Homebodies
Why hasn't the US lived up to its pre-Olympic hype? Sure, you're gonna answer, "drinking, carousing, Dick Button, arrogance, Dick Button, lack of passion, Dick Button's vest, athletes refusing to mouth the national anthem, and probably Dick Button, if not Costas."
But, let's face it, USians are homebodies.
According to CBS Sportsline's medal tallies, since the Winter Games began in 1924, American athletes have won 14.4 percent of the medals when competing stateside. When the Olympics are in another country, Americans have won a piddling 7.8 percent. ~ Felix Gillette writing in Slate.
Not to mention the fact that our ownage of passports is pretty dismal.
Mr. Gillette outlines other reasons for this disparity in medal counts, all valid, but I'm going to focus on the homebody thing. No, wait, I'm going to go beyond it.
Why is it when I go to a good restaurant, there are few (or no) US journalists or athletes there? Yet, everybody complains of the food they're served in their villages.
We don't even get out of our hotels much, it seems. And we like to complain.
What is behind our driving need to judge the character of athletes armed only with a few paragraphs that a writer or two has written about them? How can folks come to hate people they've never actually met? Why are there so many comments on this blog about how horrible a particular US athlete is for not bucking up and doing his God-given duty of fulfilling the expectations of a nation? Is it that easy to be the best in the world?
We're part of a global village, a microcosm of which exists as the athlete's village. How come half the US "stars" you read about brought their own motorhomes? Bode says he's more comfortable there, and that helps his "performance." Good theory. We know now that the hypothesis is not confirmed by the data.
We need to get out more. The world is a wonderful, crazy, topsy-turvy place full of ideas, hopes, failures, successes, passions and unfulfilled dreams. Explore it, if you dare.
Comments
Who cares about Bode Miller except NBC? Talk about a lazy, ugly American! Don’t tell me he just had bad luck- it’s the Olympics! GO HOME Bode and GO AWAY!
Why is it that a winning athlete is expected to continue winning at all times in all things, and, if he or she is not doing so, they are “lazy.” John, why don’t you trade places with Bode for awhile: let him sit on his ass and bitch, and YOU go strap on his skis and do the competing?
Hey Martha- How many races did Bode NOT even finish? Does Bode not represent the US in downhill- I do not so you can back off.
Bode was out of breath and woefully out of shape but has no problem partying every night. I am not bitching just stating the facts.
If Bode doesn’t take the Olympics seriously then he should STAY HOME and cash in on some bogus US pro-am event.
Picabo Street’s comments could be taken to heart by Team USA entirely. What I read and saw during the 20th Winter Olympic games demonstates just how divided and dysfunctional we truly are in the eyes of the rest of the world! I thought it was really impressive that the Nowegian nordic skiing coach, Bjornar Hakensmoen, gave the Canadian, Sara Renner a ski pole when hers snapped during the sprint relay final and not so much when hockey goalie, Chanda Gunn, refused to shake hands after Team USA’s upset loss to Team Sweden!
John T. I think I agree and disagree with you. I’m amazed at how much attention a guy like Bode gets. Why??? The media follows him like white on rice, hoping to hear another controversial comment that they can splash all over prime time. This media love with “finding the story,” is exactly why the Olympics will never be a favorite venue for the most devoted sports fans. I would watch the Olympics much more if I didn’t have to wade through waist-deep, countless interviews of athletes about, well, anything except the sport itself. But I guess it’s that junk that sells prime time.
I’m tired of hearing about Bode too, John. But I’m also really tired of commentators like Bob Costas, who rips Bode a new one for things like agreeing to so many interviews, mag covers, etc. The media is banging his door down! That’s like tying a pork chop around your neck and telling a stray dog to stop following you.
I guess where I disagree with you is with Bode’s performance. Yes, he could certainly focus alot more. And he does some stupid things (Skiing wasted? That’s as scary as driving drunk), but I’m not sure that his antics off the slopes were the cause of his poor performance. His history is either winning, or crashing. But then again maybe you are right-maybe the crashing days follow partying nights.
Is there anywhere on this site where we can email NBC or Bob Costas?
There are so many of our athletes that did their best to the best of their ability. Why don’t we laud them instead of the ones who blew off the American people in representation? Didn’t they agree to perform to the best of their ability? And don’t they agree to support and help their team mates? Bode Miller, a has been, and Shani Davis a selfish ego maniac should look at Ohno, Cheeks,and many many others who went to Italy and kept the Olymipc spirit. There are so many, from so many countries that make the Olympics exciting, interview them, not the ones who don’t do anything to contribute.
All the Bode critics that have come out during the Games have been pitiable. I’d be curious to know the percentage of the anti-Bode crowd who actually follow alpine skiing, and not just during the Olympics. I’m talking ski season after ski season. Or who actually even *know* a given athlete’s sport history, performance history. What facts can you offer when you say an athlete looked out of shape during a run? Are you a professional athlete too? A physician? A trainer? What qualifications do you have to make such a statement? Or are you just a typical armchair critic who will be schlepping back to 9 to 5 life on Monday morning?
I think the media’s biggest problem with Bode is that he refuses to flagellate himself before them. And good for him. Maybe if this country went back to a more ethical, less hypocritical, and less manipulative form of journalism, those who get thrust in the spotlight, willingly and unwillingly, would be less inclined to avoid or disparage the media.
But that’s probably asking for too much.
I love the Winter Olympics but I absolutely hate the coverage by NBC. Let me list a few disapointments: 1) Dick Button- what an arse. I might have enjoyed the figure skating without his constant annoying critisms throughout. As if we cannot judge for ourselves. Hand the mike over to someone with tact and kindness. 2) Helloooo, I thought Hockey was part of the games but they were seldom, if ever, shown at a time that hockey lovers could watch. Gold medal game at 7 am? What??? 3) We started to hit mute for every one of the 100 Bode and “coming on NBC” commercials. Give us a break. I will debate ever watching again. 4) Is it so hard to believe that Americans might want to see and hear more of the athletes from other countries. I am an American who got tired of seeing video of American athletes. What about the rest of the world?
Forgive me for assuming that the Olympics are about the love of sport, atheticism and accomplishment throughout ALL nations of the world. NBC’s coverage of these games has been pathetic, to say the least. The insane focus on how Bode, an others American atheletes have failed to bring the gold is a sad statement on how this nation has twisted themselves into pure self absorbance. And instead of the beauty and pureness of sport, our Network media focus on the atheletes’ failures (the skiers that feel or missed the gate, the skaters that hit hard on the long program, etc). Congratualations to all the athetletes how have competed in these great games. YOU are the reason true hearts watch and love your efforts.
Home bodies? Lack of pastport ownership? Faulty journalistic coverage? None of these purported causes could have damaged the U.S. Olympic Team’s chances. The U.S. did superbly. True, there were some let downs. But all in all, America did well at Turino.
http://www.ummediawatch.blogspot.com
The most annoying part of the Olympics has been Dick Button. He is well past his prime. Let’s hope his demeaning negativity has seen its last days on ice skating in general and Olympic coverage in particular. The other announcers are much more tolerable.
I believe that we forget that the olympics, both summer and winter, is really a spectacular meeting of the international world, in a display of peaceful and playful co-existence. It is important to see not only the American participation, but be introduced to the greater world of sports and culture around us.
I’m glad that NBC took the risk to show us the many hours of Olympic coverage. I couldn’t be there in person, but through their eyes, at least I got some of it. Perhaps it was flawed in some ways, but it was there for the taking. All you needed was a VCR or other recorder to get all the action during the work day or after hours.
It surprises me that shows like American Idol beat the Olypmics in the TV ratings. Is this reflective of our values of the world at large?
The lesson here is there are some very talented athletes in other countries that deserved to be noted. Also, the Olympics breaks down political barriers. Did you notice that the Korean team was BOTH north AND south Korean players!
I have enjoyed the games and NBC’s coverage, except for Dick Button doing Simon Cowell and all the hype about Bode Miller.
The story on the mayor of Vancouver was well done.
I will miss the games. On to Canada.
I thought NBC did a decent job with the Olympics with the time difference. My wife and I enjoyed watching them every night and it was fun to cheer on the different atheletes. What did ESPN show “The World Series of Poker” and some kind of reality show (ESPN is turning into MTV showing spelling bees). I wish the Winter Olympics would get more respect in this country, there are other sports besides Football and Basketball. Actually I think the Winter Olympic Atheletes are in better shape than the Atheletes playing the more popular U.S. Sports. These are far more dangereous sporting events that requires a lot of focus and training.
Les face it NBC does do a terrible job of covering the Olympics,Last night it hit me why. The sports and what goes on the field of play they cover pretty well,but they lack Context of what we see.
Look at any NFL Pre game show,half the show is interviews with athletes,up close and personals.We got none of that,when did they first show a profile of a foreign athlete. If I was directing the whole show I would have quickly realized Bode was not the story of the games. Cindy Classen was the athlete of the games.I would dropped everything and talked about her.One slight problem, she’s not an American ,there was a side story.It’s ok NBC, just because They are not American, we can still appreiate their talents.Some how I have a feeling she is going to a major subject in Bud Greenspan’s documentary. That 2 hours will be better and show me more about what the Olympics are really about than the 400 hours NBC put on.
I’m a sports fan, 40 years old raised on Wide World of Sports and the Olympics.I realize the US is not the best in all the Olympics particulary Winter Sports.As I sports fan I like to see Greatness, be they Dutch Speedskaters, German and Austrian Skiers,Norweigian Cross Country or Brazilian Soccer players.
As a sports fan looking at ESPN,It’s frustrating Poker,Bull Riding,Billards,Bowling,Dog Shows doesn’t quit cut it for me.The worst part as an Olympic fan is after the games end the athletes disappear. The world Cup finals of Speedskating is this weekend in Holland, Is the Olympic network or anyone planing on showing it ? Is the next time we see Shani Davis,Chad Hedrick,Cindy Classen,Anni Freisinger going to be 4 years from now ? The answer is Probably.
I think the main reason NBC does such a poor job is we need to see these athletes and these games on TV more often.
Come on NBC , the Olympic sports network.I have digital Cable and a couple of hundred on Channels,I have room for such a channel. I’d watch Curling, The World Cup circuits of Speedskating,Skiing,Curling,Track and Field, Team Handball and a variety of other summer games.
Some one earlier in this thread asked a good point. Whats Dick Ebersols email address. I once got a personal email response from a CNN anchor, how come I can’t find a why to write to someone at NBC.
What NBC shows is adquate, no more,no less.They could so much better.Any blame and critcism they take is their own doing.
How many athletes, Terrell Owens, Ron Artest do we know are jerks because we see them everyday on Sports Center. I have a feeling if we had a season dose of Bode Miller no one would have been suprised at how much of a Jerk he is.
I have to agree with all who have said that Dick Button is past his prime and was very negative with his “unkind” remarks while covering the figure skaters. Can’t NBC find somebody else for color coverage? John McEnroe would have been better!!! I also agree that there are other athletes who competed but all we ever saw were profiles on Americans, I too whould have enjoyed learning about athletes from other countries which they have done in past games. What made me really sick was Chad Hedrick acting like such a jerk about Shawni Davis, who made him judge and juror? Talk about a media hog, I muted the TV whenever I saw him coming!
What a great example to our kids isn’t he? Hopefully he’ll stay gambling in Vegas instead of whining all the way to Vancouver
I’ve been commenting here for 2 weeks, have to agree with a Rick Zinn about the wrong focus we put on the Olympics coverage, and, Tawnya, if you really were a hockey fan, you’d have gotten up at 7AM to watch the Gold medal game live, like I did. It was Sunday!
I’m one who watches World Cup games in the middle of the night from Japan, so, I don’t care about prime time coverage, that’s all a media driven concept, yes, we now have TIVO’s and VCR’s, if you missed a live event (if it were shown) we COULD watch it in it’s entirety later. You certainly can’t complain about hockey coverage, every game of the men’s tournament was on live, with no commercials during each period, and the announcing team of Bill Clement, et. al. did their usual fabulous job. You missed it.
But,as I mentioned above, if all people care about is how many medals we win, we did come in second place, ahead of Canada, Russia, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, c’mon, these are the traditional powerhouse teams, so, no, it’s about whining, and I do have to agree with the premise, it does make us look bad to the rest of the world.
Yes, we should have heard more about Classen, who won more medals in a winter game than anyone ever has. And, yes, we should have heard a lot LESS about and from Bode Miller. I get where he’s coming from, the Olympics, to many of the skiers on the international circuit, is just another weekend. But he somehow will realize that it’s a huge stage for his sponsors, some or all of them may now wish to rethink supporting his ‘lifestyle’. I for one would not cry if he finds it tough to live in the woods in a log cabin with no visible means of support. Grow up , man. Yes, it’s cool to live the life of a ski bum, I’ve known a few, and , yeah, it’s fun, but when you get to this level, you have repsonsibilities and images to uphold and, well, you missed those gates, too….
Great games, I’m off to have withdrawls for the next few days without getting to watch curling every day at 5!
Let’s give Dick Button a break - he’s being paid to note the mistakes that the skaters make. Have none of these critics noticed? Scott Hamilton is the rah-rah, goody-two-shoes cheerleader (Good Cop), Dick Button is the moustahce-twirling villian (Bad Cop) and the vapid blond’s remarks stay in the safe zone. I think it’d be pretty dull wihtout any one of these elements, but I do wish that they’d ALL become a little more vocal. It seems that in years past the commentary was a lot more play by play and, consequently, more engaging and educational. The long silences where nothing is said make me long for more information from these experts.
The Olympic Games were wonderful as always especially opening and closing ceremonies. I do have only one comment regarding the broadcasting - it was TOO MUCH talk and not enough games. Next time try to show more ganes as European TV stations do.
One final comment about Dick Button - I’ve heard him commenting on figure skating for years and I don’t remember his viewpoint being anything other than insightful and colorful - until this Olympics. Perhaps his age has become an issue. My 95 year old grandmother has recently started focusing on the negative aspects of life as well. Possibly Dick is past his broadcasting prime.
I think the Olympics were just fine. So there was a lot hype about Bode Miller, so what? Some athletes weren`t so good as expected, so what? It`s always easier to critisize then to understand. And someone said very nice that Olympics are about love of sport. I absolutely agree and i think that winning isn`t always the most important. I think it`s sad that people wait from athletes always winning.