Last week, I felt a little guilty for writing my entire column about the Canadian women's hockey team instead of anything pertaining to Team USA.
And I should have: This is the Winter Olympics. There is no Steelers, Bengals, Browns tri-fecta of hate here. Chances are if you were born in the United States, you cheer for one team, and one team only - Team USA. There is really no wiggle room for preference without feeling somewhat unpatriotic.
While I wallowed in my own despair for a few minutes, I did the only thing I could think of to take my mind of my treasonous thoughts. I flipped on the Olympics.
My only beef with Olympic events has always been the coverage. Three hours of action is stretched to six hours of programming so viewers can get their fill of Bob Costas. 1st thing this nation needs is more Costas.
Sadly, this year the problem is something bigger than Costas. Having made a conscious effort to watch a little bit of every event this Olympics, I am starting to understand why I wrote last week's article about another team.
I simply can't stand Team USA, and the media are somewhat to blame.
Yes, Team USA has a lot of athletes that are favorites in all kinds of events - Shaun White, Apolo Anton Ohno, Bode Miller and Michelle Kwan (whoops, strike that last one). The men's and women's hockey and curling teams also are nothing to scoff at.
But does this mean that every time these athletes go into action they are supposed to walk away with gold? The media seem to think so and it is absolutely ridiculous.
Ohno is arguably the best speed skater on Team USA, but athletes with his level of talent seem to be a dime-a-dozen in Korea. All it takes is for White to have uncharacteristically back-to-back lackluster runs (unlikely, but it almost happened), and he is off the medal stand entirely.
The time it takes for me to write this sentence can be the difference between gold and 22nd place. Any miscue can cost an athlete the gold or even a spot on the medal stand. That is the beauty and curse of the Olympics that makes the games so exciting to watch.
Those that are perfect win gold; those who falter don't.
Commentators also like to exaggerate, trying to make some moments a bit more important than they really are.
The media are saying that Team USA's women's hockey team's 3-2 loss to Sweden in a shootout is comparable to the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
Are you serious? Yes, it is Team USA's first loss to a non-Canadian team, but it was bound to happen sometime! All the loss says to me is the rest of the world is catching up with North American women's hockey, and it is about time!
Personalities on the American team are also making it hard for me to cheer U-S-A.
Miller, already a candidate for worst American role model after making comments about skiing drunk, sure has put on a stellar performance. He was disqualified in the second round of the combined event after leading the first segment and recorded a did-not-finish in the giant slalom.
With four-of-five events completed, Miller has no medals. Hmm, a DQ, a DNF and admitted SWI (skiing while intoxicated) all spell one thing to me: One of Team USA's best athletes is a complete loser.
In the rest of the world there is a nasty stereotype that all Americans are arrogant pigs. I'm sure glad to see Team USA and the media doing their part to further that stereotype.
This year's U.S. Olympic squad was touted as the country's best team ever. Frankly, I think it is embarrassing to the citizens of the United States and degrading to better American teams of past Olympics.
Mark Shugar is a junior journalism major and sports editor for The Post. Send him an email at ms3114803@ohio.edu
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Mark Shugar
