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Sunday, February 19, 2006

The U.S. Olympic team as a metaphor for its country
Posted by Jill | 7:55 AM

Has Olympic coverage ever been quite as frantic with hysteria as this year's?

I've never been an avid Olympics-watcher, but I did live through the epic figure skating battles of the 1980's and the highly symbolic victory of the U.S. hockey team over that of the Soviet Union in 1980. But it seems that this year, with the crashing and burning of so many American athletes, accompanied by much hue and cry and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, seems to be a metaphor for the highly-hyped, overly-bellicose and ultimately abortive American Empire as envisioned by George W. Bush and his merry band of neocons.

One by one, the hyped "stars" have fallen, and so, accordingly, has the all-important American medal count, which is the only measure that NBC and the news media seem to think important. With Johnny Weir's stumble in the men's figure skating final, and the disappointing positions of the American ice dance teams (only Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, currently in sixth place, 1.42 points out of first, have a shot at a medal), all eyes are on one little teenager in the person of one Emily Hughes, who happens to be saddled with the additional baggage of being the sister of the 2002 out-of-nowhere Olympic champion. Yesterday, all the papers were trumpeting that U.S. hopes were now on Hughes' shoulders -- but no pressure, mind you.

It's interesting that the smiling, clean-cut, Anglo-Saxon-named and featured Hughes is now the focus of all the hype, rather than the somewhat prickly, less media-friendly but more seasoned Sasha Cohen. This is Hughes' first year in senior-level competition, but based on the hype, one would think Michelle Kwan had never existed and that this is Hughes' year. I can't help but have a nagging suspicion that there is at least a certain element of "white girl factor" going on here; after all, with a name like "Cohen", the current U.S. champion cannot be mistaken for a good, corn-fed Christian girl from the heartland.

Which brings us to Bryant Gumbel's comment the other day about the whiteness of the Winter Olympics and speed skater Shani Davis' gold medal in the men's 1000 meter speed skate yesterday.

Gumbel is receiving no end of flak for his remarks on Real Sports this week:

"Count me among those who don't care about them and won't watch them. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention,"


The usual suspects are screaming "reverse racism", and there is an argument to be made that this is the same kind of remark that got Al Campanis kicked out of his job with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Jimmy the Greek kicked off of television. But Gumbel does have a point, but only to the extent that winter sports DO tend to feature almost exclusively white and Asian athletes, and as a result, to call the practitioners of these sports "the world's best athletes" does imply that the African runners and the basketball players from American urban centers are just so much chopped liver.

Comedian Eddie Griffin, who on Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher somehow managed to be more succinctly erudite than Bill Maher and even more so than the eminent Helen Thomas, noted that an African ancestry doesn't exactly lend itself to wanting to take off for the frozen north -- an equally facile judgment that I'm sure has something to do with it -- though Eddie Griffin may say it and I can't, under an obscure corollary to the "It's OK to knock your own team" rule.

I think Gumbel is being hypersensitive about the lack of black athletes at the Winter Olympics, though noting the differences in racial composition of different sports has caused no end of trouble for those who have noted them in the past. The problem here is that the idea that differences, be they racial or gender or whatever, may exist, may not be even discussed. Why is this? I think it's because whenever we talk about differences in American culture, we also feel a need to rank those differences in hierarchies of desirability. And because white males tend to occupy the power structures, the things at which white males might excel always tend to be ranked as "better" or "more desirable" than those areas in which people of other races or women might excel.

All of this brings us to Shani Davis, the black winner of an individual gold medal in a Winter Olympics.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. The Big Gun was supposed to be Davis' teammate (and Texas white guy, why am I not surprised?) Chad Hedrick. But lacking even the self-accountability of Johnny Weir, Hedrick blamed his fourth-place finish on Davis' refusal to participate in the team pursuit race, in which the American team failed to make the semifinals.

Davis has been soundly criticized by his teammates for "a lack of teamwork", but I have to wonder just how much a part of the team, other than being a dray horse, this team made Davis feel during this season. Given the reaction to Davis' win, I would guess the answer to that question is "Not very much."

Tom Davis, Knight-Ridder, comments on the fallout:

U.S. speed skater Shani Davis rose above all his challenges Saturday at Oval Lingotto. Chad Hedrick could not see beyond his thinly veiled contempt for his teammate.

Davis made history, becoming the first black to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics, in the 1,000-meter race. Hedrick made little effort to be the team player he virtually accuses Davis of not being.

Davis shared his moment with U.S. silver medalist Joey Cheek, while Hedrick refused to turn the other one in assessing Davis' gold-medal performance.

"Shani skated fast today, and that's all I have to say about it," said Hedrick, who finished sixth in his weakest discipline.

In the battle of two strong-willed personalities, score Saturday's round to Davis. He won gold and was gracious in accepting it. He skated exceptionally well in his marquee event and didn't allow himself to get drawn into a war of words with his foil.

Criticized for not participating in the team pursuit race - the Americans on Wednesday failed to reach the semifinals - Davis remained unapologetic for his decision. He is an individualist who grew up dreaming of winning Olympic gold in the 1,000 meters and realizes some take issue with his thinking.

"I'm a different type of person," Davis said "I have a different charisma. A lot of people don't understand me."

Hedrick obviously is one of them.

There's nothing wrong with the free-spirited Texan expressing his opinion. It's part of what makes him endearing. But Hedrick's mouth also can make him look petty. That's how he appeared Saturday in the media mixed zone, all puffed up and unable to let his rivalry with Davis simmer for the good of the team.

He wasn't the only one taking jabs at Davis, who trains apart from the team in Calgary. Casey FitzRandolph suggested that Davis has alienated himself.
"If (Davis) feels it's him against the rest of the world, then it's him who pitted himself against the world," FitzRandolph said.

Hedrick, however, is the one who can't resist taking the most digs. He implies Davis lacks patriotism for saving himself for the 1,000 and not competing in the team pursuit. If Hedrick keeps beating the same drum, he'll become a walking Spirit-of-76 parody.


Patriotism: The last refuge of a punk. In the eyes of a Texas pencil-dick like Hedrick, Shani Davis' obligation was to help Chad Hedrick win a gold medal. Other athletes may do what is necessary to achieve a personal best, but like the president who comes from the same state, Hedrick felt entitled, and felt that it was Davis' job to help him achieve his entitlement. And when Davis got "uppity" (use of inflammatory word is deliberate), Hedrick showed what a punk he is by playing the patriotism card.

And THIS, not any kind of dark-skinned headcount, is what gave rise to Bryant Gumbel's statements. The screeching about Nancy Kerrigan's "all-American" good looks in 1994 after Debi Thomas had left the competitive scene, is what Bryant Gumbel is talking about.

Eddie Griffin may be right about black athletes just not gravitating to winter sports. But if black athletes are not going to be permitted the same personality quirks in their pursuit of excellence as white athletes; if not helping the white guy win a medal is somehow "unpatriotic", then we really do have a long way to go in this country in terms of race relations.
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