Make it Stop

Today is one of the great days on the sports calendar- as the Daytona 500 rolls off mid-afternoon. The event is only marred by the fact that it is so very hard to believe that it has been five years since Dale Earnhardt laid his life down in Turn Four, protecting his friend’s and his son’s one-two finish.

There has been enough ink spilled on “the legacy of Dale Earnhardt”- I have no urge to add to it. But after this really strange week of mixed American performance and behavior at the Olympics, you come to appreciate a guy, like Dale Sr., who showed up every week- and I mean every week- with a fire to win and team-first mentality.

Lindsey Jacobellis. Okay, a fink- we all agree on that. Look, I am the first person to stand up and say confidently that “I don’t care much for following women’s sports in general. I care less about winter sports ‘invented’ to boost rating and increase the American haul of medals.” But, you know, if it really was to Lindsey, “just a race”- then cede your spot to someone who will- you know- “try”? As Jay Greenberg writes in your NY Post this morning:

...snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis, who hot-dogged the finish of the cross, fell, and blew the gold, did not do her best at all before managing to compound her arrogance by calling it "just a race."

It was just a race in which citizens and corporations funded her to represent her country, which she did even more poorly than figure skater Johnny Weir.

You know, every nation carries its own cross, right? Some perception- fair or not. And you look at Bode Miller acting like a fool, Lindsey showboating, Johnny Weir almost reduced to tears about missing a bus and Shani Davis just looking spiteful all the time- and you wonder if these athletes have any clue about just how nice it would be to get through one of these things without the whole world watching an American act rude or petulant in a foreign place?

It used to be the American team went out and defied Hitler or the Red Army. Now they can’t read bus schedules or win without acting like they need to also provide a highlight for Sportscenter? I blame Bryant Gumbel myself.

So, I can’t tell you how refreshing it would be to see Jacobellis’ national federation- what a group that has got to be, right?- simply excuse Lindsey from ever having to wonder whether she’ll wear USA on her baggy boarding pants again. Ms. Jacobellis- you’re not worth it- we’ve decided to go another way and go with someone who not only cares but also will put herself out. You’re excused from the semi-relevance in American life you’ve achieved and the millions of dollars that goes with it.

I admit though, it will be a joy to see her Visa commercial about her superior focus promptly removed from circulation. She's just not that hot too.

The hockey was thrilling again yesterday. The US lost to a Slovakia team that features few solid NHL players- which puts the tie with Latvia is a more positive light. I can't believe I just wrote that; but it is what we've been reduced to. Unfortunately for the Americans, the quality NHL talent the Slovaks do dress is on the blue line: Zdeno Chara (definitely a world class player), Lubomir Visnovsky (leads NHL defensemen in points) and Andrej Meszaros (great +/- player). Playing constantly ahead, the Slovaks used their solid goaltending and a tidy defense end to engineer their victory. The American goaltending, again, was diffident- not bad, but not indicative of the elite player a Big Six nation should have manning the nets in a prestige tournament.

Why not give Esche a look? I know he's been hurt. But he's taken a flawed team within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals- so you know at the very least these bright lights won't faze him. And the selection process that left the best American goalie going, Ryan Miller, at home needs some reworking post-tournament.

Canada was humbled by the Swiss- but you know, it happens. Canada kind of went through the motions a lot yesterday- certainly, they took a multitude of retarded penalties at bad times. Neither the USA nor Canada are dead exactly. The USA probably wins any tie-breaker with Latvia- but probably needs a point somewhere in the next two outings to force it. Canada is Canada; they are the favorite until they are down to goals in an elimination spot. And since Pool B, opposite Canada, features four pretty similar teams likely to advance: Sweden, Slovakia, Russia and the USA- the Canadiens probably don’t care much where the finish the preliminary round-robin.