Americans and their excuses

Another American disappointment, another American excuse. I think the article will explain:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino2006/ice_hockey/news?slug=dw-whockey021706&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Maybe this belongs in the olympic thread in the other sports forum. The excuses listed in the column come from other sports. The only american hockey player quoted in the article gave no excuses for the loss today.

It is too bad every American who has not won a medal has not spoken to that writer and accepted full blame for not winning, and perhaps then this joke of a bitter writer could allow them not to kill themselves.

I don't remember the media being such jerks in previous Olympics either, perhaps that guy could find another person who actually accomplished something and ghostwrite a book for them.

That's pretty poor that one of the USA's women hockey players refused to shake hands after the game.

It is too bad every American who has not won a medal has not spoken to that writer and accepted full blame for not winning, and perhaps then this joke of a bitter writer could allow them not to kill themselves.

I don't remember the media being such jerks in previous Olympics either, perhaps that guy could find another person who actually accomplished something and ghostwrite a book for them.
What kills me about the article is this:

We've had athletes blame losses on missed buses, accused of staying out late boozing the night before events and complaining about the fans, the media and the pressure of it all. We've had them rip the accommodations at the Olympic village and make outlandish, impossible promises designed solely to grab attention and money.

Now for all I know these accusations very well might be true, but if your going to call out the American athletes, at least attempt to back it up with some facts instead of writing crap like this.

As for the American goalie for the Women's team, if she did refuse to shake heads, that is disgraceful.

Well now I am outraged. The US goale DID shake hands after the game, and this clown of a writer owes Ms. Gunn an apology.

Gunn had been the hero of last spring's World Championships, when the Americans defeated Canada in a shootout to win their first gold medal at that tournament. This time, she raced to the bench as the Swedes spilled onto the ice and flung down her gloves and mask.


She appeared headed for the dressing room when coach Smith stopped her, and she returned to the ice for the ceremonial handshake, actually leading her teammates before disappearing quickly into the changing area.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter06/hockey/columns/story?id=2334389

Regardless, there's no need for all this hate. The Olympics are almost half over and already the story has been nothing but "DISSAPOINTMENT~!!" from a number of sports writers. No encouragement, no noting who's leading in gold medals (love the condescendation for snowboarding guys; I guess now that Sweden beat Team USA in Women's Ice Hockey, it's more respectable??), no waiting until the games are close to over.

The meme has been decided on and that's what they're going to harp on. If an athlete makes something resembling an excuse, they'll run it; if not, you won't hear much about it.

Yeah, I'm not liking Olympic coverage outside of the live hockey games.

Good on Chandra Gunn for showing sportsmanship

That article pissed me off, and so did the "Americans and their excuses ...Another American disappointment, another American excuse."

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: Typical.

Regardless, there's no need for all this hate. The Olympics are almost half over and already the story has been nothing but "DISSAPOINTMENT~!!" from a number of sports writers. No encouragement, no noting who's leading in gold medals (love the condescendation for snowboarding guys; I guess now that Sweden beat Team USA in Women's Ice Hockey, it's more respectable??), no waiting until the games are close to over.

The meme has been decided on and that's what they're going to harp on. If an athlete makes something resembling an excuse, they'll run it; if not, you won't hear much about it.

Yeah, I'm not liking Olympic coverage outside of the live hockey games.

Good on Chandra Gunn for showing sportsmanship

There is never need for any of this ****ing hate. I'm not enjoying the Olympics too much for some reason this year. All the fun of hockey continues to be taken away by all the insults, and we know who's giving them. Can't wait until the games are over and we can get back to the NHL.

I'm glad Gunn went back to shake hands. What an *** that writer is.

If you would like to tell this Yahoo "expert" who wrote this what you think of his shoddy reporting, here is a link to send a comment to him.

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/sports/cgi_wetzel

If you would like to tell this Yahoo "expert" who wrote this what you think of his shoddy reporting, here is a link to send a comment to him.

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/sports/cgi_wetzel
LOL! I swear I was just about to give you the same link.

Yah, but you have to admit the girl snowboarder going for some show time and losing gold in the process was pretty lame. Not as bad as her not blaming herself for losing. Same with the male figure skater who blame his loss on his missing "aura". And don't forget Loady Miller who said he doesn't take the events seriously all thw while partying like a drunken sailor. Sad commentary on the quality of some, but very few, of the US athletes. Today's media is lazy and are always looking for the easy story so why lead with the chin.

They could have used Cammi Granato's leadership...serves them right, they got what they deserved for the way they treated her.

Yah, but you have to admit the girl snowboarder going for some show time and losing gold in the process was pretty lame. Not as bad as her not blaming herself for losing.

That was just such stupidity. I don't know how you blow something like that and then don't own up to it. :shakehead

The snowboarder girl's excuse was pure BS. She tried to show off and she got burned on it. A disgrace really.


Also, Gunn did shakehands with the Sweds. She was the first in line. That article is BS.

They could have used Cammi Granato's leadership...serves them right, they got what they deserved for the way they treated her.

I am so mad about that. And you're right, the leadership from her was absolutely missing.

What kills me about the article is this:



Now for all I know these accusations very well might be true, but if your going to call out the American athletes, at least attempt to back it up with some facts instead of writing crap like this.

As for the American goalie for the Women's team, if she did refuse to shake heads, that is disgraceful.
That was exactly my thought as I was reading through the article. What the author is saying may very well be true, but it seemed very poorly researched, based mainly upon speculation and hearsay. Like I said, the agenda he's pushing may be true, but this sloppy article certainly doesn't prove much.

BTW, this guy is a TERRIBLE writer. He has no business covering the Olympics, he is college basketball writer. But there's no excuse for all the talking US athletes do, especially the women, and not coming through.

Yah, but you have to admit the girl snowboarder going for some show time and losing gold in the process was pretty lame. Not as bad as her not blaming herself for losing. Same with the male figure skater who blame his loss on his missing "aura". And don't forget Loady Miller who said he doesn't take the events seriously all thw while partying like a drunken sailor. Sad commentary on the quality of some, but very few, of the US athletes. Today's media is lazy and are always looking for the easy story so why lead with the chin.

If your talking about Weir, I watched an interview with him on tv right after his program where he was really mad at how bad he skated, saying stuff like the way he skated he didn't deserve a medal and so on. It seemed like he totally was taking the blame.

Bode said he only had one drink at dinner the night before his race, someone else was accusing him of getting drunk, it wasn't his excuse.

Anyways, your whole life is this sport and then you mess up for everyone to see and then seconds after without any time to reflect on what has just happened still out of breathe reporters are asking you questions like "so what went wrong out there?" I think some of the excuses are the athletes just going through their head for the first time trying to find out what happened today that they couldn't do every other day.

What excuse? He basicly says team USA blew it on their own and got outplayed :dunno:

Well now I am outraged. The US goale DID shake hands after the game, and this clown of a writer owes Ms. Gunn an apology.



http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter06/hockey/columns/story?id=2334389


are you blind???

she returned to the ice for the ceremonial handshake, actually leading her teammates

:shakehead read next time before blasting someone

From the article:

Friday, it was that Swedish women's hockey team that did it to the U.S., 3-2 in overtime. They derailed an American group that has boldly called out the Canadians in the press, but couldn't even reach the gold medal game, falling to an upstart that simply wanted it more.




"an American group that has boldly called out the Canadians in the press"

By group, he means one player that also had a Canadian player agreeing with her.

Uh Metallian, I think your confused, he was linking that article to dispute the Yahoo article. But way to call him out when you don't know what's going on.

Yes the person who started this thread is fairly dim and gets his thrills at knocking Americans but the FACT is that every country has its equal share of people who are poor losers and make excuses whether Russians or Canadians or Swedes et al!!

Just watch the excuses fly if Canada's men team do not win Gold at these Olympics...oh boy.......the litany of complaints will be tremendous!!

The U.S. team isn't having a bad Olympics at all considering some early disappointments.....Canada is having a tremendous Olympics and that is probably because we are gearing up for the 2010 games on our home turf......

However, that fruity American male skater was pretty funny....I think he blamed the Bus or his Aura......What a maroon......that was priceless!!

Anyways, the main thing is that France are doing lousy and for that we can all cheer ..... :clap: ............ha ha.....

Yah, but you have to admit the girl snowboarder going for some show time and losing gold in the process was pretty lame. Not as bad as her not blaming herself for losing. Same with the male figure skater who blame his loss on his missing "aura". And don't forget Loady Miller who said he doesn't take the events seriously all thw while partying like a drunken sailor. Sad commentary on the quality of some, but very few, of the US athletes. Today's media is lazy and are always looking for the easy story so why lead with the chin.

she did take the blame, a while afterwords.

Right after the event she basically made an excuse. But an hour or so later she admitted she just got cought up in the moment and made a bonehead move.

The worst part was, if she woulda got up right after she fell, she still woulda won. She stayed down for some reason. Almost saying "I cant believe I just did that"

but she did admit to it, after she stewed a bit and realized what she did.

The snowboarder girl's excuse was pure BS. She tried to show off and she got burned on it. A disgrace really.





I laughed. Hard.
Then I felt sorry for her.

Silly sport, 1 out of 4 didn't crash in the final. Meh.... :dunno:

I laughed. Hard.
Then I felt sorry for her.

Silly sport, 1 out of 4 didn't crash in the final. Meh.... :dunno:
I actually felt more sorry for the Canadian snowboarder who took that nasty spill at the beginning of the race and had to be taken off the slopes in a stretcher, that had to hurt.

I actually felt more sorry for the Canadian snowboarder who took that nasty spill at the beginning of the race and had to be taken off the slopes in a stretcher, that had to hurt.
Yeah, I wish they would have given an update on her, you could hear her crying in pain as they carried her off. Hope she's ok.

Actually, one of the ESPN columnists said about Jacobellis that people that showboat end up on their butts, which is where they belong. That sums her up pretty well.

Anyway, stupid column. The insecure people who feel a need to post stuff like this make me laugh.

A lot of people whining about the article seem to gloss over the fact that Team USA has suffered several unexpected losses, and hubris played a large part in at least two (Women's Hockey and Snowboard Cross).

This is a serious issue that should be addressed for future games.

Here is some info on Dan Wetzel who wrote the article:
http://cbs.sportsline.com/columns/writers/wetzel

He should stick to basketball.

A lot of people whining about the article seem to gloss over the fact that Team USA has suffered several unexpected losses, and hubris played a large part in at least two (Women's Hockey and Snowboard Cross).
As they say, **** happens. That's what makes the Olympics interesting IMO. For every bad story there is a good one, a fact which is being ignored here it seems.

This is a serious issue that should be addressed for future games.
How do you suggest they do that? If you don't figure out not to be an ******* in the sandbox, you're never going to learn it.

The writer of the yahoo article claims to be upset at the number of medals, yet the two teams/people he singles out are the US women who will likely medal and the snowboarder who got silver. The vast majority of the US athletes at these games are normal people who work normal jobs and live normal lives. Sorry, but I just don't buy this "the whole US Olympic team are spoiled brats and reflect poorly upon us" angle.

These Olympics are lackluster at best. The American performance has been highly disappointing, and we've had some athletes who have acted arrogant & holier than thow, but I really only cared about the Men's hockey anyhow.

By the way the Men's Skeleton, was a blast to watch, two Canadiens fighting it out for gold............gotta love that stuff.