel, he's just being ornery... (aren't we all?) We can talk SPORTS as long as we like! He's just jealous that he's not a hockey player. ;)
And Michiel, thanks for the links. I've actually started to DL some of them through iTunes (I know, I could be shot for using such a piece of software). Brigham Young University (BYU) has what looks to be an interesting series of lectures called the "Kennedy Center Lectures" that has a huge range of topics from "The Baltic Challenge" to "The Construction of Euro-Islam". Now that we are on Crocus vacation, maybe I'll get a chance to listen to them and update at a later time.
Ornery? (non-native english speaker looks up at dic.com)... "Mean-spirited, disagreeable, and contrary in disposition; cantankerous."?!?
I take exception to that sir! If anything I am snarky ;)
Although, cantankerous sounds good, too.
Ok ok ok - you can be 'snarky'. or if you like, 'cantankerous'.
I meant the "contrary in disposition" part, not "mean-spirited". Heck, I don't know you enough to know you as being mean.
Although you very well could be... but I kinda doubt it.
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