"Olympics Have Become a Bad Reality Show,
Good Guys Like Cheek Overshadowed by Soap Opera"
By JOHN FEINSTEIN, AOL
Sports Commentary
The Olympics have become a lot like caviar: They're very expensive and it is fashionable to point out how wonderful they are, but frequently they leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Were Joey Cheek's Olympic ideals overshadowed by some of his more selfish teammates' actions?
Never has that been more true than during these past two weeks, which have felt more like two months - in part because NBC believes that the Olympics are a reality show - stretch the drama out even when there's no real drama.
Raise your hand if you walked away from these Olympics enamored with any of the following:
Bode Miller.
The U.S. hockey team.
Chad Hedrick.
Shani Davis.
Johnny (shop-till-you-lose-your-mojo) Weir.
Any ice dancer.
The Austrian Nordic ski team.
Bob - "let's call it Torino because it sounds more pretentious than Turin" - Costas.
Should I go on?
There are all sorts of different reasons to truly not care about any of those named above, among others. I don't really care if Miller runs his mouth on subjects ranging from drinking and skiing to steroids, but don't run your mouth and then (A) say you have no respect for the media because it has accurately quoted you and (B) after bombing out in one event after another claim you don't really care. Why show up at all? Why not just go on a skiing trip someplace in private where you don't have to worry about that silly clock and actually competing.
One of the sad things about Miller is that if he hadn't choked - and make no mistake about it, that's what he did - very few people would care that he's a jerk because we all embrace winners. He isn't a worse guy today because he didn't perform just as Hedrick and Davis aren't better guys because they did perform.
Hedrick and Davis, in case you've forgotten, became the Tonya and Nancy of speedskating, sniping at one another almost from the moment they set foot on Italian soil. There was a lot of debate this past week about who was right and who was wrong. Davis skipped out on the team pursuit - speedskating's version of a relay - to be rested for the 1,000 meters. Hedrick complained that Davis' absence cost the U.S. a shot at a gold medal, then didn't congratulate him when he beat him for the gold in the 1,000. After they finished second and third in the 1,500 a few days later, they did everything but put on cat suits before trying to claw one another's eyes out.
So who's right?
To quote Mercutio: "A pox on both their houses."
Should Davis have been in the team pursuit? Probably. With the kind of shape skaters are in, taking part would not have worn him out for the 1,000. People had talked about Hedrick "matching" Eric Heiden with five gold medals and Davis' skipping the relay denying him that chance. Which was silly since Heiden won five individual golds in 1980 when there was no team pursuit. Hedrick should have shut up and raced. Not shaking hands after the 1,000 was ungracious and unnecessary. Suck it up and congratulate the guy; you don't have to buy him champagne.
Here's the saddest part about the performance of The Whine Brothers: Because everyone has spent so much time talking about them, Joey Cheek has been virtually ignored.
Cheek may have been the saving grace of these Olympics. He is 26 years old and he decided last year that this would be his swan song as a speedskater. He began applying to colleges and preparing to move on with his life. He also decided that if he won a medal he didn't want to cash the medal in for corporate deals or to make himself into a media star. He wanted to make an impact that went beyond putting a corporate logo on his sweats. Knowing that the U.S. Olympic Committee was planning to give cash bonuses to medal winners he came up with the notion that, rather than put the money towards his upcoming college education, he would give it to people who needed it more than he did. Specifically, he said he had been inspired by the work done by the great Dutch speedskater Johan Olav Koss who founded "Right To Play," a group that tries to fund sports programs for children in poor and war-torn countries. Cheek earmarked his money for the war-torn Darfur region of the Sudan.
It is worth remembering that speedskaters, even world-class speedskaters, do not get rich. Eric Heiden and Bonnie Blair are probably the only American speedskaters to ever cash in on their Olympic heroics. A skater like Cheek might make in the neighborhood of $40,000 a year - meaning that Cheek essentially is giving up a year's salary or a year's college tuition. That was fine with Cheek. He saw his victory in the 500 meters and his ensuing silver medal in the 1,000 meters as a chance not only to make his own contribution but to use his platform to try to encourage others to do the same.
Many have done just that. Several corporations have stepped in and matched Cheek's contribution. Individuals, inspired by his act, have also sent money to "Right to Play." It has been estimated that Cheek's gesture has been responsible for more than $300,000 in pledges in the last two weeks.
So what were all the pundits talking about last week: Hedrick and Davis and Sasha Cohen, who some columnists actually claimed would "save the Olympics" if she won the gold medal in the women's figure skating final. Apparently the pressure to save the Olympics was too much for her. She fell twice and settled for silver.
Now, let's go to the list of U.S. Olympic athletes who were so inspired by Cheek that they announced they too would give their USOC bonuses to "Right to Play," or any other charity.
That's the list - that blank space right there. Wouldn't it have been nice if Davis had offered up his $25,000 after winning the 1,000 meters and then challenged Hedrick to do the same with his bonus from winning the 5,000? Now that's a way to call a guy out. Of course Bode Miller can't offer up his bonus for winning a gold medal because, well, he didn't win a gold medal. No doubt he will blame the media.
Sadly, the Olympics have become nothing more than another reality show - populated for the most part by selfish people who just want to become rich and famous. NBC has completely given up on treating it as an actual sports event. Almost nothing is shown live and, if you want to see the best moments of a given day - even already knowing the results - you have to stay up until close to midnight and sit through hours and hours of figure skating. And then more hours of figure skating. Yes, they're great athletes, but enough already with all the soap opera storylines.
The Olympic ideal isn't dead, but it is clearly on life support. Cheek is trying to keep the Olympic ideal alive and while some people have been paying attention, it isn't enough; it isn't what he deserves. The USOC did pick him to carry the flag in the closing ceremonies and that's a good thing.
Of course Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick and Bode Miller and all those over-wrought figure skaters probably won't be there.
They need to get home to make their corporate deals and start their victory tours.
Or their non-victory tours. As long as they wrap themselves in the flag, someone will pay them and go to watch them perform.
I'll take a pass. I'd rather go see Joey Cheek. I'd like to tell him I think he's a hero.
. But my girlfriend made me watch a little of that ice dancing crap, and it is painful to watch. I actually heard Mr. Olympic Announcer Guy talking about how in ice dancing, there's no throwing each other in the air, that you have to be in contact with the ice at all times (or something -- I was trying to drink myself into a coma at the time). At least in "regular" figure skating, there's a chance someone might throw his partner through the MasterCard logo on the boards or something. No matter how hot the women are, that's no reason to watch this waste of time and space. I don't watch women's golf because the players are hot -- I watch because they're good. Same with women's soccer, tennis, track and field. There is no reason to watch ice dancing, and thankfully, we won't be subjected to it for another four years.