I\u2019m probably like a lot of people this week, spending a few spare minutes each night, tuning into the Olympics.<\/p>\n
If I wanted, I could take the week off and watch the Olympics nonstop, from dawn to dusk (and beyond, I\u2019ve discovered, since waking up one midnight on my couch and seeing Michael Phelps dancing around on my set, wearing his trademark sag bathing suit. How anyone could pull their Speedos down that far and not have their buns hanging out is a feat of engineering.)<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got the Olympics covered, even if our suits don\u2019t cover it all.<\/p>\n
The one thing I\u2019m absorbing during these 2008 Olympics is the amount of on-air whining that erupts, every time the U.S. doesn\u2019t win something.<\/p>\n
Notice I said \u201cwin,\u201d as opposed to getting a silver or a bronze medal.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t believe the number of times I\u2019ve seen American athletes practically having heart failure when they come away with \u201cjust a silver\u201d or, God forbid, a bronze. The headlines on my e-mail news service allude to Americans \u201csquandering\u201d their chances, although they\u2019re still standing on the award podium, tearfully accepting those lesser-colored awards. And their flag (our flag) is still waving \u2013 just not over everybody else\u2019s.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s Bela Karolyi, the self-appointed foghorn of the gymnastics world, who throws on-air fits whenever the judging doesn\u2019t favor our gymnasts. Hello, Mr. Karolyi: gymnastics has been, and always will be, a sport judged by people we may not like or agree with.<\/p>\n
Karolyi\u2019s wife Martha Karolyi is just as aggravating, but not on the air as much, thankfully. The last time I heard a comment from her, as the U.S. team coordinator, she was blaming American star Alicia Sacramone\u2019s fall from the balance beam on the Chinese officials, whom she said kept Sacramone waiting too long to start, which interrupted the gymnast\u2019s focus.<\/p>\n
Good grief.<\/p>\n
Americans have been dominators in Olympic sports for so long that we\u2019re not even aware others have the right to win, too. And at times, that can make us truly annoying to watch. If we\u2019re not winning, then there is a problem. That\u2019s the message I keep hearing whenever I turn the set on. Our medal-counting show hosts are saying it, our coaches are saying it, and the athletes themselves are expressing it.<\/p>\n
From where I\u2019m sitting, it\u2019s about time someone tried to eat our lunch. Frankly it\u2019s boring to watch us win, over and over again. I want to see an actual competition, where someone from another country, who doesn\u2019t have all the things we have, pulls past one of our well-fed, superbly conditioned athletes, and makes Olympic history. It\u2019s those people I root for, because they represent what America is supposed to be: a place where anyone with big dreams and the desire to achieve them can win. Even when the opponents they\u2019re up against are bigger, better-coached and have more spending cash than they\u2019ll ever see.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also time for Americans, when they lose, to demonstrate good sportsmanship to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to be nice when you\u2019re winning.<\/p>\n
Being gracious when you\u2019ve lost (or maybe just didn\u2019t get that gold medal) – is the true indicator of a role-model athlete. In these days of blood-doping and performance-enhancing drugs, our sports industry is in dire need of role models.<\/p>\n
And numbers are just that – numbers. They get eclipsed, eventually, by someone faster and stronger.<\/p>\n
Strength of character never does.<\/p>\n
Laura Pierce is editor of the Kent Reporter. Contact her at lpierce@reporternewspapers.com, or at 253-872-6677, ext. 5050.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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